The Decorative Arts Society (DAS) is an independent charity, founded in Brighton in 1975, financed by subscriptions and donations from its members and revenue from its events. The DAS encourages and supports the study and appreciation of all aspects of the decorative arts and design from 1850 to the present. In its activities and publications, the DAS embraces the different media on an international basis - furniture, ceramics, glass, metalwork, textiles, jewellery and fashion, as well as architecture, interior and industrial design, and the graphic arts.
Aims and eligibility:
The DAS has established a small Collections Access Grant which aims to support curators in extending access to, and knowledge of, the decorative arts in their collections.
The Grant:
• provides funding for practical costs to help curators from publicly-funded museums that are open to the public to enhance access to their collections through display, publication or digital media
• is available to fund individual curatorial activities or shared projects.
• gives priority to objects falling within the period 1850 to the present.
What we will support:
Applications from individual UK curators may include requests for funding
• to improve or update displays in the decorative arts in a publicly-funded museum,
• to fund a small decorative arts display in whole or in part,
• to assist with publication, both printed and in online form, for example by funding in whole or in part a short-term post to create database records or images.
We are willing to consider funding other kinds of activity, provided the applicant can make a substantive case for its contribution to public access to decorative arts objects.
Applicants can also request support towards additional activities to extend existing museum projects.
Size of grant:
For 2015, the second year of the award, the DAS has earmarked the sum of £2000 for the Grant. If completion of the project depends on receiving funding from other sources, this should be indicated, with a timescale.
How to Apply:
Please set out a submission of no more than 1000 words specifically indicating
• how the grant will be spent (with a rough budget breakdown), and a realistic timeframe for when it will be needed;
• details of the project and how it will develop curatorial expertise and collections access in your museum; and
• why you are applying for a grant and why the project cannot be funded from elsewhere.
Please also attach a short CV of no more than a side of A4 and a letter of support from your Director or equivalent.
The deadline for applications for the 2015 Grant is 30 September 2015
Applications should be sent to the Chairman on chairdas@gmail.com who is happy to answer any queries on 020 7228 1472.
The successful applicant will be expected to acknowledge the support of the DAS by displaying its logo in the project, and to write a short report for the DAS Newsletter or Journal. If appropriate, the project might be used as the subject for a DAS museum study day.
__________________________________
Study Visit to Helsinki: 18-22 May 2016
Deadline for applications: 9 October 2015
Founded in 1975, the Decorative Arts Society (DAS) is a charity which encourages and supports the study and appreciation of all aspects of the decorative arts and design from 1850 to the present. The Society’s activities include architecture, interior and industrial design and the graphic arts. As part of its remit, it organises overseas study visits once or twice each year.
Support to Curators
The Society’s Committee of Governors wishes to help decorative arts curators take part in these events, in order to extend the knowledge and contacts of the individuals and to strengthen the link between museums, their staffs and the Society. In 2012 it agreed a new policy of allocating funds for bursaries, in which priority is given to curators in publicly funded collections.
Helsinki Bursary
The next DAS Bursary is to be made available for the Society’s study visit to Helsinki from 18-22 May 2016. It will focus on Jugendstil and Modernism, the works of Aalto and Saarinen and the Finnish glass industry.
The award is intended to cover a substantial proportion of the costs of the study visit including accommodation during the visit and travel to and from Helsinki but the successful applicant may need to find some limited incidental expenditure on meals not provided.
If awarded a grant by the Society, the applicant would be expected to provide an article for the DAS Newsletter describing the trip, and a longer record of events which is made available to participants. They would also need to take on personal membership of the DAS for a year (discounted for members of the Society of Decorative Arts Curators).
How to apply for the 2016 DAS Helsinki Bursary
Applicants should provide a CV and a note specifying how attendance on the visit would develop their expertise or be useful in their work. These should be sent to Robert Wilson, DAS Chairman, chairdas@gmail.com, who is happy to answer any queries, to arrive by 9 October 2015
