Groninger Visual Arts Stipends

Minerva Art Academy

Applications for the Groninger Visual Arts Stipends 2024 are now open! If you would like to be considered for one of the two €20,000 stipends, apply before September 15, 2024.

About the stipends

The Groninger Visual Arts Stipends are awarded annually to stimulate the artistic development and cultural entrepreneurship of starting, promising visual artists and designers. The stipends encourage new work that can make a meaningful contribution to contemporary art in the Netherlands. Since 2023, these stipends are the successors of the George Verberg Stipendium and the Hendrik de Vries Stipendium, both of which have been awarded to young artistic talent for decades.

The two stipends each consist of an amount of €20,000 for a working period of one year, and are linked to support programs in which the talent development of the artist is central. In doing so, the artist makes use of the network, expertise and facilities of the Noordenaars; a platform for presentation institutions in the Northern Netherlands consisting of 12 organisations.

The collaborating parties of the Municipality of Groningen, Kunstpunt Groningen and Minerva Art Academy attach great importance to a qualitative support process for the winning artists as part of the stipends. In this way, they offer more sustainable support for the development of artistic practice.

Land and Horizon, a local and an international focus

The stipends both have their own orientation:

Land is focused on researching and making an impact in the local region. Artists are encouraged to work in the surroundings of Groningen and the Northern Netherlands. This can be done, for example, by researching this environment, working on location, addressing social and societal issues and/or by working together with local communities.

Horizon has an international orientation in which the artist is encouraged to spread his wings and develop a (part of a) project abroad. This process starts in the North with a preliminary investigation, and then leaves for a location outside the Netherlands for, for example, a residency, collaboration or presentation. At the end of the process, the artist will return to the North, to share the results, experience and knowledge that the artist has collected with the local public and the cultural field.

Marouschka Brian, 'Connected Metal', 2023, sculpture with metals and wires

Jildau Nijboer, 'In between Reflections VI', oil and acrylic paint on linen, 120x200cm

To be eligible to participate in the open call:

You are an artist living and mainly working in the municipality of Groningen, graduated from a recognised art study programme.
You are not older than 35 years* at the time of submission; evidenced by a copy of a valid identity document.
You have a CV and portfolio, website or social media account that shows that you work at a professional level.
You have not won the former George Verbergstipendium and the Hendrik de Vriesstipendium before.
You work in one or more of the following disciplines of visual arts & design: painting, graphic design, industrial design, sculpture, applied art, environmental art, monumental art, social art, installation, performance, photography and film, ceramics, illustration and video and media art or combinations thereof.

* The Municipality of Groningen believes it is important that young talented artists are given the opportunity to develop their own signature, to experiment and make 'flying hours'. For this purpose, the Municipality applies an age limit of up to 35 years.

The applications are evaluated by the selection committee, consisting of delegates from de Noordenaars, and from the field of visual and applied arts inside and outside of Groningen. The selection committee evaluates the artists eligible for the stipend on:

Artistic quality
Professional quality

 The selection is made on the basis of a substantive assessment of:

The work in relation to the potential development of the artist and the oeuvre
The social context
The artistic relevance within the field of contemporary art

The selection committee makes a selection of two nominees for both stipends Land and Horizon. During presentations, in addition to the aforementioned criteria, we look at the way in which your plan for new work gives an impulse to your professional practice and can be of significance for contemporary art.

The Land and Horizon stipends both consist of an amount of €20,000 to be used for the period for one year (2025). Half of this amount is intended as a fee for the artist. The remaining €10,000 is a working budget that can be compiled during that year in collaboration with de Noordenaars. Of the working budget, 10% is allocated for a professional coach of your choice from de Noordenaars network, who will guide you throughout the process. The coach will be assigned in consultation with you and will work with you to develop a year plan. Part of this is allocation your work budget for, among other things: development budget, an artist in residency, coaching, a presentation or exhibition and documentation.