Criteria for Evaluation

Given the foundation’s interest in identifying the most promising dissertation projects, the following criteria are taken into consideration during the application review.

We are primarily interested in projects that are original and have the potential to impact the field of architecture:

• Originality: the dissertation demonstrates an innovative, challenging idea; critical, independent thinking; advanced scholarship; a new approach or methodology
• Potential for impact: the dissertation makes a meaningful contribution to discourse and/or to the field; expands knowledge; is a catalyst for future inquiry; raises awareness of an understudied issue

We also look for the project’s feasibility and the applicant’s capacity:

• Feasibility: the dissertation project has a sound methodology and clear, realistic goals; a reasonable timeframe for research or writing; available and accessible sources
• Capacity: applicant possesses strong qualifications and/or knowledge and demonstrates ability to complete the dissertation successfully

Eligibility

Ph.D. students who are presently candidates for a doctoral degree are eligible to apply.

• Students must be nominated by their department to apply for the Carter Manny Award.
• A department may nominate up to two candidates: one for the research award and one for the writing award.
• At the time of application, students must have completed all requirements for the Ph.D. except the dissertation and have had their dissertation proposals formally approved by their academic departments.
• A student may reapply for the Carter Manny Award if a previous application was not successful. Due to limited funds, a student who received a research award or a writing award is not eligible to apply for another Carter Manny Award in subsequent years.  
• The award is open to students officially enrolled in schools in the U.S. and Canada, regardless of citizenship. 

Work being undertaken in pursuit of an academic degree is not otherwise eligible for Graham Foundation support.

Award Types

The Graham Foundation offers two Carter Manny Awards: one for a student at the research stage of the doctoral dissertation and one for a student at the writing stage of the doctoral dissertation.

Research award

The research award assists students with research that is essential to the doctoral project. Research-related expenses include travel, documentation, materials, supplies, and other development costs. Applicants for a research award should have a clearly defined work plan, travel plan, and goals.

The research award is acknowledged with up to $15,000.

Writing award

The writing award encourages timely completion of the Ph.D. by assisting students who are in the advanced stages of the dissertation with one year of writing. While some of the award funds may be used for final research, the award is intended to support and facilitate uninterrupted writing. Applicants for a writing award will be asked to submit a writing sample from the dissertation, a dissertation table of contents, and a writing schedule. 

The writing award is acknowledged with up to $20,000.

Finalists

A limited number of Finalists may be determined; in some years, this recognition may be accompanied by a small award

How to Apply

Applicants for the Carter Manny Award undergo a very competitive selection and review process. Students must be nominated by their department to apply for the Carter Manny Award. Submitted applications are thoroughly reviewed by a diverse panel of recognized scholars in the fields of inquiry represented by the award.

The panel’s recommendations are presented to the foundation’s Board of Trustees for consideration. Upon award, recipients are asked to sign an Award Agreement that outlines the conditions of the award, such as reporting.

Application

Eligible individuals interested in applying for a Carter Manny Award must complete a Carter Manny Award application.

To start a new application, you will need a grant application account with an email address and a password.

When registering for a grant application account, applicants should use an e-mail address that is frequently used and monitored. The email address will also be the primary form of correspondence throughout the application process. If a grant is awarded, grantees will continue to maintain and access their account throughout the duration of their award for functions such as grant reporting.

• To create an account or to start a new application, click here
• To resume work on your application, go to My Account

The Carter Manny Award application will request the following information:

• Applicant name, contact information, school affiliation, and program status
• Applicant’s Graham Foundation grant history
• Dissertation title
• Dissertation abstract (150 word maximum)
• Work Plan for research or writing
• Project statement (1000 word maximum)
• Literature review (500 word maximum)

Nomination Letter:  This is a brief letter from your department or program administrator confirming that you have been nominated by your department to apply for the Carter Manny Award. The letter must also verify that you have completed all coursework; that you have advanced to Ph.D. candidacy; and that your proposed dissertation has been formally approved by the department.

Reference Letters: Three letters of reference are also required as part of your application.

• A letter of support from your thesis advisor
• A letter of support from a specialist in your area of research who is outside your university and not a member of your dissertation committee.
• A letter of support from a reference of your own choosing

Attachments: Attachments will be uploaded with your application. The maximum size for all attachments combined is 2MB.

• Curriculum vitae (three page maximum)
• Writing sample (20 page maximum)
• Visuals, such as image samples

DEADLINES

2013 Carter Manny Award Application available online beginning: January 26, 2013
Application deadline: March 15, 2013
Award period: September 1, 2013-September 1, 2014

Carter Manny Award

Since the Carter Manny Award’s establishment in 1996, over $600,000 has been awarded in recognition of outstanding doctoral students whose work represents some of the most innovative and advanced scholarship on architecture and its role in the arts, culture, and society. The Carter Manny Award supports dissertation research and writing by promising scholars whose projects have architecture as their primary concern and focus and have the potential to shape contemporary discourse about architecture and impact the field. Projects may be drawn from the various fields of inquiry supported by the Graham Foundation: architectural  history, theory, and criticism; design; engineering; landscape architecture; urban planning; urban studies; the visual arts; and other related fields. (See the Overview of our grant programs). The award assists students enrolled in graduate programs in architecture, art history, the fine arts, humanities, and the social sciences working on architecture topics.

The Graham Foundation offers two Carter Manny Awards: a research award for a student at the research stage of the doctoral dissertation and a writing award for a student at the writing stage of the doctoral dissertation. The research award is acknowledged with up to $15,000 and the writing award is acknowledged with up to $20,000.

The Carter Manny Award applications are reviewed by a diverse panel of recognized scholars in the fields of inquiry represented by the award. Past panelists have included Christy Anderson,  Phil Ashton, Susan Bielstein, Dana Cuff, Jesús Escobar, Chandra Goldsmith Gray, John Harwood, Hannah Higgins, Pamela Karimi, Sean Keller, Nana Last, Christopher Long, Paula Lupkin, Harry Mallgrave, Jonathan Massey, Joanna Merwood-Salisbury, Patricia Morton, Jorge Otero-Pailos, Annie Pedret, Felicity Scott, Dana Simmons, and Elizabeth Smith.

The 2012 award winners of the Carter Manny Award are Jacob Culbertson (University of California Davis, Department of Anthropology), who received the writing award for his dissertation Assembling Maori Architecture: Appropriations, Translations and Cultural Difference in an Emerging Field; Joseph Clarke (Yale University, School of Architecture), who received a research award for his dissertation German Architecture and Modern Acoustical Science; and Yetunde Olaiya (Princeton University, School of Architecture), who received a research award for her dissertation Expert, Artifact, Fact: The Techno-Politics of Architectural Production in French Black Africa, 1945-1975. For descriptions of these projects and a complete list of past award recipients, click here.

The Foundation offers this prestigious annual award in honor of Carter H. Manny and his long and distinguished service to the Graham Foundation. Carter H. Manny has served the foundation since its inception in 1956, first as a Trustee, then as the Director from 1971, and since his retirement in 1993, as Director Emeritus.

Award Recipients

• 

  German Architecture and Modern Acoustical Science

  Joseph Clarke

  2012

• 

  Assembling Maori Architecture: Appropriations, Translations and Cultural Difference in an Emerging Field

  Jacob Culbertson

  2012

• 

  Expert, Artifact, Fact: The Techno-Politics of Architectural Production in French Black Africa, 1945-1975

  Yetunde Olaiya

  2012

• 

  Ownership, Entrepreneurship, and Identity: The Gens de Couleur Libres and the Architecture of Antebellum New Orleans, 1830-1850

  Tara Dudley

  School of Architecture, The University of Texas at Austin

  2011

• 

  Designing Destinations: Architecture, Urbanism, and American Tourism in Puerto Rico and Cuba, 1898-1959

  Erica Morawski

  Department of Art History, University of Illinois at Chicago

  2011

• 

  Forms of Function: Self-Culture, Geometry, and Octagon Architecture in Antebellum America

  Irene Cheng

  Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, Columbia University

  2010

• 

  Alvin Boyarsky's 'Well-Laid Table': Experiments in Architectural Pedagogy

  Irene Sunwoo

  School of Architecture, Princeton University

  2010

• The Informal as a Project: Self-Help Housing in Peru, 1954-1986

  Helen Elizabeth Gyger

  Columbia University, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation

  2009

• Vision in Motion: Architectural Space Time Notation and the Ecological Perception of Space

  Divya Rao Heffley

  History of Art and Architecture, Brown University

  2008

• Wasteland: American Landscapes in/and 1960s Art

  Emily Eliza Scott

  Department of Art History, University of California, Los Angeles

  2007

• The Modern Church in Rome: Architecture, Theology, and Community, 1945-80

  Timothy Parker

  School of Architecture , University of Texas at Austin

  2006

• The Origins of the American School Building: Boston Public School Architecture, 1800-1860

  Rachel Remmel

  Department of Art History, University of Chicago

  2005

• Seizing the Means of Consumption: Kooperativa Forbundet and the Swedish Home, 1924-1957

  Lucy Creagh

  Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, Columbia University

  2004

• 

  Nature and the City: Class, Power, and the Creation of Metropolitan Boston, 1820-1920

  Michael Rawson

  Department of History, University of Wisconsin at Madison

  2003

• Entertainment for Men: Playboy, Masculinity, and Postwar American Culture

  Elizabeth Fraterrigo

  Department of History, Loyola University Chicago

  2002

• The Politics of Food in Modern Morocco

  Stacy E. Holden

  Department of History, Boston University

  2001

• The Transformation of the Schoolhouse: American Secondary School Architecture and Educational Reform, 1880-1920

  Dale Allen Gyure

  Department of Architectural History, University of Virginia

  2000

• Painting in Stone: The Symbolic Uses of Coloured Marbles in the Visual Arts from late Antiquity until the Age of Enlightenment

  Fabio Barry

  Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University

  1999

• The Road to Consumption: Outdoor Advertising and the American Cultural Landscape, 1917-1965

  Catherine Gudis

  American Studies Program, Yale University

  1998

• The Logic of the Bones: Architecture and the Anatomical Sciences at the Museum D'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 1789-1889

  Paula Young Lee

  Department of Art History, University of Chicago

  1997

• Public/Private Georgraphies: Constructing Order in Chicago's City Streets, 1893-1922

  Laura K. Swartzbaugh

  Program in American Studies, University of Minnesota

  1996

The Richard Solomon Award for Architectural Journalism

Richard Solomon, Director of the Graham Foundation from 1993 to 2005, was a consummate professional whose thoughtful and careful consideration of informed and creative architectural discourse contributed immeasurably to a far-reaching architectural community.

Richard had a particularly deep interest in architectural journalism. Whether through support of a student publication or an emerging or mature journal in the field, he sought to assure the highest standard and breadth of architectural journalism. This commitment is evident in Richard's generous bequest of $50,000, in the form of a challenge grant, to the Graham Foundation in support of architectural journalism.

Owing to the generosity and kindness of friends and colleagues of the Graham Foundation, we are pleased to announce that we have met and surpassed Richard’s challenge. We are currently working to establish the Richard Solomon Award for Architectural Journalism.

How to Apply

The Graham Foundation’s application is a two-stage process and is open submission. The review is a very competitive process as we receive many more applications than we are able to fund. Funding decisions at all stages of the review are based on:

• Priority of the proposed project as related to our mission and interests
• The project’s fulfillment of our criteria for evaluation
• Availability of Graham Foundation funds

Stage One/Inquiry Form: Eligible candidates interested in applying for a grant from the Graham Foundation must first submit an Inquiry Form. The Inquiry Form becomes available on our website with each grant cycle and must be submitted online.

Stage Two/Proposal Form: After Inquiry Forms are reviewed, applicants whose projects best match our priorities and interests are invited to submit a Proposal Form and supplementary materials. Applicants who are not invited to submit a Proposal Form are sent a decline letter at this stage. An invitation to submit a Proposal Form does not guarantee eventual funding. Please note that we cannot accept proposals other than those invited.

Award Decision: Funding recommendations are presented to the Board of Trustees for consideration. If a grant is awarded to you, you will be asked to sign a grant agreement that outlines the conditions of the grant, such as annual reporting.

Inquiry Form

Eligible individuals interested in applying for a grant from the Graham Foundation must submit an Inquiry Form. Applicants whose projects best match our priorities and interests are invited to advance to the second stage review and submit a Proposal Form and supplementary materials.

To start a new Inquiry Form, you will need a grant application account with an email address and a password. Note: If you are awarded a grant or if you apply for another grant in the future, you will use this same grant application account. Your email address is associated with your account log in. You should therefore use an email address that you expect to be able to access in the future. (If you change your email addresses, you will need to contact the Graham Foundation to update your account.)

Inquiry Form for Individuals

• To create an account or to start a new Inquiry Form for Individuals, click here
• To resume work on your Inquiry Form, go to My Account

The Inquiry Form will request the following information:

• Contact information for applicant. For collaborative projects, one person in the collaborative must be designated as the primary contact for the project. The application also asks for the name, contact information, and biographical information for each collaborator.
• Applicant’s Graham Foundation grant history
• Project title and project abstract (150 word maximum)
• Project start date and end date (Research Grants must be completed within one year. Production and Presentation Grants must be completed within two years.)
• Project budget summary
• Biographical narrative for applicant (150 word maximum per person)
• Work plan and project timeline (200 word maximum)
• Project statement (350 word maximum)
• For applicants seeking Production and Presentation Grants, project specifications and the name of the Committed Producer (an entity committed to producing and presenting the project, such as a publisher, exhibition venue, etc.)
• Names of two people from whom letters of reference will be requested if the applicant is advanced to the second stage review (note that letters will only be required at the second stage review)
• For applicants seeking Production and Presentation Grants, the name of the Committed Producer from whom a letter of commitment will be requested if applicant is advanced to the second stage review (note that a letter will only be required at the second stage review)
• Work samples, such as writing samples and images (maximum size for all attachments combined is 2MB)

For Individuals (2012-2013 grant cycle)
Inquiry Form available online: July 15, 2012
Inquiry Form deadline: September 15, 2012
Applicant notified to submit Proposal Form after: December 1, 2012
Grant decisions announced: March 2013
Earliest project start date: April 15, 2013

Eligibility

Our grantmaking focuses on individuals in the United States, however, we do make a small percentage of international grants. Please note we require that final projects be disseminated in English.

Grants to Individuals:

• Individuals are eligible to apply for Production and Presentation Grants and Research and Development Grants.
• Collaborative projects by individuals are eligible for funding. A collaborator is defined as a co-author of the project. A collaborator is not a participant who is providing contracted services for the project.
• Individuals may only apply for one grant per year.
• Applicants who have received prior Graham Foundation support must have satisfied all grant requirements before applying again.
• Individuals working on independent projects who are required by their organizations to apply for and receive funding under the aegis of the organization (e.g., a faculty member of an academic institution) may use a fiscal sponsor.

Fiscal Agent:

The Graham Foundation does not require individuals to have a fiscal agent. However, in the event that an organization requires an individual employee working on an independent project to apply for and receive funding under the aegis of the organization (e.g., a faculty member of an academic institution), the organization may serve as a fiscal agent. Individuals that require a fiscal agent must follow all guidelines, eligibility requirements, and deadlines for Grants to Individuals. Applicants must indicate on the Inquiry Form that they have a fiscal agent.

Ineligible Costs:

• Endowment
• General operating expenses
• Capital projects
• Scholarship aid or work in pursuit of an academic degree (advanced doctoral candidates are eligible to apply for the Carter Manny Award)
• Work focused on K-12 curriculum or learning and/or intended for K-12 audiences
• Debt or expenses incurred prior to the date of grant request

Priorities and Criteria

For individuals, our priorities are to:

• Provide opportunities to create, develop, and communicate a project about architecture and the designed environment that will contribute to their creative, intellectual, and professional growth at crucial or potentially transformative stages in their careers.
• Support their efforts to take positions, develop new forms of expression, and engage debate.
• Help them communicate their work in the public realm and reach new and wider audiences.
• Support new voices by giving priority to first-time applicants.

Overall we are most interested in opportunities which enable us to provide critical support at key points in the development of a project or career.

Criteria for Evaluation

Given our priorities, we believe projects of the greatest potential should fulfill the following criteria:

• Originality: the project demonstrates an innovative, challenging idea; critical, independent thinking; advanced scholarship; a new or experimental approach
• Potential for impact: the project makes a meaningful contribution to discourse and/or to the field; expands knowledge; is a catalyst for future inquiry; raises awareness of an understudied issue; promotes diversity in subject matter, participants, and audience
• Feasibility: the project has clear and realistic goals, timeframe, work plan, and budget
• Capacity: applicant possesses strong qualifications and/or knowledge; demonstrates ability to carry out the project successfully; has access to necessary resources outside of the grant request

Grant Types

The Graham Foundation offers two types of grants to individuals: Production and Presentation Grants and Research and Development Grants.

Production and Presentation Grants:

These grants assist individuals with the production-related expenses that are necessary to take a project from conceptualization to realization and public presentation. These projects include, but are not limited to, publications, exhibitions, installations, films, new media projects, and other public programs.

Projects must have clearly defined goals, work plans, budgets, and production and dissemination plans.

Committed Producers: Individuals applying for Production and Presentation Grants should have a Committed Producer(s) for the project, that is, an entity committed to producing and/or presenting the project with the individual, such as a publisher, exhibition venue, etc.

Grant amount: Production and Presentation Grants to individuals do not exceed $20,000 and are likely to be less. Given the demand for funding, the Graham Foundation is not always able to fund projects at the full request amount.

Grant period: Production and Presentation Grants must be completed within two years. Applicants should allow sufficient time to plan, implement, close out their project, and, if funded, acknowledge Graham Foundation support in all published media.

Research and Development Grants:

Though the majority of our grantmaking focuses on Production and Presentation Grants, we recognize that projects may require support at early stages of formation. Research and Development Grants assist individuals with seed money for research-related expenses such as travel, documentation, materials, supplies, and other development costs. Projects must have clearly defined goals, work plans, and budgets.

Upon completion of research projects, recipients of Research and Development Grants must complete a research report and provide documentation that can be archived at the Graham Foundation and/or presented on our website.

A recipient of a Research and Development Grant is eligible to apply for a Production and Presentation Grant for the same project once the first grant has been satisfied, however, future funding is not guaranteed.

Grant amount: Research and Development Grants do not exceed $10,000 and are likely to be less. Given the demand for funding, the Graham Foundation is not always able to fund grantees at the full request amount.

How to Apply

The Graham Foundation’s application is a two-stage process and is open submission. The review is a very competitive process as we receive many more applications than we are able to fund. Funding decisions at all stages of the review are based on:

• Priority of the proposed project as related to our mission and interests
• The project’s fulfillment of our criteria for evaluation
• Availability of Graham Foundation funds

Stage One/Inquiry Form: Eligible candidates interested in applying for a grant from the Graham Foundation must first submit an Inquiry Form. The Inquiry Form becomes available on our website with each grant cycle and must be submitted online.

Stage Two/Proposal Form: After Inquiry Forms are reviewed, applicants whose projects best match our priorities and interests are invited to submit a Proposal Form and supplementary materials. Applicants who are not invited to submit a Proposal Form are sent a decline letter at this stage. An invitation to submit a Proposal Form does not guarantee eventual funding. Please note that we cannot accept proposals other than those invited.

Award Decision: Funding recommendations are presented to the Board of Trustees for consideration. If a grant is awarded to you, you will be asked to sign a grant agreement that outlines the conditions of the award, such as annual reporting.

DEADLINES for Organizations (2013 grant cycle)
Inquiry Form available online: January 6, 2013
Inquiry Form deadline: February 25, 2013
Grant decisions announced: July 2013
Earliest project start date: September 15, 2013

Inquiry Form

The application deadline for the Graham Foundation’s 2013 Grants to Organizations is February 25, 2013. Eligible organizations are invited to apply for Production and Presentation Grants to support projects that begin after September 15, 2013.

Eligible organizations interested in applying for a grant from the Graham Foundation must submit an Inquiry Form. Applicants whose projects best match our priorities and interests are invited to advance to the second stage review and submit a Proposal Form and supplementary materials. Final grant decisions are made in July 2013.

To start an Inquiry Form, you will need a grant application account with an email address and a password.

When registering for a grant application account, applicants should use an e-mail address at their organization that is frequently used and monitored. The email address will also be the primary form of correspondence throughout the application process. If a grant is awarded, grantees will continue to maintain and access their account throughout the duration of their award for functions such as grant reporting.

Inquiry Form for Organizations

• To create an account or to start a new Inquiry Form for Organizations, click here
• To resume work on your Inquiry Form, go to My Account

The Inquiry Form will request the following information:

• Organization mission
• Organization Graham Foundation grant history
• Project title
• Project abstract
• Project statement
• Project start date and end date (Production and Presentation Grants must be completed within two years.)
• Work plan and project timeline
• Biographical narrative for project author or artist and for project collaborators
• Project specifications for final products
• Names of two people from whom letters of reference will be requested if applicant is advanced to the second stage review (note that letters will only be required at the second-stage review)

Attachments (Uploaded with your Inquiry Form. The maximum size for all attachments combined is 2MB.)

• Project budget (One page maximum)
• Organizational budget (One page maximum)
• Work samples, such as writing samples, images, exhibition checklist, etc.

DEADLINES for Organizations (2013 grant cycle)
Inquiry Form available online: January 6, 2013
Inquiry Form deadline: February 25, 2013
Applicant notified to submit Proposal Form after: May 15, 2013
Grant decisions announced: July 2013
Earliest project start date: September 15, 2013

Eligibility

Our grantmaking focuses on organizations in the United States, however, we do make a small percentage of international grants. Please note we require that final projects be disseminated in English.

Grants to Organizations:

• Organizations are eligible to apply for Production and Presentation Grants.
• 501(c)(3) tax exempt organizations are eligible for funding. Under some circumstances we will make grants to other entities when there is clear evidence that the public interest will be served, for example, in the case of a publisher or an emerging organization that does not yet have tax exempt status.
• An organization or academic department/unit may only apply for one grant per year. (In the case of large institutions with multiple departments, a subsidiary department/unit may apply for one grant per year. For example, an academic department/unit at a university may apply for one grant per year.)
• Applicants who have received prior Graham Foundation support must have satisfied all grant requirements before applying again.

Ineligible Costs:

• Endowment
• General operating expenses
• Capital projects
• Scholarship aid or work in pursuit of an academic degree (advanced doctoral candidates are eligible to apply for the Carter Manny Award)
• Work focused on K-12 curriculum or learning and/or intended for K-12 audiences
• Debt or expenses incurred prior to the date of grant request

Priorities and Criteria

For organizations, our priorities are to:

• Assist with the production and presentation of significant programs about architecture and the designed environment in order to promote dialogue, raise awareness, and develop new and wider audiences.
• Support them in their effort to take risks in programming and create opportunities for experimentation.
• Recognize the vital role they play in providing individuals with a public forum in which to present their work.
• Help them to realize projects that would otherwise not be possible without our support.

Overall we are most interested in opportunities which enable us to provide critical support at key points in the development of a project or career.

Criteria for Evaluation

Given our priorities, we believe projects of the greatest potential should fulfill the following criteria:

• Originality: the project demonstrates an innovative, challenging idea; critical, independent thinking; advanced scholarship; a new or experimental approach
• Potential for impact: the project makes a meaningful contribution to discourse and/or to the field; expands knowledge; is a catalyst for future inquiry; raises awareness of an understudied issue; promotes diversity in subject matter, participants, and audience
• Feasibility: the project has clear and realistic goals, timeframe, work plan, and budget
• Capacity: applicant possesses strong qualifications and/or knowledge; demonstrates ability to carry out the project successfully; has access to necessary resources outside of the grant request

Grant Types

The Graham Foundation offers Production and Presentation Grants to organizations.

These grants assist organizations with the production-related expenses that are necessary to take a project from conceptualization to realization and public presentation. These projects include, but are not limited to, publications, exhibitions, installations, films, new media projects, conferences/lectures, and other public programs.

Projects must have clearly defined goals, work plans, budgets, and production and dissemination plans.

Applications for Publication Support: Unless the applicant is a publisher, an organization applying for publication support should have a committed publisher for the work, that is, a publisher with whom you have a contractual agreement to publish your project.

Grant amount: Production and Presentation Grants to organizations do not exceed $30,000 and are likely to be less. Given the demand for funding, the Graham Foundation is not always able to fund grantees at the full request amount.

Grant period: Production and Presentation Grants must be completed within two years. Applicants should allow sufficient time to plan, implement, close out their project, and, if funded, acknowledge Graham Foundation support in all published media.