The generous commitment of the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS has enabled the Ministry of Culture and Media to award additional scholarships for visual arts since 2019/20.⁠ ⁠With the art scholarships, the foundation, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Media, is committed to supporting visual artists in the Hanseatic city who have already proven themselves through high-quality work.

Seven scholarships worth 10,000 euros are awarded each year.

Information about the application process

Deadlines

The application period runs from July 14 to September 9, 2026.⁠ ⁠The results will be announced via email in November 2026.

Target group 

The art scholarships of the non-profit ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS are aimed at professional visual artists and artistic groups who live in Hamburg and have proven themselves through high-quality work to date. Artistic groups must be involved in a long-term collaboration; one-off project-related collaborations are not included here.

Aim of the promotion 

The aim of the funding is to meet the diverse artistic approaches as well as working and production conditions of contemporary art in a contemporary way through a great openness in the funding orientation in order to support the artists individually in their artistic development and further training.

Purpose of the promotion 

The ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS art scholarships are intended to enable artists to concentrate on their work over a longer period of time, for example to pursue new ideas and approaches (research, conception, further training, artistically motivated stays abroad, new artistic works, etc.) or artistic projects in the field of production or presentation (exhibitions, performances, publications, workshops, digital works, etc.). The grants can be used for a research phase as well as for the continuation or finalization of a project; a project completion is not required.

Requirements 

The applicants

1. must have completed artistic training and/or be able to demonstrate several years of comparable professional artistic activity in their field through work samples and their artistic career.

2. live and work in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. (Proof on request by confirmation of registration). For groups, at least one group member must live in Hamburg.

3. are not enrolled as students at a university.

4. do not receive any other grant from the Federal Ministry of Culture and the Media (BKM). However, you may apply for other funding (project funding, art in public spaces, etc.) from the BKM.

5. In addition to the above-mentioned requirements, the criteria for awarding a scholarship are primarily the quality of previous artistic work and the quality of planned projects.

Scope of the funding

Seven scholarships of 10,000 euros each

Allocation of funding

You can apply for a scholarship via an online application procedure (see application procedure).

The jury 

The funding is awarded by a jury of experts. The jury consists of five members (including one artist, three people from art education, and the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS is also represented on the jury with one vote).

Result of the jury meeting  

All applicants will be notified by email in November 2026.⁠ ⁠The names of the artists and groups receiving grants will be announced to the public.

Proof 

At the end of the scholarship year, a substantive report on the artistic work and development during the scholarship period must be submitted in March of the following year. A report on the use of the funds is not required. 

Application procedure 

 The application consists of the following components: 

1. Completed application form (automatically generated during the online application process)

2. Description of your artistic career (part of the application form mentioned above). In addition, a detailed artistic résumé must be uploaded as a PDF.

3. Brief description of an artistic project that you would like to focus on during the scholarship period. (Max. 2,500 characters including spaces and paragraphs, part of the above application form). In addition, a more detailed description with illustrations must be uploaded as a PDF (max. 3 pages).

4. Portfolio of previous artistic work (catalogs do not replace the portfolio). The artistic work in the portfolio must be presented on a maximum of 15 pages and allow an assessment of the artistic development and working method. In the case of time-based media (video, film, performance, sound, etc.), the portfolio should include still images and a brief description of the work, including links that can be accessed.

Only applications that meet the above requirements will be submitted to the jury.

Online application

Please use the online application procedure. Apply in good time and allow for the appropriate processing time.

Click here for the online application procedure.

Before starting the online application, you should have the above-mentioned documents (artistic career, description of a project, portfolio) in PDF format. You will be asked to upload these during the application process. 

Please note that digital applications can only be submitted via the corresponding official online service. E-mail submissions will not be considered.