John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
ActiveArts, Culture & HumanitiesFunds Individuals
About John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation offers fellowships to exceptional individuals in pursuit of scholarship in any field of knowledge and creation in any art form, under the freest possible conditions.
Focus Areas
Creative ArtsHumanitiesNatural SciencesSocial SciencesInterdisciplinary StudiesFields across over 50 specific areas (e.g., Biology, Chemistry, History, Fine Arts, Film-Video, Poetry, Translation)
Who They Fund
composers and performing artistsphotographers and visual artistshumanities scholars and authors (history, biography, translation)scientists and technical researchers (physics, medical, nanotechnology, climate)public audiences / museum and theater audiences
About John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation centers its grantmaking on fellowships for individuals, not institutions, and the recent record shows that approach across art, scholarship, and scientific inquiry. One of its largest recent awards went to the New York Historical Society for a $200,000 exhibition installment fee, while individual fellowships also reached creators such as Jessica Elaine Blinkhorn in fine arts and Guthrie P Ramsey for "Sound Proof: Black Musics American Journey." The foundation’s program is built around exceptional people pursuing work in scholarship or creative practice under the freest possible conditions. That breadth is visible in the mix of disciplines it supports, from music composition and drama to fiction, nonfiction, and historical research. Recent grants also include named projects and field-specific work, such as "Healthspan: A Work of Narrative Nonfiction" and studies in refugee law and climate-related themes. The pattern is not limited to one art form or one academic lane; it repeatedly funds writers, artists, scholars, and scientists through the Guggenheim Fellowship competition.
What John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Funds
In the creative arts, the foundation has backed music composition, drama, fine arts, and film-video, with grants such as $80,000 to Rafael Rosa for music composition and $80,000 to Beth B for film-video. In literature and nonfiction, it funded $75,000 awards for Rebecca Makkai in fiction, Jerald Walker in general nonfiction, and Melissa Febos in general nonfiction. Scholarly work appears alongside the arts: Vera Gribanova received $70,000 for "Ellipsis and the Identity Relation," and Robert F Barsky received $70,000 for "Negotiating International Refugee Law in the Height of the Civil Rights Movement." The foundation also supports science-oriented inquiry, including work in the natural sciences and medical or climate-related research across its fellowship portfolio.
How John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Gives
Typical fellowship awards cluster in a relatively tight range: p25 is $26,000, the median is $35,000, and p75 is $50,000. Recent grants also show a higher-tier set of awards at $70,000 to $85,000 and one $200,000 exhibition installment fee. The foundation funds individuals through an annual fellowship competition, and the active program accepts unsolicited applications. Because the recent list spans 2023 and 2025, the record suggests ongoing repeat annual grantmaking rather than a one-time campaign.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$11M
Total Assets
$383.6M
Total Revenue
$23.5M
Total Expenses
$19.4M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $26K and $50K, with a median of $35K.
25th Percentile
$26K
Median
$35K
75th Percentile
$50K
Geographic Reach
National34 states funded
About 23% of grants go to recipients in NY.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Where John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Funds
Top 8 recipient countries by grant volume for John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
| Rank | Country | Grants | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United StatesDomestic | 538 | $21.4M | 94.1% |
| 2 | Canada | 25 | $1.1M |
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