Grants 2026: Figurative Sculpture in Clay - Frances S. Bassen Grant

The Art Students League of New York is delighted to offer Grant opportunities through the annual Merit Competition. Unless otherwise stated, Grants include a cash award plus tuition for one full-time class for the next Regular Session (September 2026-May 2027) and are open only to League members.  

I.  GRANTS ELIGIBILITY 

• League membership in good standing at time of application (member status may not be Lapsed or Dropped). The Annual Registration Fee paid by all League students who take classes is not a membership fee and does not constitute League membership. For further information regarding membership, please click here. For further information regarding membership status, please click here. 
• Candidates must be enrolled in class(es) at the time of application and competition. 
• Eligibility for grants is keyed to registration hours AND areas of concentration. For example, students who have been registered full-time in only a sculpture class will not be eligible for painting grants. Please see Available Grants listing for complete details. 
• At the time of application candidates must have completed a minimum of 1,120 cumulative class hours (full-time and/or part-time, excluding workshops), of which 420 class hours must be in the current Regular Session (September 2025 – May 2026). Read more about this requirement here under the Grants Eligibility and Class Hours heading.
• Past recipients of this grant category may not reapply but may apply for other grants (based on eligibility). 
• International students must have the appropriate visa status allowing full-time study at the time of application and for the 2026/27 Regular Session. 
• Temporary international visitors to the United States, regardless of membership status, are not eligible for the grants competition.
• If an applicant is found to be ineligible based on any of the above criteria, the application will not be reviewed.

The Frances S. Bassen Grant

This award is made possible through the generosity of the estate of Sally Grant Morse.

$3,000 and full-time tuition for one class during the regular school year. In addition to the requirements listed above, the following details are specific to this grant:

• Open only to students of traditional representational sculpture originally executed in clay.
• Past double-recipients of the Nessa Cohen Grant and past recipients of the Bassen Grant or Lucchesi Grant are not eligible for this award.
• Mandatory participation in the League's annual Scholarships & Grants Exhibition next year. Recipient is expected to produce artwork for this exhibition while on scholarship.

 ‍II.  APPLICATION PROCEDURE APPLICATION DUE DATE: Sunday, April 19, 2026 

• Required fields are marked with a red asterisk (*)
• Email Address Validation is required. You will receive an email from Submittable asking you to confirm your email address.
• Completed and signed application form. 
• Eligible students may submit multiple applications for different grant categories, each with different artworks. NOTE: Eligibility is based on the types of classes taken and the number of hours in each category.

III.  SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS 

• Submit three (3) digital images of artwork to be judged
• Artworks in multiple panels (diptych, triptych) must be submitted as single image files
• Save each file in JPEG format, no larger than 2 MB (megabytes).