GRANTS
introduction
Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation awards grants to artists and researchers as well as for activities of general interest. The annual application period for the Foundation grants is in May. The call for grant applications is published on the Foundation's website (www.linnamonsaatio.fi) towards the end of April each year.
Awarding grants for arts in even years and for science in odd years, the Foundation follows an alternate-year funding cycle. In addition, the calls for grant applications are built around a specific annually changing theme addressing a particular set of actors within the larger frameworks of arts and science. The grant decisions are made by the board of trustees of Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation based on proposals by an advisory panel of experts. Grants for collectives as well as for purposes of general interest are decided upon independently by the board of the Foundation without a coordinated round of applications.
The May round of applications: 4.–31.5.2026
The theme of 2026: Invisibility
Although we live amidst uninterrupted flows of images and demands for constant visibility, many of the phenomena, conditions, and structures that shape our lives still lie beyond our perception. These may include, for example, structures that marginalise certain groups of people, the underlying causes of the environmental and climate crises, or the algorithmic systems of digital environments and their effects. On the other hand, invisibility can also be a carefully constructed strategy that enables critical examination of the conditions of being visible. What kinds of roles can invisibility take on in the practices of visual art?
Under the theme of Invisibility, Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation announces a new call for applications from artists working with lens-based media. Through this theme, the Foundation aims to support artists in exploring the tensions between the invisible and the visible, as well as the boundaries of lens-based mediums in artistic practices. The call is open for professional visual artists who live and work in Finland and operate with photography, video or other lens-based medium. Projects related to photojournalism or documentary film production are not included in this call.
Applications are welcome from both individual artists and working groups. The grants awarded by Foundation are either personal working grants, expenditure grants, or travel grants directly related to the implementation of a particular project. The Foundation does not usually award individual grants exceeding €13,000. However, in this year’s thematic call, the Foundation will also award up to three one-year working grants. The amount of a one-year grant is €26,000 (€2,166.66 per month). Guidelines for submitting an application are found on the Foundation’s website under the title Grants / for grant applicants.
The application period for the 2026 thematic grants is May 4–31, 2026.
Applications, including attachments, must be submitted through the online grant service available on the Foundation’s website on Sunday, May 31, 2026 at 23:59 (UTC +3) at the latest.
Applications submitted after this time or in a form not corresponding with the Foundation's guidelines will not be reviewed.
Further information: [email protected]
Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation
Board of Trustees
For grant applicants
Who can apply?
Finnish citizens and citizens of other countries living and working in Finland as well as working groups consisting of such individuals are eligible to apply.
To what ends, how much, and for what period?
The Foundation awards grants for work conducted predominantly in Finland (working grant), for expenses related to projects realised primarily in Finland (expenditure grant), and for travel expenses directly related to the realisation of aforementioned projects (travel grant). Working grants are awarded for the purpose of full-time work. Expenditure and travel grants are intended for expenses incurred after grant decisions.
Art grants are awarded for work, for project expenses (e.g. materials, services), for acquisition costs (e.g. equipment), and for travel costs directly related to the production of a particular project.
Science grants are awarded for research work (doctoral dissertations and post-doctoral research), research project expenses (e.g. printing costs, translation fees), and for travel costs directly related to research work.
The applied amount should be based on a clearly defined budget and can be freely chosen by the applicant. However, please note that, as a rule, the Foundation does not award individual grants exceeding the sum of thirteen thousand (13 000) euros.
The grants are intended to be used primarily within two years following the date when they were awarded.
Limitations and restrictions
The Foundation does not award grants to:
- undergraduate and postgraduate ( bachelor's and master's) studies
- internships
- travel costs related to arts residencies
- travel costs related to participation in various events
- travel costs related to conferences or meetings
The application and its required attachments
1. An application can be formulated freely in either Finnish or English language. It must meet the following substantive requirements:
a) Basic information on the applicant and the application
Personal details of the applicant (full name, address, phone number, email address, date of birth), degrees or diplomas obtained, applied sum, and a short description of the intended use of the grant. If the application is for a working group, it should contain the above information on all working group members.
b) Abstract
An abstract sums up the contents, objectives and importance a project and outlines the processes enabled by the applied grant. The maximum length of an abstract is four thousand (4 000) characters.
c) Grants
An application should indicate the grants already awarded to the grant project as well as all pending applications addressed to other funders concerning the project.
d) Consent
A written consent of the applicant to both the Foundation's processing and use of personal data and to the rules on grant usage and reporting is a required component of the application. Before submitting an application, therefore, applicants should examine the Foundation's data protection policy and the guidelines for grant recipients.
2. Required attachments:
a) Work plan (art grants)
A work plan describes the project's artistic objectives and main contents and includes a production schedule and a comprehensive budget. The maximum length of a work plan is five (5) pages.
b) Research plan (science grants)
A research plan describes the project's background, main contents, importance, objectives, and methods and includes a research schedule and a list of essential sources. The maximum length is five (5) pages.
c) CV
A comprehensive CV is required of all applicants / members of a working group.
d) Portfolio / work samples (art grants)
A collection of work samples that provide a sufficiently comprehensive view of the applicant's artistic practice. Please include the amount of good quality images you consider necessary or alternatively a direct link to the materials (dropbox, vimeo, www-portfolio).
e) Statement (doctoral dissertations)
Applications for doctoral dissertations must include a statement by the supervisor of the project or by another person closely acquainted with it.
The application and its required attachments must be submitted through the Foundation’s online grant service, available on the Foundation’s website, at the latest by 31 May, at 23:59 p.m. (UTC +3).
In accordance with the principles of good foundation practices, the Foundation does not comment on individual grant decisions. The list of awarded grants will be published on the Foundation's website in September. The applicants will receive a notification of the decision by email a week before the list of grantees is published.
For grant recipients
The grant recipient will receive a notification of the awarded grant via e-mail. The grant can be withdrawn by filling out a payment form that can be accessed via a link contained in the notification e-mail. Grants are primarily paid in one installment. A grant awarded by Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation must be withdrawn and used primarily within two years following the date when it was awarded. In case a grant has not been withdrawn and used within the determined time frame, it will be cancelled without further notice.
A grant must be used for the purpose for which it has been awarded. If the content of the project or the circumstances of its implementation change significantly, the grantee must inform the Foundation immediately to discuss possible changes in the grant's usage.
MELA, the pension fund for agricultural entrepreneurs, provides pension, accident and group life insurance coverage for grant recipients in Finland. Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation will inform MELA of all working grants awarded to individuals for periods of four (4) months or more and exceeding the minimum level for pension payments (€ 3 900 / year in 2019). It is the grantees' responsibility to contact MELA in order to arrange a pension coverage.
The grant recipient must declare the grant received from Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation in the tax declaration. The Foundation notifies the Finnish tax authorities annually of the grants paid to natural persons.
The grant recipient must submit a report on the use of the grant to the Foundation within one year after the grant's use. The report should be sent by email to [email protected]. A new grant can be applied only after a report has been submitted on the use of a previous grant.
In accordance with good practice, the grant recipient should thank Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation in connection with the publication of supported projects. You can download the Foundation logo here.
Awarded grants
Due to changes in both data protection legislation and the operation of Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation, the names of grant recipients will not be published on the Foundation's website until 2020. The list of grant recipients will be published annually in September.
The data protection policy of Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation
In its operations, Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation complies with the EU Data Protection Regulation (2016/679), Data Protection Act of Finland, and other applicable data protection regulations concerning the privacy of registered persons. The Foundation processes personal data in accordance with the principles of good information management and the practices of good personal data processing.
In the activities of the Foundation, the processing of grant applications forms two registers: a register of grant applicants and a register of grant recipients. The registers are not kept in paper form.
When applying for a grant from Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation, the applicant consents to the use of her or his personal data to the extent required by the Foundation's basic functions as a grant awarding entity. In the Foundation's activities, the processing of personal data relates to the evaluation of applications, the payment of grants, and providing public information on the realisation of the Foundation's purpose. The data is received from the grant applicants, the grant recipients, as well as the writers of statements.
Personal information is processed by the board of trustees and the secretary general of the Foundation, the expert members of the advisory panel evaluating the applications, designated accountants and auditors. Personal information is shown only to the extent necessary for the recipient group. The Foundation provides information on grants paid to natural persons to both MELA and the Finnish tax authorities.
As the registrar, the Foundation will retain the application data of the grant recipients for three (3) years from the end of the grant year. Information regarding other applications will be retained by the Foundation for one (1) year from the end of the application year. After the end of the retention period, the Foundation will destroy the registered data.
In accordance with the guidelines for good governance issued by the Association of Finnish Foundations, Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation publishes the names of grant recipients on its website.