For grant recipients

On this site you will find information and instructions about receiving and spending grants. Please keep us updated about your project – you can also send in photographs and information for us to share on Frame’s website and through social media. You can submit information also through our grant service.

Contact – Link opens in new window

Frame takes social, environmental and economic responsibility into account in its operations. The principles of equity, respect for freedom of expression, recognition of the pluralism of the artistic community and respect for sustainable development are defined as the guiding principles of Frame’s activities. These principles also apply to our grant activities.

It is the responsibility of the grantee to ensure that the funding is used for the purpose for which it was awarded. The grantee must act in a fair and equitable manner.

Within working groups formed by artists or art professionals, all members who have signed the power of attorney are equally responsible for the proper use and accounting of the grant. The contact person for the working group is the applicant.

We recommend that working groups agree in writing on the division of labour, financial monitoring, crediting of works, et cetera.

The role of the grant project’s contact person is:

  • To act as a contact person to Frame Foundation and answer inquiries about the grant application
  • In working groups, to draw up and send the power of attorney of the working group
  • To sign the grant agreement
  • To receive the grant sum
  • To negotiate any necessary changes to the grant agreement if needed be
  • To compile and send a report on the use of the grant, together with its annexes, to Frame’s grant system

 

Fair conduct in Frame-supported projects

All participants in the grant project must ensure that there is no discrimination on the basis of age, origin, nationality, language, religion, conviction, opinion, social activities, family relationships, health, disability, sexual orientation or any other personal grounds. All participants in the grant project must act fairly and equally. Bullying, inappropriate treatment or harassment should not be tolerated.

Safer Space guidelines

We follow and also expect grantees to follow the Safer Space guidelines in the projects we fund. You can find out more about the Safer Space guidelines here.

If you experience or notice any activities, conflicts or otherwise disruptive behaviour in your project that violate the Safer Space guidelines, please let us know. Please contact our harassment contact person, Sari Väänänen, Head of Administration (sari.vaananen@frame-finland.fi), so that we can consider how to resolve the situation. You can also suggest changes to our safer space policy.

What is inappropriate treatment and harassment? Find out more on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in Finland website.

 

Ecological sustainability

Ecological sustainability is not a criterion for awarding grants. However, we encourage grant applicants and grantees to assess the environmental sustainability of their travel and projects.

We recognise that travel is important but so is reducing travel. We therefore take a planned and far-sighted approach to international networking, including the use of digital channels to maintain networks and showcase artists. We believe that meeting people is a value. By creating opportunities for the mobility of contemporary art professionals, we create opportunities to work abroad, long-term partnerships and the renewal of artistic work. Mobility is not always just about travelling.

Here are some environmental questions to think about when planning your trip:

  1. Consider whether travel is necessary for the success of the project.
  2. Consider whether you could travel more slowly for the project, or whether you would prefer to travel in a less carbon-intensive way than flying.
  3. If you want to know the carbon footprint of your travel plan, you can use a range of calculators to compare different modes of transport and accommodation options.
  1. Think about the materials you use in your project and their possible reuse. You are an expert on the materials you use. We also trust your judgement when it comes to ecology.

Payment plan

  • Submit a payment plan including your account number through Frame’s grant service.
  • Working groups: The contact person for the working group fills in the payment plan in the grant service. The contact person must download power of attorney from the payment plan page and deliver it to the members of the group to sign.

Agreement

  • Once you have submitted the payment plan, we will check it and notify you by email.
  • Sign the grant agreement using Finnish online bank access codes or print it out, sign it, and mail it to Frame in order for the grant to be finalised.

  • Grant payments will be made to grantees outside of Finland and foreign bank accounts only after the grantee has submitted a grant report at the end of the grant-supported project.
  • We will pay the grant into the account specified in the payment plan and grant agreement. The grant recipient must be the official account holder.
  • The payments are made approximately once a month.

Spending

  • The grant must be spent during the year it is awarded.
  • A Frame grant must be spent for the purpose for which it was granted, meaning the project and expenses stated in the application.
  • If you are uncertain about any matter related to spending the grant, please contact Frame’s office.
  • Keep track of your expenses when you spend the grant. Keep receipts and other documents; you will need them later when you report how the grant was spent. You can study the report form in advance in Frame’s grant service.

Grants cannot be spent on

  • residencies (including travel to and from)
  • per diems or living costs
  • gallery rental or participation fees
  • production and material costs of artworks
  • installation costs or equipment purchases
  • artistic work
  • studies, theses
  • the expenses of foreign artists not based in Finland
  • events or exhibitions in Finland

 

Mentioning Frame

  • Frame must be mentioned as the sponsor of the project or publication in all the related material (invitation, brochure, catalogue or other printed material as well as the website) or in the publication itself.
  • Frame may be cited in written text or using the Frame logo.

Logo

  • Primary logo “Frame Contemporary Art Finland” should be used in most cases, whenever possible. Secondary logo “Frame Finland” can be used in very small formats, e.g. when there is lack of space. 
  • The logo should be used in black or white, depending on the background color.
  • Only use the logos found in the Frame’s material bank. Do not alter the logo files in any way. 
  • No stretching, effects, masking, altering the layout or using a color is allowed.
  • Download the logos from Frame’s Material bank.

The name of Frame

  • The organisation’ s name is Frame Contemporary Art Finland.
  • The name cannot be translated into other languages.

Social media

  • When you communicate about your project in social media, you can mention Frame by name, tag Frame or use the hashtags #FrameFinland and #FrameGrant.

Frame on social media

The grant should be used for the purpose for which it has been awarded. Any changes connected to your grant project must be reported to Frame. If the content of the project or the composition of the artist group changes significantly, the changes must be agreed on with Frame.

Please log in to our grants service and send a new message to discuss changes in the use of your grant. Please explain shortly what has changed after the grant decision and why. Report to Frame as soon as possible if there are any substantial changes to the project’s:

  • artistic content
  • participants
  • location
  • date
  • expenses
  • extensiveness

If the grant is not spent compliant with the terms and conditions of the agreement, we will be forced to recover the grant in part or in full. Returned grants will be distributed in the following application period.

  • If the grant project is cancelled, inform Frame as soon as possible using the grants service.
  • Please remember to be also in contact with your airline and travel insurance company.
  • If your grant has already been transferred but your trip or project gets cancelled, submit your final report. Please report the reasons why the project was discontinued and the expenses you have had up until the cancellation of the project. 
  • If you have any incurred costs such as travel, accommodation, transport or insurance expenses that neither your airline, organising party or your insurance company will compensate for, we can discuss the use of the grant. 
  • Unused grants shall be paid back to us.
  • Returned grants will be distributed in the following application period.

Report your grant

  • You will be required to declare how you spent your grant by filling out the report form on Frame’s grant service.
  • Frame is responsible for ensuring that the grants are spent in compliance with the terms and conditions for special allowances. Frame reports them annually to the Ministry of Education and Culture.
  • If you are not able to submit an acceptable report before the deadline or if you have not spent the grant for the purpose that is stated in the application, Frame has the right to reclaim the grant money.
  • If you neglect to submit a report, you will be ineligible to receive another grant.

Reporting deadlines

  • A project grant recipient must submit a spending report no later than two months after the end of the project.
  • A travel grant recipient must submit a spending report no later than one month after the end of the trip.

Required information for the reporting form

  • The start and end date of the project
  • A description of the project, its targeted audience and achieved outcomes
  • An itemised list of the project’s proceeds and expenditure
  • A report of any other subsidies received for the same purpose
  • Attachments
  • Organisations must present an accounting cost pool’s account specific income statement for the supported activity, authenticated with the accountant’s signature and a general ledger for the cost pool
  • Individual applicants must submit invoices and receipts or copies thereof
  • 1–5 printable images for documentation. Frame Contemporary Art Finland has the right to use the images for publicity purposes without separate permission or compensation for use.
  • Grant-funded publications should be sent to Frame’s office in 3 copies.

Monitoring

  • Both Frame and the Ministry of Education and Culture have the right to inspect and monitor the accounting records and other relevant activities of the grant recipient.
  • Frame monitors the use of grants by making spot checks.
  • The grant recipient is obliged to keep invoices and receipts for ten years.

The grant money will be reclaimed if

  • The grant has been spent on a clearly different purpose than what it was awarded for.
  • The grant or part thereof cannot be spent in the manner agreed when the grant was awarded or within the time period for which it was awarded.
  • An acceptable spending report is not submitted before the deadline.
  • The grant recipient gave Frame wrong or misleading information or concealed facts with an notable impact on the grant decision, amount or terms of the grant.
  • The grant recipient breaks the terms or conditions of the grant agreement in any substantial manner.
  • The grant was paid to the recipient in error, in excess or obviously without cause.

Information concerning awarded grants is public. Frame publishes its decision on its website. We may also share grant decisions in the media and publish the information in the foundation’s annual report.

Every January we inform the Finnish Tax Administration of all grants of €1,000 or more that we awarded to natural persons in the previous year.

The following information is valid for grantees liable to taxation in Finland:

A grant recipient must report the awarded grant and the associated expenses in their tax declaration. Grants awarded by Frame are targeted grants, and the expenses targeted by the grant must match the awarded grant. The expenses cannot be deducted in other taxes.The grant is regarded as income for the tax year in which it is paid.

Frame awards grants as a private foundation even though we are subsidised to award grants by the Finnish government. Grants paid by private parties are exempt from tax if the total amount of grant income you receive for the year does not exceed the amount of the State’s artist grant (25 547,52 euros in 2023).

For more information

Tax administration’s information on grants