In 2020, the Princess Grace Foundation embarked on an assessment of our Awards Program to evaluate how the Princess Grace Foundation ensures the Awards program stays true to the core mission of supporting and elevating extraordinary emerging talent.

The Princess Grace Foundation is proud of our nearly 40 year track record of supporting our artistic community and elevating a diverse range of artists across disciplines, geography, race, gender and sexuality. The review of the Awards Program recognized that the landscape of theater, dance and film has changed since our grant-making activity began in 1982, the need to ensure our application process remains equitable and accessible, and that funding to artists is optimized to be reflective of artists’ needs, particularly as the artistic communities continue to emerge from the Covid-19 shutdown.

The assessment of the Awards Program was led by our Taskforce and members of the Arts Advisory Board. Thank you to members of the Taskforce and Arts Advisory Board for their time and dedication to the process.

Read Assessment Report Here

Values of the Princess Grace Foundation:

• The Princess Grace Foundation is interested in artists’ unique voices and trajectories; and evaluates each artist through the lens of their individual journey.
• The Princess Grace Foundation believes that extraordinary talent is found across diverse groups of artists and is committed to identifying and supporting diversity in all its forms: gender, race, sexuality, accessibility, etc.
• The Princess Grace Foundation is committed to curating Selection Panels that reflect the diversity of the artistic landscapes considering form and geography as well as the diversity of artists including gender, race, sexuality, accessibility, etc. in its selection of Panelists.

Award winners are selected annually by experts in theater, dance and film. Applicants are assessed in review stages consisting of both online and in person panel reviews by Adjudicators. Each Adjudicator brings their own experience and aesthetic to the table, however decisions are made by consensus.

Stages of Review

• • Round 1: The Nomination: Adjudicators evaluate each component of the application within their specific area(s) of expertise via the online application system.
  • Round 2: The Full Application:
    • Adjudicators review applicants within their specific area(s) of expertise via the online application evaluating each component of the Full Application including work samples.
    • Multidisciplinary artists: Adjudicators convene to discuss applicants who have identified themselves and wish to be reviewed by multiple disciplines. Adjudicators share knowledge and perspective from their respective disciplines.
    • Adjudicators convene in person to discuss the applications and select the Princess Grace Award winners.

About the Adjudicators 

Selection panels are curated collaboratively by the Arts Advisory Board, Director of Programming and CEO. Princess Grace Award Adjudicators participate and review applications in all stages of the review process. They are experts within the disciplines of theater, dance, choreography, film, and animation, and are also equipped to evaluate applicants based on the Princess Grace Foundation’s mission and values.

The Arts Advisory Board Chair and Director of Programming facilitate and moderate each stage of the process and are not voting members in the selection of the Princess Grace Awards.

Learn more about the Arts Advisory Board, Adjudicators and the panel process here.