The mission of the Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation is to raise awareness of and appreciation for photography and photographers who are citizens or residents of the United States by supporting photographic projects and career development, with a concentration on documentary photography.

The Leonian Foundation funds projects and programs related to the education, preservation, exhibition, and dissemination of photography. These include: education programs for K-12 students or adults; professional development opportunities such as workshops, artist residencies, fellowships, and internships; archiving and/or cataloging efforts; select exhibitions for established and/or emerging photographers with a project budget of $50,000 or less; documentary photography projects centering a specific community.

NOTE: The Leonian Foundation will no longer accept proposals for: publications; exhibitions with project budgets over $50,000; scholarly or academic lectures, talks, symposia, colloquia, or seminars.

Those applying for funding must be a U.S. tax-exempt organization, or a U.S. citizen or resident working with a fiscal sponsor. 

Grants to organizations typically range in amounts of $5-25,000. Grants to individuals with Fiscal Sponsors generally range from $1-15,000. 

First-time applicants or previous grantees proposing new projects are required to submit letters of inquiry. LOI and other inquiries may be sent to Jaclyn Miller via this Contact Form.

The next deadline for grant proposals is March 15, 2024.

Applications will need to include​:

• IRS determination letter indicating 501(c)(3) status
• Mission statement
• Details on the organization and its history
• Board of trustees with affiliations
• Current operating budget of organization
• Actual budget from most recently completed fiscal year
• One sentence summarizing the project or program
• Project description in detail
• Project budget, well-researched and thorough 

                 -Requested Leonian funds must be clearly defined

                 -Include list of other committed and potential funders

• Résumé of project director (1-2 pages, max)
• Photographic images, press articles, or other representative media

The Foundation is unable to fund multi-year grants, administrative costs, salaries, capital improvements, projects or programs that support work of non-U.S. citizens or residents, or grants to individuals. All grant recipients must have 501(c)3 status.