The POMONA Art Fund, founded in collaboration with the King Baudouin Foundation, supports artists and creative processes in Belgium by awarding individual grants to artists in all visual disciplines at key moments in their development. Together with project grants and a solidarity fund, the fund also aims to promote the conditions in which the arts in Belgium can flourish.

Specifically, the POMONA Art Fund aims to award substantial grants (of approximately €25,000) to artists at various stages of their lifepath. Other forms of support will be dedicated to professional development, for example by providing an amount to cover studio costs for a certain period. Increasing the number and especially the diversity of opportunities within the artistic sector will increase chances for everyone.

An independent advisory committee of artists and other creative professionals – including Luc Tuymans (visual artist), Otobong Nkanga (visual artist), Dirk Snauwaert (curator, director WIELS), Regine Basha (curator), Charif Benhelima (visual artist), Nav Haq (curator, associate director MUHKA), and Dorothée Duvivier (curator, BPS22) – assists the POMONA Art Fund and monitors the quality, transparency and diversity of the various grants and funds. The committee will moreover maintain a critical eye on how the funds are distributed.

The grants themselves are awarded by independent juries of experts, which are themselves composed with a particular view to their diversity, not just in terms of discipline and areas of expertise, but also regarding a sensitive balance of gender, origin, age, language communities, and international perspectives.

The POMONA Art Fund, managed by the King Baudouin Foundation, is an initiative of SOFAM. SOFAM is a non-profit cooperative society run by artists, specialised since 1979 in authors’ rights for visual artists. It is authorised to act as a collective management company, and for the collection and distribution of resale rights. SOFAM places the interests of artists and a fair remuneration for creative work at the centre of its activities.

Anyone can make a donation. An annual donation of 40 euros, for example, grants the donor a tax reduction of 45% on their gift. Businesses may also deduct their donations as business expenses, with different conditions applicable beneath specific ceilings.