Leela Mukherjee Artist-Educator Grant 2026: Call for proposals
The Leela Mukherjee Artist-Educator Grant is an annual grant that seeks to support artists-educators in India who are engaged in developing and running an art education project with school-aged children (5- 18 years of age), either within or outside the classroom. The grant encourages artist-educators whose project integrates local knowledge, and lived environments and experiences into their learning and teaching methods.
Grant amount - Rs.1 lakh
Grant period - up to 12 months
Number of grants - 3Application deadline - 30 Aug 2026
The Leela Mukherjee Artist-Educator Grant was instituted by Mrinalini Mukherjee Foundation with the support of Welham Old Boys’ Society in 2024, and this is the third year of the grant.
Leela Mukherjee studied in Santiniketan before she trained in woodcarving under a master sculptor in Nepal. In 1954 she moved to Dehradun to teach at the prestigious Welham Boys’ School, living and working from the campus for over two decades(1954-1974). She later moved to Delhi and continued working with drawing and woodcarving as well as exploring printmaking and bronze casting from her space at the Garhi Studios.
While Mukherjee dedicated her life to art, exhibiting consistently from the 1950s to the 1990s, she was equally committed to her role as an art teacher in the decades that she spent at Dehradun. At Welham Boys’ School she introduced art to generations of young learners. She carried her artistic philosophy into the classroom, introducing her young students to a wide range of mediums and material, and encouraging them to make art by observing the world around them. She recognized the role of art education as being multifold - as a way for individuals to make artistic selection in everyday life, to developing citizens who share responsibilities and satisfaction, to generate sensitivity, to discover and nurture artists of the future, and guide in individual growth by providing opportunities for self-expression. Most importantly she believed that an art teacher should first be a creative artist themself.
Guidelines for the Proposal
- The proposal can be for an ongoing or upcoming project located anywhere within India.
- The proposal should clearly indicate the size and nature of the student group (do they belong to the same class/school or local community or club etc.) who will be engaged in this project, and your reason for working with this group.
- The proposal should explain your motive in undertaking this project and how you see your artistic practice and your work as an educator intersecting in this project.
- It should identify the innovative strategies, as well as the artistic modes and methods that you propose to explore.
- The proposal should outline the expected outcome(s) of the project at the end of 12 months.
- Please include a tentative budget that explains how the funds will be used, and a brief timeline of the project.
- Applicants need to be Indian citizens and residents, above the age of 18 years.
- Applicants should develop and run the projects themselves, engaging directly with the students at all stages of the project.
- If your project is being developed in partnership with a school or institution then please indicate their approval for being part of this project.
- Collectives are welcome to apply, as long as all members of the collective meet all the terms and conditions listed above.
- Mrinalini Mukherjee Foundation's grants are focused on visual arts and can support practitioners whose practice falls within the field of visual arts alone.