Thanks to a new donation, the College Art Association is taking its members to where the art is.

CAA recently announced the launch of a $1 million fund that will pay grants to art history faculty and students to visit shows specifically relevant to their course material. The fund, which will hand out grants of up to $10,000 for eligible scholars and students, came about thanks to a major gift from an anonymous donor.

In a news release, CAA Executive Director Hunter O’Hanian noted that the donation highlights the authority of the association.

“This incredibly generous gift will not only support art history scholars and students for years to come, it is a powerful message to the visual arts field that their work is as important as ever,” O’Hanian stated. “The new fund also reinforces CAA as the pre-eminent organization supporting and advancing professionals in the visual arts and design.”

The gifts will support travel, lodging, and admission to the exhibitions. CAA will administer the gifts with the help of a jury selected by the association, with applications being accepted starting in the fall.

The program is one of many grant programs the association operates. Earlier this month, CAA launched the latest edition of its Professional Development Fellowship, a long-running program that offers $10,000 grants to graduate-level students who show major promise—one for a student who practices art and another for one who curates, studies, or critiques it. In addition, CAA offers a series of publication grants in support of the printing of scholarly manuscripts.

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