MERIDEN, CT.- The Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation is offering curators, in partnership with an established non-profit exhibition space, the opportunity to be awarded the 2010 Emily Hall Tremaine Exhibition Award -- a grant of up to $150,000 for the realization of an innovative thematic exhibition concept that challenges the boundaries of contemporary art.

For the first time, the application for the award is being extended to exhibition spaces that have been established for a minimum of 5 years (a change from the prior guideline requirement of 10+ years).

The biennial Emily Hall Tremaine Exhibition Award, established in 1998, rewards experimentation at the curatorial level. The Foundation invites potential candidates to think expansively and develop exhibitions which rise above the conventional through the exploration and submission of critical ideas. The award is intended to provide funding for exhibitions at the beginning stage of their development and to provide the curator with the support needed to fully explore the concept and realize the exhibition. The Exhibition Award was created to honor the artistic vision of Emily Hall Tremaine, whose passion for art inspired, challenged and brought joy to those around her.

Past awardees include: Lydia Yee for "Street Art, Street Life" at The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY; Deborah Cullen for "Arte ≠ Vida: Actions by Artists of the Americas, 1960-2000", at El Museo del Barrio, New York; Sylvia Chivaratanond for "Skin Tight: The Sensibility of the Flesh" at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Betti-Sue Hertz for "The Past in Reverse: Contemporary Art of East Asia" at the San Diego Museum of Art; Helen Molesworth for "Work Ethic at the Baltimore Museum of Art"; and Christian Eckart, Osvaldo Romberg and Harry Philbrick for "Faith: The Impact of Judeo-Christian Religion on Art at the Millennium" at the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT.

Further information, guidelines and applications for the 2010 Award are available now at www.tremainefoundation.org. An online Intent to Apply Form must be completed by March 5, 2010, and the application deadline is April 2, 2010. (No formal invitation to apply will be sent following the submission of the Intent to Apply Form. If the Form is submitted, the Foundation expects to receive a full proposal. If the Intent to Apply Form is not submitted, the application will not be accepted.) The awards will be decided in summer 2010 by a panel of jurors including art scholars and curators.