Open to those at any stage of their career, the No Strings Foundation Grants are an acknowledgement of creative drive, expansive imagination, and the future potential. The Grants reward those whose work and careers have been marked by a keen sense of aesthetic precedent, an overriding understanding of pictorial power, and a dogged commitment to the creative process. In evaluating the suitability of nominees for grants, the Foundation will consider the artist's past endeavors and current work, but will also focus on the potential impact the fellowship may have on the artist's future direction.

Potential recipients of No Strings Foundation grants are nominated by an anonymous national panel of curators, educators, critics, picture editors, and art directors. Grant fellows are then determined by an independent panel whose members will change annually. Each year, they will be publicly identified only after the grant recipients have been selected and notified.