Artist-endowed foundations (AEF) are emerging as an increasingly influential force shaping the world of cultural philanthropy. AEFs traditionally focused on preserving and promoting their namesake’s artistic legacy, while also making grants to artists and organizations. But in recent years, these foundations have ramped up support and expanded into new grantmaking areas like transforming cities into visual arts hubs, using the arts to drive social change and COVID-19 relief.
One unique example of AEF funding launched in March 2021. In what has been called a first-of-its-kind program for the visual arts, New York City’s Helen Frankenthaler Foundation launched the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative (FCI), earmarking $5 million to support museums seeking to assess their impact on the environment and lower ongoing energy costs.
In July, it announced the recipients and dedicated an additional $5 million in response to enthusiastic interest from across the visual arts world. The foundation opened its second application cycle earlier this month, having expanded eligibility requirements to both collecting and non-collecting institutions, which have no permanent collections.
At a time when the visual arts world is embracing climate action, the FCI is an illuminating case study of how the topic-specific grantmaking initiative can align with an AEF’s conventional mission. “The hope,” Executive Director Elizabeth Smith told me, “is that shifts within the world of visual arts will continue to drive artists and institutions toward effecting change, and the FCI will continue to support major energy efficiency and clean energy projects with this next round of funding.”
How it came together
Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011) was an American abstract painter. Established and endowed by the artist during her lifetime, the foundation became active in 2013 on the closing of Frankenthaler’s estate. It maintains an extensive collection of Frankenthaler’s work, awards grants to arts organizations on a discretionary basis, and provides Frankenthaler Scholarships in painting and art history for graduate students.
In 2020, its leaders began to research ways the foundation could address climate change. “We learned that energy consumption is one of the highest fixed costs for museums’ operating budgets,” Smith told me last year. “Reducing these costs therefore frees up funds for museums to more actively pursue their missions.”
Smith and her team also found that few private foundations supported climate-related programming in the cultural sector. “We saw an opportunity to do something new that could make a difference,” she said.
Developed with the climate research organization Rocky Mountain Institute and Environment and Culture Partners, the initiative supports institutions’ energy efficiency and clean energy projects across three categories: scoping grants, which help museums understand climate and energy mitigation opportunities; technical assistance grants to support the development of an efficiency project; and implementation grants to provide partial seed funding for fully specified projects.
Looking back on the inaugural round
In July, the foundation announced its first round of funding—$5.1 million to 79 collecting institutions across more than 25 states. The 2021 grantees ran the gamut, from small, specialized museums to large institutions with annual operating budgets ranging from less than $1 million to nearly $500 million.
Looking back on that first round, Smith told me that the number and depth of applications exceeded her expectations. She attributed this to “the initiative’s necessity, particularly as FCI is the first program of its kind for the visual arts.” It was because of this enthusiastic response that leadership decided to distribute the full initial $5 million and dedicate an additional $5 million.
Anticipating a similarly high level of interest for the next round, the foundation built a digital application portal and a new set of application guidelines aimed at making the grants more accessible and inclusive.
Expanding eligibility requirements
Smith and her team decided to expand FCI eligibility to include non-collecting institutions since so many of them reached out and expressed interest during the first grant cycle, demonstrating “both the interest and need for support in this category.”
As far as the issue of need is concerned, Smith explained that non-collecting arts institutions tend to get less donor support because they have lower maintenance costs than museums—a gap that FCI’s second round aims to fill.
The foundation’s decision to extend eligibility to art schools in particular stems from its commitment to supporting the next generation of artists, “many of whom are tackling society’s most pressing issues, as well as the institutions they are learning from,” Smith told me. “We are aiming to reduce barriers to climate action rather than create them.”
The application period for the next round of FCI grants will run from April 3-17, 2021. Interested institutions can learn more by clicking here.
“An invigorated sense of purpose”
When I spoke with Smith last March after the launch of the FCI, she expressed hope that other arts funders would ramp up their work in the climate space. A year later, she has seen some encouraging progress.
Smith noted that the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties “witnessed calls for solidarity from artists around the world, from Jenny Holzer’s projections on the Tate Modern to Olafur Eliasson’s collaboration with environmental activist Kumi Naidoo.” She also heralded groups like the International Coalition of Museums and the International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art, both of which have also offered workshops to address climate action.
In addition, Smith noted that several leading museums around the world have begun “future-proofing”—loosely defined as developing methods of minimizing the effects of future climate-related shocks and stresses—including the Louvre’s newly constructed above-ground conservation center, which will house one-third of the museum’s collection.
The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation is also doing its part beyond the FCI. Last December, it announced the 2022 Frankenthaler Climate Art Awards. Developed in collaboration with the Asia Society, the initiative supports emerging artists whose work addresses climate issues. This April, three current or recent MFA graduates will be recognized with a $15,000 award at a ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
In February of 2022, Smith penned a letter in which she tied together the foundation’s growing footprint in what it calls “social impact philanthropy” with its historical mission. In the process, she provides an insightful philosophical roadmap for other AEFs looking to branch out into new grantmaking fields.
“With the enthusiastic support of our board, we have shaped a philanthropic vision to spearhead climate-change-related efforts in the art world—first and foremost by supporting museums’ efforts to mitigate their climate footprint, and now extending to artists whose work addresses climate change,” she wrote. “These programs aim to achieve a broader and deeper reach for Frankenthaler’s legacy, bringing an invigorated sense of purpose to our work.”