Grants Awarded March 2023

“Cloth as Land: Hmong Indigeneity and its adjunct programming grows out of a long partnership between JMKAC and the Hmong community in Sheboygan. Pachia Vang has studied our collection of Hmong traditional arts and has created a vision for expanding the dialogue surrounding both traditional and contemporary expression. Several artists in residence during the extended run of the exhibition will powerfully support the Arts Center’s mission: to generate a creative exchange between artists and the public,” said Amy Horst, Director, John Michael Kohler Arts Center. “We will prioritize the guidance offered by the contemporary artists in their expansion of historical methods and cultural beliefs as a form of resistance and reverence. Our goal is to provide a space where all members of our community find common ground and begin to understand one another more completely.” 

The High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon, possesses a vision to cultivate “a world where people and the landscape can thrive together.” They are working to bring their vision to life with the reinstalled permanent exhibition Creating Together, which immerses visitors in the landscapes, cultures, and art of the Indigenous Plateau. The exhibition centers on the theme “Lighted Earth,” which recognizes light as a giver of life that connects us all.

“Creating Together brings together Native knowledge holders, High Desert Museum staff, and other experts to reimagine how we contextualize artwork and material culture for our upcoming renovation of our permanent exhibition dedicated to the peoples of the Indigenous Plateau. The museum is committed to a collaborative exhibition development process in which leadership is shared at all stages, ensuring advisor involvement in every aspect,” says Dana Whitelaw, Ph.D., Executive Director, High Desert Museum. “The renovated exhibition will provide transformative experiences for our almost 200,000 annual visitors, immersing them in the power of the Indigenous Plateau worldview, evoking reflection about their own worldviews, and cultivating new narratives about American art and the history of the High Desert region. Creating Together is an innovative process that will have ongoing impact long after the exhibition opens. It is fostering long-term relationships with Indigenous partners that will support collaborative exhibitions and programs and will honor the ongoing connections between objects at the museum and contemporary communities.” 

The Boston Athenaeum—a library, museum, and cultural center—supports an exhibition program that will feature The Harriet Hayden Albums: Visualizing Freedom, Reconstructing Community. In 2018, the Boston Athenaeum acquired two carte-de-visite photograph albums that belonged to the self-emancipated, antislavery activist Harriet Bell Hayden (1816–1893). These albums highlight and document the social, political, and religious networks of Black Bostonians and their white allies during the abolitionist movement.

“This exhibition celebrates historical figures, artists, and communities systematically excluded from narratives, practices, and presentations of American art,” said Bridget Keane, Chief Development Officer, Boston Athenaeum. “These stories will be told through often disparate histories of photography, American art, material and print culture, and social activism. The exhibition will take place only a few blocks away from Hayden’s Beacon Hill home, a significant site on the Underground Railroad in the 1850s. The albums and the exhibition contribute to an ongoing initiative to diversify the Boston Athenaeum’s historic collections and programming. Amplifying the perspectives of previously marginalized groups and supporting community engagement efforts are paramount as we connect with audiences reflective of Boston’s cultural diversity today. This exhibition supports the Boston Athenaeum’s mission to engage all who are seeking knowledge, as well as to spark critical conversations, foster an engaged, diverse membership, and cultivate our library’s dynamic collections for the purposes of research and enjoyment alike.” 

For all foundation grants awarded, and for more information about the grants, please see the grants database.