30 Jul. 2024

News Release

Helen Frankenthaler Foundation Awards $3.3M to 69 Visual Arts Organizations Across the U.S. Through Fourth Phase of Frankenthaler Climate Initiative

With $14.1M Conferred to Date in Support of Climate Action, Foundation Advances New Standards of Energy Efficiency, Sustainability, and Resiliency in the Arts

New York, NY – July 30, 2024 – The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation announced today that it has awarded $3.3M in grants to 69 arts organizations across the country through the fourth cycle of the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative (FCI). Dedicated to advancing climate action in the visual arts, FCI supports a wide range of transformative energy-efficiency and environmental sustainability projects that help arts organizations assess, develop, and implement plans that reduce environmental impacts and operational costs and promote clean energy generation. The 2024 cohort of grantees also includes the first recipients of the Catalyst Grant, which funds short-term projects for organizations that are often at earlier stages of their climate action trajectory. Throughout the United States, the 2024 recipients range in size, scale and mission, including non-collecting institutions such as Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) (MA), MoMA PS1 (NY), Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (MO), and the New Museum (NY); nonprofits such as The Kitchen (NY), The Swiss Institute (NY), Storefront for Art and Architecture (NY), and The Chinati Foundation (TX); art schools and university museums such as Rhode Island School of Design (RI), New Mexico Highlands University Foundation (NM), and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (IL); museums such as Seattle Art Museum (WA), National Nordic Museum (WA), and Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico (PR); and community art centers such as Racing Magpie (SD); among many others.

“The Foundation is delighted with the advancements in environmental sustainability spearheaded by our partners through the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative,” remarked Lise Motherwell, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation. “With its newest round of grantees, FCI has supported over two hundred visual arts organizations to date and is leading the way in tangible climate action.”

“Over the last four years, FCI grantees have developed and implemented groundbreaking climate focused initiatives, inspiring a surge in applications and more ambitious projects,” added Elizabeth Smith, Executive Director of the Foundation. “Extending the Foundation’s full range of grantmaking activities, FCI upholds Helen Frankenthaler’s legacy and cultivates a future where our peer organizations in the visual arts lead the way in creating a more sustainable world.”

Created and overseen by the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation in partnership with RMI and Environment & Culture Partners, FCI has expanded its impact and reach since its inception in 2021, with broadened eligibility criteria and consecutive increases in its funding over the years, from the initial $5M pledge to the current $15M commitment. Among the first grantmaking initiatives promoting energy efficiency and clean energy generation at art organizations, FCI now includes projects at over 200 institutions across 37 states in the United States.

“Thanks to the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative, we’re already seeing significant and lasting changes within the industry. The level of knowledge demonstrated by this year’s awardees indicates a higher baseline of clean energy understanding and capabilities as compared to a few years ago,” remarked Sarah Sutton, CEO of Environment & Culture Partners. “Their projects not only reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions and operating costs, they often incorporate components that also benefited their communities. Some are able to make ticket prices or artists’ costs more affordable, others are expanding offerings without increasing emissions, and some are planning for disaster resilience in ways that benefit their neighborhoods.”

“The Frankenthaler Climate Initiative continues to enable an extraordinary shift in how arts organizations act on climate,” said Jon Creyts, CEO of RMI. “This year’s grantees are a testament to the ingenuity and commitment of many schools, museums, and other organizations that are embracing energy efficiency and clean energy technologies to reduce pollution, lower energy costs, and improve resilience. These projects are not just about installing super-efficient HVAC systems and solar microgrids; they are about showing what is possible when creativity and environmental responsibility intersect. RMI is proud to join the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation and Environment & Culture Partners in supporting this fourth cycle of FCI’s visionary leaders who prove that cultural organizations can be a powerful force for climate action and a model for others to follow."

The Frankenthaler Climate Initiative reflects the Foundation’s mission to steward a vibrant arts and culture landscape, with ongoing support for education, scholarship, and resiliency planning to ensure the future of the field. This year’s awardees are aligning their visual arts and education missions with a commitment to tangible climate action. Through FCI’s support, these institutions are taking the following actions:

• Embracing innovative new technologies and systems to increase energy efficiency, including the North Carolina Glass Center, which will use electric hot shops in its new education facility; the Flint Institute of Arts, which will replace electric steam humidifiers with new ultrasonic humidification units to regulate artwork storage conditions; and the Seattle Art Museum, which will modernize its Building Management System with automation and digitization capacities to maintain optimal energy efficiency.

• Advancing net-zero and carbon-neutral plans, including the California College of the Arts, which will deploy solar energy through a new microgrid system at its expanded San Francisco campus, aiming for net-zero operations; MacDowell, where extensive artist studio renovations will advance its goal of being a carbon-neutral campus by 2045; and the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation, which will install a new battery system and solar panels as part of its net-zero building renovation plan.

• Upgrading and renovating historic buildings with energy-efficient systems that are being repurposed for the arts, including the Center for Photography at Woodstock, which is rehabilitating an old cigar factory with a design for an all-electric building; and KinoSaito, which is installing solar panels and HVAC units for its art storage facility to maintain net-zero status while keeping temperature-safe conditions for artwork.

• Conducting feasibility assessments and energy efficiency audits to identify opportunities for comprehensive improvement, including the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, which is undertaking an analysis of how its 125-year-old building can reduce its carbon footprint and increase its on-site renewable energy production; and Bakehouse Art Complex, which will conduct energy-use assessments for its 100-year-old historic building, producing recommendations that will inform a multi-million dollar renovation plan.

In support of the Initiative’s commitment to aligning cultural sector practices with federally recognized energy standards, FCI grant recipients track and report their energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions using Energy Star® Portfolio Manager®, an industry-standard tool created and administered by the EPA. The application process for the next grantmaking cycle is expected to open in Spring 2025.

About the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative

The Frankenthaler Climate Initiative is the first nationwide program to support energy efficiency and clean energy use for the visual arts and the largest private national grantmaking program to address climate change action through cultural institutions. The $15-million ongoing initiative provides critical support to visual arts organizations in the United States seeking to assess their impact on the environment and to lower ongoing energy costs. The Foundation has conferred more than $14.1 million since its launch in 2021, supporting 244 energy efficiency and clean energy projects at 200 institutions across 37 states in the U.S.

Supporting climate action at various stages of development, FCI grants include:

• Catalyst Grants (up to $15,000), a new grant category for first actions, small spaces, or stand-alone projects with a quick turnaround;

• Scoping Grants (up to $25,000), supporting outside assessments to identify clean energy needs and options;

• Technical Assistance Grants (up to $50,000), focusing on complex project support and design; and

• Implementation Grants (up to $100,000), enacting innovative, large-scale infrastructural changes, often in concert with other funding sources.

Building on the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation’s commitment to social impact philanthropy and to catalyzing positive change on critical issues in the arts, the Foundation launched and leads FCI in association with RMI, an independent nonprofit that engages businesses, communities, institutions, and entrepreneurs in accelerating the adoption of market-based solutions that cost-effectively create a clean, prosperous, and secure low-carbon future; and Environment & Culture Partners, a nonprofit that creates relationships and leads collaborations that engage the cultural sector in broader climate action. For more information, visit frankenthalerclimateinitiative.org.

About the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation

Established and endowed by Helen Frankenthaler during her lifetime, the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation advances the artist’s legacy and inspires a new generation of practitioners through a range of philanthropic, educational, and research initiatives. Since becoming active in 2013, the Foundation has continued to strategically expand its program, which includes organizing and supporting significant exhibitions of the artist’s work, fostering new research and publications, advancing educational programs in partnership with arts organizations around the world, and launching groundbreaking initiatives that foster systemic change in the field. As a primary resource on the artist, and a steward of her collection and archive, the Foundation holds an extensive selection of Frankenthaler’s work in a variety of mediums, her collection of works by other artists, and original papers and materials pertaining to her life and work.