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Candid conversations with global art foundations
Over three days, twenty-seven leading voices from across the arts will surface challenges, insights and innovations across nine conversations. Core questions will reflect on what responsibilities the field carries, what the real costs and considerations are by doing so, and what structures and opportunities need to be built to ensure the work continues. The goal is not conclusions. It is clarity about what matters most, and what the field is doing about it.
Sarah Arison, Arison Art Foudnation
Simon Castets, Keith Haring Foundation
Andrew Goldstein, Dedalus Media Architects
Elise Herget, The Watermill Center
Kelani Nichole, FORA Consortium
Karen Patterson, Ruth Arts Foundation
Anna Raginskaya, Blue Rider Group
Carolyn Ramo, A&L Berg Foundation
Jennifer Rice, Forman Arts Initiative
Legacy Russell, The Kitchen
Eleanor Savage, Jerome Foundation
Marco Zappalorto, OGR Torino
At the Stoa: New York opens on Tuesday with three hour-long sessions, open to the public, followed by a drinks reception.
Member-only workshops on Wednesday and Thursday mornings are followed by afternoon symposium sessions, open to the public.
Special events are available to Stoa members throughout the week.
Symposium daily schedule
15, September
2:00 pm: Sessions 1 and 2 begin
4:20 pm: Coffee break
4:45 pm: Session 3 begins
6:00 pm: Drinks reception
16 and 17 September
10:00 am - 12:00 pm: Stoa Workshop
2:00 pm: Sessions 1 and 2 begin
4:20 pm: Coffee break
4:45 pm: Session 3 begins
Tuesday 15
When artists become institutions
Foundations built by living artists are reshaping the field. At the Stoa opens with a candid conversation on what brought them here, what they owe the communities around them, and what the field owes them in return.
Building community through art
Community is the word everyone uses. But what does it mean when the scale, power dynamics and geography are this different? Three foundation leaders working across vastly different contexts explore what genuine community-building requires, what it costs, and how art can be the primary tool for getting there.
Mission-alignedfunding
When the mission becomes the primary metric, what counts assuccess? This panel examines what mission-aligned funding looks like in practice, how it shapes relationships with grantees, and what it takes to make it a long-term strategy.
Wednesday 16
The next generation
A new generation of heirs and founders is inheriting not just wealth but expectation. This panel looks at how they are remaking cultural patronage on their own terms and asks what they choose to keep and what they choose to change.
Value-driven investing
What happens when a foundation’s investments work against the very mission they exist to fund? From screening and divestment to impact investing, the panelists examine endowment as a tool for change and weigh the real trade-offs along the way.
Governance and the founder transition
Three-quarters of foundations surveyed for The Stoa Report cite governance challenges. The hardest sit at the founder transition, when a vision must outlive its author and the structures built around their authority must function without them.
Thursday 17
Worldbuilding as foundation practice
Gaming and immersive practice are already shaping how the next generation relates to culture, giving rise to hybrid foundations built with commercial overlap in mind. This panel asks what foundations need to understand about these audiences, and what worldbuilding offers a field still organised around the object.
Digital Stewardship and the long archive
Digital is the most-flagged adaptation driver in the Stoa Report (42%) yet remains unevenly resourced. What does it mean to steward a collection or institutional memory across changing formats? What happens when digital becomes a strategy and not an afterthought?
What the field needs to build next
A synthesis conversation that draws on the multiple perspectives shared across three days. The pane lists reflect on what has surfaced, naming the structural argument built together and proposing where the foundation sector's work goes from here.
Become a Stoa member and get exclusive tools, insights, and a trusted global community. Learn more about membership here.
*All prices include sales tax
Workshops are 2-hour, closed-door sessions with professionals from outside and colleagues from within - a trusted space to build your knowledge, ask hard questions, and find practical solutions.
Each worksop runs from 10:00 am - 12:00pm. Participants will receive a comprehensive set of Workshop Notes including presentation slides.
Pre-registration is required. Seating is limited.
16 September
Mission-aligned funding
Participants will build on the Day 1 afternoon session and closely examine what mission alignment looks like when funding cycles, board pressures, and scale collide with conviction.
17 September
The financial future
A practical, technical workshop to explore core financial strategies including endowment structures, recoverable grants, donor-advised funds, and mission-aligned investing. The session will be led by Anna Raginskaya, Blue Rider Group of Morgan Stanley.
Workshops are available for Stoa members at no-charge. Pre-registration is required.
Learn more about our membership programme, benefits and how you can join. Just fill out this little form and we will be in touch.
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