Our purpose is clear, to illuminate shared challenges and opportunities, to invite thoughtful interrogation, and to craft and share new approaches.
Join usOver three days, leading voices from across the arts will sit with these questions directly, what responsibilities does the field carry, what are the real costs and considerations of doing so,and what opportunities or structures need to be built to ensure the work continues. The goal is not conclusions. It is clarity about what matters most, and what the fieldis doing about it.
Day 1: Tuesday, 15
Rockefeller Center
The obligations they carry
The first day surfaces the weight of expectation now placed on private art foundations. As artists step into roles of civic and cultural leadership, what are the obligations to community that action creates? Ultimately, it lands with values and explores the metric shift in how funders evaluate, justify and withhold support.
Day 2: Wednesday, 16
Museum of Arts and Design
The price of responsibility
What does carrying these responsibilities cost in terms of governance, money, or structural dependency? Opening with the next generation, the discussion looks at what they choose to keep, and what to change. It moves into how a foundation's investments can work against its own values, and lands on founder transition.
Day 3: Thursday, 17
Guggenheim New York
Building for the future
These two panels open with worldbuilding naming the audience the field is building for and digital stewardship naming the infrastructure built to carry it. The conversation then lands on keeping a founding vision alive, not just intact, decades on, where the tension shows up, and how it might have to adapt.
Stoa Workshops
Create a trusted space for professionals from outside and colleagues from within to ask hard questions, build knowledge, and find practical solutions.
Mission-aligned funding
Designed for grant-makers, the two-hour morning session builds directly on the previous afternoon’s conversation on creating alignment within the funding space.
The financial future
A members-only morning filled with practical and technical information about endowment structure, value-led investing, and types of operational structures.
Hidden in plain sight:
Art Foundations in the biennial landscape
8 May 2026
As biennials multiply and public funding retreats, art foundations are quietly shaping the biennial landscape. With that support comes influence, dependency, and questions about artistic freedom and curatorial integrity. Moderated by Rafal Niemojewski, Biennial Foundation, the two afternoon panel discussions explore “The Funding Nobody Talks About” and “Mission-Driven Goals on a Global Stage”.
Speakers: Cosmin Costinas, 9th Yokohama Triennial; Kate Fowle, The Hearthland Foundation; Veronica Flom, Fundación Ama Amoedo; Jörg Garbrecht, Alexander Stutsek-Stiftung; Michjael Joo, Contemporary artist; Chelsea Pettitt, Bagri Foundation; Durjoy Rahman, Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation; and Adama Sanneh, Moleskine Foundation.
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Cultural exchange:
Learning from the Global South
11 February 2026
Concentrating on strategic partnerships and cultural exchange, the programme examines how cultural relationships are initiated, structured, and sustained across distinct political, economic, and institutional contexts. Panel discussions address governance, leadership, and the conditions required for collaboration to endure over time. Scripted provocations and moderated dialogue reveal practical insights, test assumptions, and reflect on how cultural work is developed, resourced, and stewarded.
Speakers include: Moderator Alessio Antoniolli, Triangle Arts Network; Alain Nsiona Defise, Defise Foundation; Carolina Pelletier Fontes, Forward Art Stories (FAS); Nusrat Mahmud, Brihatta Foundation; and Hiba Saffieddine Nesr, Nesr Foundation
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Risk-taking, changemaking,
and stewardship.
22 October 2025
Art foundations face a unique set of challenges. While maintaining or building a collection, commissioning work or providing access, foundation leaders must also address vital questions of purpose, accountability, and longevity amid shifting cultural, political, and economic realities. The October 22 programme lights upon emerging trends and explores the collective footprint of foundations within the broad arts ecosystem.
Speakers include: Bénédicte Alliott, Cité internationale des arts; Sharon Corwin, Terra Foundation for American Art; Andrew Goldstein (moderator), TECHNÉ Chicago; Belinda Holden, Yinka Shonibare Foundation; Margaux Huille, Fondation H; Anne Kraybill, Art Bridges Foundation; Thomas Marks (moderator) Marks Calil; Sandra Terdjman, KADIST; Philip Tinari, UCCA and Benjamin Weil, Calouste Gulbenkian CAM.
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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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