The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation—an arts-focused nonprofit named after its late founder, a New York painter—announced yesterday its latest round of grants, part of its 2024 Frankenthaler Climate Initiative (FCI). This iteration totals $3.3 million earmarked for 69 U.S. arts organizations. Founded in 2021 in partnership with nonprofits RMI and Environment & Culture Partners, FCI is the first national initiative to finance energy-focused projects for visual arts organizations.
Funding will enable these organizations to achieve multiple sustainability-oriented objectives: adopting new technology to improve energy efficiency, progressing toward net-zero and carbon neutral targets, and implementing green energy systems within historic buildings.
“The Frankenthaler Climate Initiative continues to enable an extraordinary shift in how arts organizations act on climate,” Jon Creyts, CEO of RMI, said in a statement. “[These projects] are about showing what is possible when creativity and environmental responsibility intersect.”
The grant program comprises four classifications tailored to different stages and scales of project development, with projects in later stages receiving higher funding.
New this year, early-stage projects for “first actions, small spaces, or stand alone projects with a quick turnaround” fall under Catalyst Grands. Other grants include Scoping Grants which fund assessments to identify clean energy needs; comprehensive project support through the Technical Assistance Grants; and Implementation Grants, offering large scale infrastructural changes.
The 2024 awardees highlight the diverse organizations and varied applications of the grant funds. There are several museums including Marfa’s Chinati Foundation and the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico. MoMA PS1 and MASS MoCA will both focus on energy audit projects to determine strategies for lowering carbon footprint. The Flint Institute of Arts will swap electric steam humidifiers used to maintain stored artwork for new ultrasonic humidification units. Automation and digitization systems will be added to the Seattle Art Museum, improving energy efficiency.
Numerous schools are also on the list. The California College of the Arts will use solar energy at its San Francisco campus, while the Rhode Island School of Design will assess how it can best improve its energy approach. $100,000 will be allotted to the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design to install an energy efficient HVAC system.
“Thanks to the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative, we’re already seeing significant and lasting changes within the industry,” Sarah Sutton, CEO of Environment & Culture Partners, said in a statement. “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.”The full list of grantees can be found here.
