Emerson Contemporary Awarded $80,000 Grant From The Andy Warhol Foundation

Emerson Contemporary is excited to have received a generous $80,000 grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in support of our exhibitions and programming over the next two years. This contribution will have a profound impact on the gallery’s ability to present innovative and engaging visual art experiences to our community and fully support the artists we are exhibiting and inviting to our campus.

Over the past five years, under the leadership of Chair of Contemporary Art and Distinguished  Curator in Residence, Dr. Leonie Bradbury, Emerson Contemporary has developed a “teaching gallery” with an emphasis on presenting mid-career artists with time-based media practices, including video and performance and those that explore emerging technologies such as augmented, virtual, and extended reality (AR/VR/XR), the only of its kind in New England. 

Emerson Contemporary amplifies the voices of living artists who broaden how we understand our present moment and help us reimagine what is possible. We encourage experimentation, commission new works, and support artistic research through technological support and mentorship. In support of this mission, they actively seek to create opportunities for working artists to engage with new technologies, software tools, creative technologists, and the faculty expertise on our campus that are otherwise not accessible.

In accordance with Andy Warhol’s will, the mission of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts is the advancement of the visual arts. The foundation manages a dynamic grants program while also preserving Warhol’s legacy through creative and responsible licensing policies and extensive scholarly research for ongoing catalogue raisonné projects. To date, the foundation has given nearly $300 million in cash grants to over 1,000 arts organizations across the country and abroad and has donated 52,786 works of art to 322 institutions worldwide.

This grant will enable us to bring a range of exhibitions featuring both emerging and established artists, foster critical dialogue through public programming, and provide valuable educational opportunities for our audience. Says Bradbury, “The Foundation puts visual art and artists at the center of their work. Their commitment to the arts is inspiring, and we are honored to be among the recipients of their support. We look forward to the exciting and impactful work made possible by this grant.”