Foundation and Government Relations

Foundation and Government Relations builds partnerships with foundation and government entities aimed at supporting all aspects of the Whitney’s programming and operations. We are proud to count leading local, state, and federal grantmaking organizations, independent foundations, family foundations, artist estates, and foreign embassies based in New York among our valued supporters and collaborators. 

There are two ways to contribute: program support and general operating support. Contact us to discuss the programs that best align with your mission.

Program Support

Exhibitions

Each year, using its unparalleled collection of 20th- and 21st-century American art as a touchstone, the Whitney’s curators develop a slate of exhibitions—ranging from thematic shows drawn from the collection to retrospectives and experimental projects by emerging artists to the famed Whitney Biennial—intended to reflect not only the art of our time, but the American experience in all of its complexity and richness.

Education and Access

The Whitney’s education and access offerings expand upon content presented in the exhibition program, maximizing opportunities for all visitors—from families to K–12 students, to deaf and visually impaired visitors, to recent immigrants, to the LGBTQ community, to seniors—to be inspired by artists through structured dialogues, artmaking activities, and community partnerships. 

Conservation

The Whitney’s conservation department—staffed by specialists in the conservation of painting, sculpture, paper, and time-based media—has become a leader in the field by engaging artists directly around the preservation of their work. Through better understanding the materials, processes, and intent of artists, Whitney conservators stay abreast of current trends, leading to continual innovation and groundbreaking research. 

Performance

Beginning with Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s support of avant-garde composers in the 1930s through today’s showcases of artists blending movement, video animation, and new theatrical modes, performative art and artists have always had a home at the Museum. The integration of music, dance, and the spoken and written word within the exhibition program places them on equal footing with all other art forms and advances the Museum’s mission to present the full spectrum of this country’s artistic expression.

Research Resources

Research Resources collects and makes accessible to staff, artists, students, and researchers a variety of assets, including the Whitney’s institutional archives, special collections, documentation of the permanent collection, and the holdings of the Frances Mulhall Achilles Library. Integrating these resources both digitally and physically, this new department helps make the new Museum an extraordinary one-stop research destination. 

General Operating Support

The Whitney accepts and appreciates all unrestricted grants, which allow funds to be applied across all aspects of the Museum, including accessibility, conservation, education, exhibitions, library, publications, and other areas of need.  These grants permit the Whitney and its staff to carry out the fundamental mission of the institution: to support artists wherever they lead and to create meaningful dialogue between art, artists, and audiences.