The American Federation of Arts (AFA) is a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organization that creates art exhibitions for presentation in museums around the world, publishes exhibition catalogues, and develops education programs. The organization’s founding in 1909 was endorsed by

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

and spearheaded by Secretary of State

Elihu Root Elihu Root (; February 15, 1845February 7, 1937) was an American lawyer, Republican politician, and statesman who served as Secretary of State and Secretary of War in the early twentieth century. He also served as United States Senator from ...

and eminent art patrons and artists of the day. The AFA’s mission is to enrich the public’s experience and understanding of the

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile art ...

, and this is accomplished through its exhibitions, catalogues, and public programs. To date, the AFA has organized or circulated approximately 3,000 exhibitions that have been viewed by more than 10 million people in museums in every state, as well as in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

History

Early history and publications

The AFA was founded on May 12, 1909. At a meeting on May 11, 1909, convened by the National Academy of Art’s, Board of Regents—among whom were President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

, former president Theodore Roosevelt,

Cecilia Beaux Eliza Cecilia Beaux (May 1, 1855 – September 17, 1942) was an American society portraitist, whose subjects included First Lady Edith Roosevelt, Admiral Sir David Beatty and Georges Clemenceau. Trained in Philadelphia, she went on to study ...

, Robert Woods Bliss,

William Merritt Chase William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons School of Design. ...

, Robert W. DeForest,

Homer Saint-Gaudens Homer Shiff Saint-Gaudens (1880-1953) was the only child of sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens and his wife Augusta (née Homer). He served as the Director of the Art Museum of the Carnegie Institute and was a founder of the Saint-Gaudens Memoria ...

, Charles L. Hutchinson, Archer M. Huntington, Senator

Henry Cabot Lodge Henry Cabot Lodge (May 12, 1850 November 9, 1924) was an American Republican politician, historian, and statesman from Massachusetts. He served in the United States Senate from 1893 to 1924 and is best known for his positions on foreign polic ...

Leila Mechlin Leila Mechlin (May 29, 1874 – ) was an American art critic. Writing from 1900 to 1946, she was the first female art critic in the United States. She was a cofounder of the American Federation of Arts and founding editor of its arts journal. Sh ...

, Andrew W. Mellon,

J. Pierpont Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became know ...

, Francis D. Millet, Secretary of State

, and

Henry Walters Henry Walters (September 26, 1848 – November 30, 1931) was noted as an art collector and philanthropist, a founder of the Walters Art Gallery (now the Walters Art Museum) in Baltimore, Maryland, which he donated to the city in his 1931 will f ...

, among others— Elihu Root called for the formation of an agency that would send “exhibitions of original works of art on tour to the hinterlands of the United States.” With the unanimous endorsement of Root’s motion by representatives from more than eighty American art institutions—among them, the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Overview The Corcoran School of the Arts & Desig ...

, and the

American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo (Janiculum Hill) in Rome. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History In 1893, a group of American architects, ...

—the AFA was founded on May 12, 1909. The organization’s founders further agreed to hold annual meetings and devote themselves to promoting the visual arts as a vital component of the nation’s cultural life. Hutchinson, who at the time was the President of the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

, was elected the organization's first president. When Root proposed the creation of the AFA in 1909, the nation’s artistic wealth was largely concentrated in eastern cities and inaccessible to most citizens. The AFA and its traveling exhibitions were envisioned as a means of “bringing the museum to the people.” During its inaugural year, the AFA organized three traveling exhibitions, the first of which was ''Thirty-Eight Paintings by Prominent American Artists'', and launched ''Art and Progress'' magazine (later renamed ''Magazine of Art''), an innovative vehicle for art scholarship that continued to be published until 1953. Mechlin, art critic at ''

The Washington Star ''The Washington Star'', previously known as the ''Washington Star-News'' and the Washington ''Evening Star'', was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C., between 1852 and 1981. The Sunday edition was known as the ''Sunday Sta ...

'', was the magazine’s founding editor and continued in the role through 1931. The ''Thirty-Eight Paintings'' exhibition was viewed by more than 5,600 people at the library before traveling to New Orleans, St. Paul, and New Ulm, Minnesota. The AFA also published the first edition of ''

Who's Who in American Art ''Who's Who in American Art'' is a biographical hardcover directory of noteworthy individuals in the visual arts community in the United States, published by Marquis Who's Who,"Who's Who in American Art 2011 – Publications", Marquis Who's Who ...

'' (1935), as well as the '' American Art Annual'' (later known as the ''

American Art Directory The ''American Art Directory'' is a yearly publication covering art museums, arts centers, and art educational institutions as well as news, obituaries, book and magazine publications, etc. related to the artistic community in the United States ...

''). While it no longer publishes these directories and journals, the AFA retains a commitment to publishing new art historical research through the catalogues it produces in conjunction with its exhibitions.

Lobbying efforts

In 1910, the AFA promoted the creation of a National Commission of Fine Arts, which was subsequently established by an act of congress to advise the government on matters of art and design as they pertain to the nation’s capital. In 1913, the AFA launched a successful lobbying effort to remove tariffs on art entering the United States and a 1916 session with the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to elimina ...

to protest prohibitively high interstate taxes on traveling art. In 1920, the AFA was instrumental in organizing a lobbying campaign for the “development of a national gallery of art on a basis worthy of our great nation,” a goal eventually realized with the founding of the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of ch ...

in 1941. Other government-tied AFA initiatives include arranging the first American representation in the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

in 1924 and thereafter until the 1970s.

Public programs

The AFA’s history includes a series of programs designed to facilitate greater access and appreciation of the visual arts, among them, the first nationally broadcast radio programs about art (1930s–1940s); the Picture of the Month Program (1954), offering original paintings at low rental fees to small art and educational organizations; the Museum Donor Program (1960s), distributing allowances to regional museums to purchase contemporary American art; ''The Art of Seeing'' (1965), a landmark series of educational films on visual perception; ''The Curriculum in Visual Education'' (1966), a collection of films and instructional materials designed to heighten the aesthetic awareness of children; the Rent-an-Artist Program (renamed the Visitor Artist Program) (1970s), placing artists in residency at museums around the country; ''A History of the American Avant-Garde Cinema'' (1976), the first curatorially selected international traveling film program; and ART ACCESS I and II (1989–98), a fee-subsidy program sponsored by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund making AFA exhibitions of American art more affordable for museums. In 1909, the AFA created the Package Library, which offered newspaper and magazine clippings on a variety of art subjects for loan to AFA members. Although intended primarily for use in communities with limited library facilities, the files were often in demand by members in larger cities as well. By 1942, the library included more than 1,000 envelopes covering topics from contemporary American painting to industrial art. In 1934, in collaboration with the

General Federation of Women's Clubs The General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC), founded in 1890 during the Progressive Movement, is a federation of over 3,000 women's clubs in the United States which promote civic improvements through volunteer service. Many of its activities ...

and with support from the

Carnegie Corporation The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Carnegie Corporation has endowed or otherwise helped to establis ...

, the AFA launched the first nationally broadcast radio series on art, "Art in America 1600–1865," with

René d'Harnoncourt René d'Harnoncourt (May 17, 1901 – August 13, 1968) was an Austrian-born American art curator. He was Director of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, from 1949 to 1967. Background Of Austrian, Czech, and French descent, Count Rene d'Harnoncou ...

as program director. The first subject was “America After the Civil War: Whistler and

Winslow Homer Winslow Homer (February 24, 1836 – September 29, 1910) was an American landscape painter and illustrator, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters in 19th-century America and a preeminent figure in ...

—Expatriate and Stay-at-Home.” Discontinued during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the radio program was reestablished in the 1940s with the title “Living Art.” In 1994, the AFA inaugurated th
Directors Forum
a two-and-a-half-day annual conference for museum directors that featured panel discussions with some of the most distinguished professionals in the art world. Beginning in 2005, the Directors Forum is now an annual program of the independent Art Museum Partnership. Building upon the success of that program, the AFA began, in 2001, a similar conference for art museum curators. The Curators Forum later evolved into the independent

Association of Art Museum Curators The Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC) was founded in New York in 2001 to support the role of curators in shaping the mission of art museums in North America. History The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts was founded in 17 ...

in 2001. In 2003, the AFA instituted ArtTalks, a lecture series featuring prominent artists and other influential figures of the art world, among them, artists

Janine Antoni Janine Antoni (born January 19, 1964) is a Bahamian–born American artist, who creates contemporary work in performance art, sculpture, and photography. Antoni's work focuses on process and the transitions between the making and finished product, ...

, Christo and Jeanne-Claude,

John Currin John Currin (born 1962) is an American painter based in New York City. He is best known for satirical figurative paintings which deal with provocative sexual and social themes in a technically skillful manner. His work shows a wide range of in ...

, Shirin Neshat, and

Do-Ho Suh Do Ho Suh (hangul: 서도호, born 1962) is a Korean sculptor and installation artist. He also works across various media, including paintings and film which explore the concept of space and home. His work is particularly well known in relation ...

; ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' critic

Roberta Smith Roberta Smith (born 1948) is co-chief art critic of ''The New York Times'' and a lecturer on contemporary art. She is the first woman to hold that position. Early life Born in 1948 in New York City and raised in Lawrence, Kansas. Smith studied a ...

; '' New Yorker'' writer Adam Gopnik; and

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

Worldwide Head of Contemporary Art Tobias Meyer. Most recently, the AFA launched ArtViews, a series of panel discussions that address critical issues in the museum field. Its first edition held in 2011 was titled "Shifting Challenges in the Protection of Archaeological Heritage" and was organized in conjunction with the Institute of Fine Arts and th
Association of Art Museum Directors
More recent subjects have included: "Art Museum Funding at the Crossroads" (2012), "Art Museum Blockbusters: Myths, Facts, and their Future (2013), "Digital Space/Physical Space, Mapping the 21st Century Museum" (2015), "The Future of Art Museum Leadership" (2016), and "Museums Now: Relevance and Representation" (2017).

Film and video

Through the development of touring film and video exhibitions, publications, and an eventual collection of 139 documentaries on the arts and avant-garde films and videos, the AFA developed a groundbreaking film and video program that focused on the work of independent contemporary media artists in this country and abroad. Released beginning in 1949, the organization’s publications on the subject include the pamphlet ''Guide to Films on Art'' (1949); ''Films on Art'' (1952), a comprehensive guide that listed and reviewed more than 450 films on art subjects; ''New American Filmmakers'' (1971), a catalogue of independent films produced in cooperation with the

Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...

; ''A History of the American Avant-Garde Cinema'' (1976); ''Films on Art: A Source Book'' (1977), the second edition of the 1952 volume ''Films on Art''; and ''Before Hollywood: Turn-of-the-Century Film from American Archives'' (1987). In 1959, the AFA co-sponsored the first art film festival in the U.S.—''Films on Art Festival'', in Woodstock, New York, with the Woodstock Artists Association, the

College Art Association The College Art Association of America (CAA) is the principal organization in the United States for professionals in the visual arts, from students to art historians to emeritus faculty. Founded in 1911, it "promotes these arts and their unders ...

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admin ...

, and the

. In 1969, the AFA established ''Circulating Films on Art'', thus becoming the first organization of its kind to circulate such films for rent. In 1971, the AFA began circulating 200 films from the Whitney’s New American Filmmakers series, expanding the collaboration in 1979 with the circulation of films from the

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition ...

and again in 1983 with the addition of video to the Biennial. In 1976, the AFA organized the first curatorially selected international traveling film exhibition, ''A History of the American Avant-Garde Cinema''. In addition to its traveling video selections from the Whitney, in 1983, the AFA began organizing independent traveling video exhibitions, the first of which included ''American Documentary Video: Subject to Change''; ''New Video: Japan''; and ''Revisiting Romance: New Feminist Video''. In 1993, the AFA transferred its collection of prize-winning American and European films and videotapes to the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...

’s Circulating Film and Video program, and in 1996, upon the dissolution of its Media Arts Department, transferred its inventory of film and video exhibitions to the Film and Video Department of the Museum of Modern Art.

Offices and mergers

After initial meetings in Francis Millet’s studio in Washington, D.C., in 1909 the AFA moved its headquarters into the Octagon Building at 1741 New York Avenue, N.W., renting space from the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to s ...

. The

National League of Handicraft Societies National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...

merged with the AFA in 1912, and constituent societies were made AFA members. In 1913, the AFA opened its first New York office in the Fine Arts Building at 215 West 57th Street. The office later moved to the

and then to 40 East 49th Street. Beginning in 1952, the AFA relocated its headquarters, moving from Washington, D.C. to New York, renting offices at 1083 Fifth Avenue. In 1987, the AFA’s merger with the Art Museum Association of America (AMAA) brought together the two oldest nonprofit art museum organizations in America, creating a larger national organization that could offer a comprehensive set of services without duplication. Retaining the name American Federation of Arts, the new organization maintained offices in both New York and San Francisco, and former AMAA Director Myrna Smoot became director. The San Francisco office was dedicated to the AFA’s Museum Services Department. Also based in the West Coast was the AFA’s administration of the Getty’s Museum Management Institution (MMI), a training program for museum directors held at Berkeley. Now known as the Getty Leadership Institute, it is a program of the Getty Trust and operates out of

Claremont Graduate University The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges which includes five undergraduate ( Pomona College, Claremont McKenna ...

. In 1990, the AFA closed its West Coast office and moved the Museum Services Department to its New York headquarters. In 2007, the AFA sold its townhouse at 41 East 65th Street and moved to its current location at 305 East 47th Street.

Notable members

* Una B. Herrick, American educator, the first Dean of Women at Montana State College.

Exhibitions

AFA exhibitions encompass a wide range of mediums, artists, historical periods, and cultural traditions—from Roman portraiture and Native American artifacts to American impressionism and contemporary art and sculpture. The AFA also collaborates with distinguished institutions around the world to tour important aspects of their collections. To further engage and inform museum visitors and art enthusiasts, the AFA produces innovative educational components and richly illustrated catalogues introducing original scholarship. Exhibition highlights, 1950s–present * ''Sport in Art'' (began touring 1955) * ''Cuban Painting Today'' (1956) * ''Art and the Found Object'' (1958) * ''Ten Negro Artists from the United States'' (1966) * ''Pop and Op'' (1966) * ''Rejective Art'' (1967-8; curated by Lucy Lippard, including works by

Brice Marden Brice Marden (born October 15, 1938) is an American artist generally described as Minimalist, although his work may be hard to categorize. He lives and works in New York City; Tivoli, New York; Hydra (island), Hydra, Greece; and Eagles Mere, Penn ...

Agnes Martin Agnes Bernice Martin (March 22, 1912 – December 16, 2004), was an American abstract painter. Her work has been defined as an "essay in discretion on inward-ness and silence". Although she is often considered or referred to as a minimalist, Mart ...

, Robert Morris, Robert Smithson,

Donald Judd Donald Clarence Judd (June 3, 1928February 12, 1994) was an American artist associated with minimalism (a term he nonetheless stridently disavowed).Tate Modern websit"Tate Modern Past Exhibitions Donald Judd" Retrieved on February 19, 2009. In ...

, and

Sol LeWitt Solomon "Sol" LeWitt (September 9, 1928 – April 8, 2007) was an American artist linked to various movements, including conceptual art and minimalism. LeWitt came to fame in the late 1960s with his wall drawings and "structures" (a term he pref ...

, among others) * ''Soft and Apparently Soft Sculpture'' (1968; including works by Louise Bourgeois, Hans Haacke, Eva Hesse, Yayoi Kusama,

Claes Oldenburg Claes Oldenburg (January 28, 1929 – July 18, 2022) was a Swedish-born American sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions ...

, and

Richard Serra Richard Serra (born November 2, 1938) is an American artist known for his large-scale sculptures made for site-specific landscape, Urban area, urban, and Architecture, architectural settings. Serra's sculptures are notable for their material q ...

, among others) * ''Please Be Seated: The Evolution of the Chair, 2000 B.C.–2000 A.D.'' (1968) * ''The Realist Revival'' (1972; including works by Jack Beal, Robert Bechtle, Richard Estes, Janet Fish, and

Philip Pearlstein Philip Martin Pearlstein (May 24, 1924 – December 17, 2022) was an American painter best known for Modernist Realist nudes. Cited by critics as the preeminent figure painter of the 1960s to 2000s, he led a revival in realist art. Biography ...

, among others) * ''Masterworks from the Museum of Primitive Art'' (1974) * ''

Alberto Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draftsman and printmaker. Beginning in 1922, he lived and worked mainly in Paris but regularly visited his hometown Borgonovo to see his family and ...

: Sculptor and Draftsman'' (1977) * ''Objects of Bright Pride: Northwest Coast Indian Art from The American Museum of Natural History'' (1978 and again in 1988) * ''The Painter and the Printer:

Robert Motherwell Robert Motherwell (January 24, 1915 – July 16, 1991) was an American abstract expressionist painter, printmaker, and editor of ''The Dada Painters and Poets: an Anthology''. He was one of the youngest of the New York School, which also inc ...

’s Graphics'' (1980) * ''The Other Side: European Avant-Garde Cinema, 1960–1980: A Film Exhibition'' (1983) * ''Te Maori: Maori art from New Zealand Collections'' (1984) * ''

Mark Rothko Mark Rothko (), born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz (russian: Ма́ркус Я́ковлевич Ротко́вич, link=no, lv, Markuss Rotkovičs, link=no; name not Anglicized until 1940; September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970), was a Lat ...

: Works on Paper'' (1984) * ''The Drawings of Stuart Davis: The Amazing Continuity'' (1992) * ''Neo-Dada: Redefining Art, 1958–62'' (1994) * ''In the Spirit of Resistance: African-American Modernists and the Mexican Muralist School/En espíritu de la resistancia: Los modernistas africanoamericanos y la Escuela Muralista Mexicana'' (1996) * ''

Arthur Wesley Dow Arthur Wesley Dow (1857 – December 13, 1922) was an American painter, printmaker, photographer and an arts educator. Early life Arthur Wesley Dow was born in Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1857. Dow received his first art training in 1880 from An ...

and American Arts and Crafts'' (1999) * ''

Wolfgang Laib Wolfgang Laib (born 25 March 1950 in Metzingen, Germany) is a German artist, predominantly known as a sculptor. He lives and works in a small village in southern Germany, maintaining studios in New York and South India. His work has been exhibite ...

: A Retrospective'' (2000) * ''American Modern, 1925–1940: Design for a New Age'' (2000; including works by Norman Bel Geddes, Donald Deskey,

Raymond Loewy Raymond Loewy ( , ; November 5, 1893 – July 14, 1986) was a French-born American industrial designer who achieved fame for the magnitude of his design efforts across a variety of industries. He was recognized for this by ''Time'' magazi ...

, Lurelle Guild,

Eliel Saarinen Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1873 – July 1, 1950) was a Finnish-American architect known for his work with art nouveau buildings in the early years of the 20th century. He was also the father of famed architect Eero Saarinen. Lif ...

, and

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

, among others) * ''Eternal Egypt: Masterworks from the British Museum'' (2001) * ''Uncommon Legacies: Native American Art from the Peabody Essex Museum'' (2002) * ''

Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints and drawings. Degas is espec ...

and the Dance'' (2002) * ''The Sensuous and the Sacred: Chola Bronzes from South India'' (2002) * ''Debating American Modernism: Stieglitz, Duchamp, and the New York Avant-Garde'' (2003) * ''An International Legacy: Selections from the

Carnegie Museum of Art The Carnegie Museum of Art, is an art museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally known as the Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute and was at what is now the Main Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsbu ...

'' (2003; including works by

Carl Andre Carl Andre (born September 16, 1935) is an American minimalist artist recognized for his ordered linear and grid format sculptures and for the suspected murder of contemporary and wife, Ana Mendieta. His sculptures range from large public art ...

, Elizabeth Murray,

Gerhard Richter Gerhard Richter (; born 9 February 1932) is a German visual artist. Richter has produced abstract as well as photorealistic paintings, and also photographs and glass pieces. He is widely regarded as one of the most important contemporary German ...

Cindy Sherman Cynthia Morris Sherman (born January 19, 1954) is an American artist whose work consists primarily of photographic self-portraits, depicting herself in many different contexts and as various imagined characters. Her breakthrough work is often co ...

, Gilbert & George, Rachel Whiteread,

Nam June Paik Nam June Paik (; July 20, 1932 – January 29, 2006) was a Korean American artist. He worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the founder of video art. He is credited with the first use (1974) of the term "electronic super h ...

Bill Viola Bill Viola ( , ; born 1951) is an American contemporary video artist whose artistic expression depends upon electronic, sound, and image technology in new media. His works focus on the ideas behind fundamental human experiences such as birth, d ...

, and

Tony Oursler Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

, among others) * '' Lorna Simpson'' (2006) * ''Color as Field: American Painting, 1950–1975'' (2007; including works by

Helen Frankenthaler Helen Frankenthaler (December 12, 1928 – December 27, 2011) was an American abstract expressionist painter. She was a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting. Having exhibited her work for over six decades (early 1950s u ...

, Morris Louis,

Kenneth Noland Kenneth Noland (April 10, 1924 – January 5, 2010) was an American painter. He was one of the best-known American color field painters, although in the 1950s he was thought of as an abstract expressionist and in the early 1960s he was though ...

Jules Olitski Jevel Demikovski (March 27, 1922 – February 4, 2007), known professionally as Jules Olitski, was an American painter, printmaker, and sculptor. Early life Olitski was born Jevel Demikovsky in Snovsk, in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ...

Larry Poons Lawrence M. "Larry" Poons (born October 1, 1937) is an American abstract painter. Poons was born in Tokyo, Japan, and studied from 1955 to 1957 at the New England Conservatory of Music, with the intent of becoming a professional musician. After ...

, and

Frank Stella Frank Philip Stella (born May 12, 1936) is an American painter, sculptor and printmaker, noted for his work in the areas of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. Stella lives and works in New York City. Biography Frank Stella was born in Ma ...

, among others) * '' Roman Art from the Louvre'' (2007) * ''Symbols of Power:

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

and the Art of the

Empire Style The Empire style (, ''style Empire'') is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 durin ...

, 1800–1815'' (2007) * ''

Turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters *Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for turni ...

to Cézanne: Masterpieces from the Davies Collection,

National Museum Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

'' (2009) Curator: Lisa Small. * ''

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primar ...

as Printmaker'' (2009) * ''Out of the Box: The Rise of Sneaker Culture'' (2015) * ''Women Artists in Paris, 1850-1900'' aka ''Her Paris: Women Artists in the Age of Impressionism'' (2017) *''Victorian Radicals: From the Pre-Raphaelites to the Arts & Crafts Movement'' (2018)

Cultural Leadership Award

Each year, the American Federation of Arts presents a Cultural Leadership Award to individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to supporting art and museums, both nationally and internationally. The Cultural Leadership Award is formally presented to the honorees at the AFA’s annual gala, which is attended by an elite group of leaders from society, business, and the cultural world. Proceeds from the gala help underwrite the AFA’s traveling exhibitions. Past Cultural Leadership Award recipients: * 2018 – Eli and

Edythe Edythe or Edyth is a female given name. It may refer to: ;Edythe *Edythe Baker (1899–1971), American pianist * Edythe Chapman (1863–1948), American stage and silent film actress from Rochester, New York * Edythe D. London, Professor of Psychia ...

Broad, collectors and philanthropists *2017 – Charles and Valerie Diker, collectors and philanthropists; William Wegman, artist * 2016 – Wangechi Mutu, artist;

Alice Walton Alice Louise Walton (born October 7, 1949) is an American heiress to the fortune of Walmart. In September 2016, she owned over in Walmart shares. As of October 2022, Walton has a net worth of $59 billion, making her the 19th-richest person, and ...

, philanthropist * 2015 – Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz, collectors and philanthropists; Wade Guyton, artist; Arnold Lehman, Director Emeritus of the Brooklyn Museum * 2014 – Spencer Finch, artist; Milton Esterow, former editor and publisher of

ArtNews ''ARTnews'' is an American visual-arts magazine, based in New York City. It covers art from ancient to contemporary times. ARTnews is the oldest and most widely distributed art magazine in the world. It has a readership of 180,000 in 124 countr ...

magazine * 2013 – Eugene V. Thaw, philanthropist;

Kehinde Wiley Kehinde Wiley (born February 28, 1977) he returned to Nigeria, leaving Freddie to raise the couple's six children. 3/sup> Wiley has said that his family survived on welfare checks and the limited income earned by his mother's 'thrift store' – ...

, artist * 2012 –

Sarah Sze Sarah Sze (; born 1969) is an American artist widely recognized for challenging the boundaries of painting, installation, and architecture. Sze's sculptural practice ranges from slight gestures discovered in hidden spaces to expansive installat ...

, artist * 2011 –

Marina Abramović Marina Abramović ( sr-Cyrl, Марина Абрамовић, ; born November 30, 1946) is a Serbian conceptual and performance artist. Her work explores body art, endurance art, feminist art, the relationship between the performer and audi ...

, performance artist; Earl A. Powell III, Director,

, Washington, DC * 2008 – Elizabeth Rohatyn, founder of FRAME (French Regional & American Museum Exchange) * 2007 – His Excellency Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman,

Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) was a statutory body in the United Arab Emirates established in 2004 under the Government of Abu Dhabi’s economic diversification strategy.

and Tourism Development and Investment Company;

Thomas Krens Thomas Krens (born December 26, 1946) is the former director and Senior Advisor for International Affairs of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in New York City.''The New York Times'' staff.Guggenheim Foundation staff From the beginning of his w ...

, Director, The

Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1937 by philanthropist Solomon R. Guggenheim and his long-time art advisor, artist Hilla von Rebay. The foundation is a leading institution for the collection, preserv ...

; Frank O. Gehry, architect * 2006 – Donna and Cargill MacMillan Jr., philanthropists * 2004 – John Bryan, former CEO and Chairman, Sara Lee; Shirin Neshat, artist; James Wood, outgoing Director and President,

The Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mil ...

* 2003 –

Susan Weber Soros Susan Weber (born 1954) is an American historian. She is the founder and director of the Bard Graduate Center (BGC) for studies in the decorative arts, design history, and material culture affiliated with Bard College in Dutchess County, New York ...

, Founder and Director, Bard Graduate Center for Studies of Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture;

, artist * 2002 –

Anne d'Harnoncourt Anne Julie d'Harnoncourt (September 7, 1943 – June 1, 2008) was an American curator, museum director, and art historian specializing in modern art. She was the director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA), a post she held from 19 ...

, Director,

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin ...

; Maya Lin, architect * 2001 –

Ellsworth Kelly Ellsworth Kelly (May 31, 1923 – December 27, 2015) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker associated with hard-edge painting, Color Field painting and minimalism. His works demonstrate unassuming techniques emphasizing line, c ...

, artist; Stephanie French, AFA Trustee and Vice President, Corporate Contributions,

Altria Altria Group, Inc. (previously known as Philip Morris Companies, Inc.) is an American corporation and one of the world's largest producers and marketers of tobacco, cigarettes and related products. It operates worldwide and is headquartered in ...

; John Walsh, outgoing Director,

J. Paul Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and fea ...

* 2000 – Jan Cowles, AFA Trustee; Serena Rattazzi, outgoing AFA Director * 1999 – AFA's 90th Birthday Party - Jan Mayer, President, AFA Board of Trustees * 1998 – Iris Cantor, philanthropist * 1996 – Lee Hills, AFA Trustee and Chairman Emeritus,

Knight Ridder Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, it was the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspaper bra ...

* 1995 – Betty Blake, AFA Trustee;

Roy Neuberger Roy Rothschild Neuberger (July 21, 1903 – December 24, 2010) was an American financier who contributed money to raise public awareness of modern art through his acquisition of pieces he deemed worthy. He was a co-founder of the investment firm ...

, AFA Trustee and Founder, Neuberger Berman * 1994 – Richard Oldenburg, former AFA Trustee and outgoing Director,

* 1993 – Evan H. Turner, outgoing Director,

The Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian ...

* 1992 – J. Carter Brown, outgoing Director,

* 1989 – "Perfectly Pop" 80th Anniversary –

George Weissman George Weissman (July 12, 1919 – July 24, 2009) was an American businessman and former chairman and CEO of Philip Morris (now Altria). Biography Weissman was born in the Bronx on July 12, 1919. After graduating from Townsend Harris High School, ...

, Chairman of the Board,

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

Museum membership

The AFA has maintained
membership program
since its inception in 1909. AFA's approximat
60
members range from small regional museums, such as the

Buddy Holly Center The Buddy Holly Center is a performance and visual arts center in Lubbock, Texas, dedicated to Buddy Holly as well as the music of Lubbock and West Texas more broadly. The building in which it is located opened as the city's Fort Worth and Denve ...

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the nort ...

, to university galleries such as Colby College Museum of Art and

Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...

, to larger institutions, among them,

, the

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. With the recent completion of an eight-year campus redevelopment project, including the opening of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Buil ...

, and the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...

History

Early history and publications

Lobbying efforts

Public programs

Film and video

Offices and mergers

Notable members

Exhibitions

Cultural Leadership Award

Museum membership

References

External links