Art in Embassies, an office within the U.S. Department of State, promotes cultural diplomacy through exhibitions, permanent collections, site-specific commissions and two-way artist exchanges in more than 200 U.S. Embassies and Consulates around the world. Through art, international audiences gain a sense of the quality, scope, and diversity of American and host country art and culture. Initiated by

President Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

in 1963, the program is funded by the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other natio ...

Exhibition planning

The amount of money allotted for art in each building is calculated with a formula based on the gross square footage. AIEP's curatorial team develops thematic exhibitions in collaboration with each ambassador, taking into account the host country's artistic traditions and cultural mores. They recommend artists and works of art, negotiate all loans, and propose placement of the art within the embassy residences. After all loans are secured and the art insured, AIE's registrars coordinate with professional art handlers for the

assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

, packing, crating and safe

shipment Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ext ...

of each exhibition to post. Since 1963, approximately 10,000 pieces of art have been placed in ambassador residences, embassies, and consulates throughout the world, including work by

Maya Lin Maya Ying Lin (born October 5, 1959) is an American designer and sculptor. In 1981, while an undergraduate at Yale University, she achieved national recognition when she won a national design competition for the planned Vietnam Veterans Memoria ...

Jeff Koons Jeffrey Lynn Koons (; born January 21, 1955) is an American artist recognized for his work dealing with popular culture and his sculptures depicting everyday objects, including balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror-Surface fi ...

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 In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art ...

Martin Puryear Martin L. Puryear (born May 23, 1941) is an American artist known for his devotion to traditional craft. Working in wood and bronze, among other media, his reductive technique and meditative approach challenge the physical and poetic boundaries ...

Louise Bourgeois Louise Joséphine Bourgeois (; 25 December 191131 May 2010) was a French-American artist. Although she is best known for her large-scale sculpture and installation art, Bourgeois was also a prolific painter and printmaker. She explored a varie ...

Joel Shapiro Joel Shapiro (born September 27, 1941 New York City, New York) is an American sculptor renowned for his dynamic work composed of simple rectangular shapes. The artist is classified as a Minimalist as demonstrated in his works, which were mostly d ...

, Benjamin Abramowitz and other prestigious artists. The total value of art on loan to the embassy program is estimated at $200 million.

Artist exchanges / Residency programs

Initiated in 2002, the American Artists Abroad program was created to extend Art In Embassies' exhibitions beyond the walls of U.S. diplomatic residences into local communities. Participating American artists travel to countries where their work is exhibited and engage in a series of public cultural programming activities, such as lectures, workshops, and studio visits.

References

External links

* {{official website, https://art.state.gov/ 1963 establishments in the United States American art United States Department of State Visual arts exhibitions United States diplomatic programs