Building on the core values of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, the initiative aligns a commitment to environmental stewardship with a belief in the vital importance of the visual arts and arts education.

Through strategic funding, partnerships, and public programming, the FCI aims to catalyze a sector-wide shift toward carbon-neutral operations, promoting a future where the visual arts thrive—while contributing to a more sustainable and ecologically conscious world.

Since its inception in 2021, the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative has distinguished itself as the foremost private national initiative in the United States dedicated to combating climate change specifically within the visual arts sector.

Our grantees include collecting and non-collecting museums, art schools, nonprofit arts organizations, artist-run spaces, artist residency programs, arts divisions housed within universities, and indigenous arts collectives.

To date, the FCI has awarded over $14 million in grants to over two hundred visual arts institutions—part of a five-year, $15-million commitment to tangible climate change action.

Helen Frankenthaler, Cool Summer, 1962, oil on canvas, 69 3/4 x 120 inches (177.2 x 304.8 cm) © 2024 Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Photo credit: Rob McKeever, courtesy Gagosian.