The Teiger Foundation recently announced the recipients of its latest round of grants for ambitious curatorial projects at the intersection of climate and social justice. Funding totaling $4 million will support the work of fifty curators—each of whom will receive between $50,000 and $150,000—engaged in curatorial projects focused on environmental and societal sustainability or specifically addressing under-recognized diasporic and BIPOC narratives at the intersection of decolonization, Indigeneity, and environmental crises.
Fellows’ projects at 33 institutions across the United States include the Hammer Museum’s first major exhibition on Indigeneity, “Several Eternities in a Day,” curated by Pablo José Ramirez; an exhibition inspired by the Mesoamerican mythological figure of the Nahual, proposed by Chief Curator Daniela Lieja Quintanar and Assistant Curator Talia Heiman for REDCAT (Los Angeles, California); and an ongoing collective investigation by artist, activist, and researcher Imani Jacqueline Brown in the burial groves of Louisiana, where the remains of enslaved Africans have withstood the spread of sugar cane plantations and petrochemical facilities.
Some curators awarded Teiger Foundation grants will use the funds to study and give long-overdue recognition to underrepresented artists. Among them is Hmong-American photographer Pao Houa Her, whose first exhibition will be presented simultaneously at the San José Museum of Art and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, to mark the 50th anniversary of Hmong resettlement in the United States. A major exhibition of work by Puerto Rico-based Cuban artist Zilia Sánchez will be transported with funding from the ICA Miami (where it was originally created) to the Museo de Arte Puerto Rico in San Juan, at the suggestion of the museum’s executive director, María C. Gaztambide.
SEE ALSO: Observer’s Guide to September’s must-visit art fairs this year
In many cases, Teiger Foundation grants help institutions expand the impact of their projects by bringing them to new communities through institutional partnerships. Korean performance and sound artist Christine Sun Kim is getting her first career showcase through a partnership between Whitney Museum of American Art curator Jennie Goldstein, Walker Art Center curator Pavel Pys, and independent curator Tom Finkelpearl. Funding will also support The Brick and LACMA’s collaboration with artist Kara Walker on “MONUMENTS,” which brings together decommissioned Confederate monuments with contemporary artworks in an exhibition that has been five years in the making.
The profile of the selected projects highlights the attention given to indigenous practices and revitalized ancient traditions in the contemporary art system to tap into alternative knowledge and address the environmental and sociopolitical crises we are experiencing today. This year, the Teiger Foundation is also launching Climate Action for Curators with an additional $500,000 in funding to five recipient organizations that will provide curators with the services of a sustainability coach to help them develop a customized climate plan based on the specific project. Once a plan is created, grantees will receive $25,000 to implement programming and cover operating costs.
“The communities that some of our grantees represent or are embedded in — communities of color, indigenous communities, immigrant communities, and organizations in the South or Southwest of the United States — are facing some of the most severe impacts of climate change,” Teiger Foundation executive director Larissa Harris told Observer, adding that one of her goals is to eventually expand the organization’s climate support to every grantee.
Fellows were selected from a pool of 500 proposals submitted by curators across the country and reviewed by Teiger Foundation staff along with an advisory panel of peer curators: Léuli Eshrāghi, PhD, curator of Indigenous Practices at the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal; Carla Acevedo-Yates, the Marilyn and Larry Fields Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; Howie Chen, curator of the 80WSE Gallery; independent curator Yesomi Umolu; and independent curator and writer Linda Norden.
“Our application asks curators to explain the idea behind the exhibition or project and to write about a past project so that we can get a sense of their professional trajectory and development over several years,” Harris explained. “We apply a variety of lenses to selection, from innovation (expanding or refreshing our understanding of an artist, idea, era, format, way of approaching or involving collaborators, etc.) to alignment (why this particular curator, artist, or artists are with this arts organization at this time) and the impact of the proposed project. We also consider geography, demographics, and the organization’s access to resources.”
Who is behind the Teiger Foundation?
The Teiger Foundation was founded in 2008 by the late art collector and patron David Teiger to support contemporary curators pursuing ambitious, innovative and unconventional projects that expand the canon of modern art and impact their communities. A prominent American philanthropist, Teiger was known for his keen eye and significant influence on the world of contemporary art. The former McKinsey & Company executive was particularly interested in the work of emerging artists and often supported or acquired works by those who were just beginning to make their mark on the cultural landscape—John Silberman, chairman of the Teiger Foundation board, described Teiger as “committed to someone who thinks outside the box.” David Teiger was also a remarkably generous patron of the arts, supporting many museums and institutions. His art philanthropy also extended to major donations, including to MoMA in New York (where he was a trustee) and other major cultural institutions. After his death in 2014, Teiger’s art collection, which included works by major contemporary artists such as Dana Shultz, Peter Doig and Elizabeth Peytost and was valued at hundreds of millions, was auctioned off, with the proceeds going to art and various charitable causes.
Between 2020 and 2022, the Teiger Foundation distributed $8 million to support artistic leaders and curators of nonprofit institutions. In 2023, the Foundation dedicated its focus to climate action, which has become a central part of its grantmaking and support efforts.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(2999x0:3001x2)/peo-walmart-fall-decor-tout-113c4c2f3bb749a6917710ad247d7e0c.jpg "12 Fall Decor Finds Under You Won’t Believe Are From Walmart")
