Helen Frankenthaler Foundation Announces 2025 Climate Initiative Grantees
The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation on June 27 announced the seventy-four recipients of its 2025 Frankenthaler Climate Initiative (FCI) grants, totaling $3.4 million. The foundation, which to date has distributed more than $17.5 million among 249 grantees and assisted 318 different energy projects in forty states, additionally committed to extending the program for another five years. Established in 2021, the annual grants support US arts organizations in making their facilities energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable.
The grants are broken down into four categories: Catalyst Grants, of up to $15,000, which assist organizations in the fledgling stages of addressing climate change with short-term projects; Scoping Grants, of up to $25,000, earmarked for outside assessments aimed at identifying clean-energy needs and solutions; Technical Assistance Grants, of up to $50,000, which support complex projects; and Implementation Grants of up to $100,000, which fund large-scale infrastructure changes.
Among this year’s cohort are the Cheyenne River Youth Project in Eagle Butte, SD, which is implementing geothermal heating and cooling to achieve net-zero status for its Waniyetu Wowapi Institute & Art Park; Tennessee’s Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, which is installing a building management system to support LEED certification in a new museum, replacing current facilities that are unfit to keep fragile works of art safe; Museo de los Santos y Arte Nacional in Puerto Rico, which is responding to frequent power grid outages by upgrading to solar panels to eliminate dependency on a used carbon-based generator; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which is transitioning from steam to mist humidification in an effort to preserve artworks while significantly reducing environmental impact.
“The Foundation is proud to continue supporting visionary projects that are reshaping the way arts institutions operate,” said Elizabeth Smith, executive director of the foundation, in a statement. “FCI’s fifth cycle highlights a new level of strategic thinking among applicants—one that seamlessly integrates creative practice with environmental responsibility. By extending this initiative, we reaffirm our belief that the arts can play a meaningful role in shaping our shared future.”
A complete list of grantees is below.
CATALYST GRANTS
Borrego Art Institute, Borrego Springs, CA, $15,000, solar panel implementation
Champlain College, Burlington, VT, $13,196, energy-efficient climate control
Museo de los Santos, San Juan, PR, $15,000, solar panel implementation
Public Space One, Iowa City, IA, $14,650, energy-efficient upgrades
Racing Magpie,* Rapid City, SD, $15,000, energy-efficient upgrades
The 500 Capp Street Foundation, San Francisco, $15,000, solar panel implementation
SCOPING GRANTS
Ballroom Marfa, Marfa, TX, $25,000, energy-efficiency planning
Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington, NC, $25,000, energy-efficient upgrades
The Contemporary Austin Museum, Austin, TX, $25,000, energy-efficiency planning and audit
Counterpublic, Saint Louis, $25,000, energy-efficiency planning
DiverseWorks, Houston, $25,000, energy-efficiency planning
Forge Project, Ancram, NY, $25,000, energy-efficiency planning
Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, Los Angeles, $25,000, energy-efficiency planning
Kent State University Museum, Kent, OH, $25,000, energy-efficiency planning and audit
Maude Kerns Art Center, Eugene, OR, $18,000, energy-efficiency planning
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, La Jolla, CA, $25,000, energy-efficiency planning
The Potters’ Studio, Berkeley, CA, $24,997, energy-efficiency planning, roof
Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency, Saugatuck, MI, $19,830, energy-efficiency planning and audit
Pilchuck Glass School, Seattle, $25,000, energy-efficient upgrades
San Diego Art Institute, $25,000, energy-efficiency planning
Santa Monica Museum of Art, Los Angeles, $23,650, energy-efficiency planning and audit
Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, $25,000, energy-efficiency planning
Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, New York, $25,000, energy-efficiency planning
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS
Art Omi Pavilions at Chatham, Chatham, NY, $50,000, energy-efficient upgrades
The Art Students League of New York, $25,000, energy-efficient building restoration
The Center for Architecture, New York, $26,500, Energy-efficient upgrades
Cincinnati Art Museum,* $25,000, energy-efficient HVAC upgrade
The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, $15,000, energy-efficiency planning
Foci Minnesota Center for Glass Arts ,Minneapolis, $50,000, energy-efficiency planning
Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Malibu, CA, $50,000, energy-efficient climate control
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts,* Deer Isle, ME, $50,000, energy-efficient solar paneling
Newfields, Indianapolis, $25,000, energy-efficiency planning
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum,* Boston, $15,000, energy-efficiency planning
Lights Out Gallery, Norway, ME, $50,000, energy-efficiency planning
Maryland Institute College of Art,* Baltimore, $50,000, energy-efficient upgrades
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, $50,000, energy-efficient HVAC upgrade
Santa Fe Art Institute,* Santa Fe, NM, $50,000, climate-focused arts venue
SculptureCenter, Queens, NY, $50,000, energy-efficient HVAC upgrade
SITE Santa Fe,* Santa Fe, NM, $50,000, energy-efficiency planning
Skystone Foundation, Flagstaff, AZ, $25,000, energy-efficient solar paneling
Tides Institute and Museum of Art,* Eastport, ME, $50,000, energy-efficiency planning
Yucca Valley Material Lab Incorporated, Yucca Valley, CA, $44,500, energy-efficient artist studio
IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS
ABC No Rio, New York, $75,000, green roof installation
AHA Projects,* Los Angeles, $75,000, energy-efficient roof replacement
American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, CA, $50,000, energy-efficient upgrades
Anchorage Museum Association,* Anchorage, AK, $75,000, energy-efficient solar paneling
CCS Bard at Bard College,* Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, $75,680, energy-efficient upgrades
California Institute of the Arts,* Valencia, CA, $50,000, energy-efficient upgrades
Cheyenne River Youth Project, Eagle Butte, SD, $100,000, energy-efficient geothermal HVAC system
DownCity Design, Providence, RI, $50,000, energy-efficient solar paneling and HVAC
Dubuque Museum of Art, Dubuque, IA, $75,000, energy-efficient upgrades
Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture,* San Francisco, $50,000, energy-efficient window replacement
Frist Art Museum,* Nashville, TN, $50,000, energy-efficient window replacement
George Eastman Museum,* Rochester, NY, $50,000, energy-efficient roof replacement
International Center of Photography,* New York, $75,000, energy-efficient upgrades
MacDowell,* Peterborough, NH, $75,000, energy-efficient upgrades
Maryland Hall, Annapolis, MD, $75,000, energy-efficient climate control
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA),* North Adams, MA, $95,000 energy-efficient pipe replacement
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN, $50,000, energy-efficient building system
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, $50,000, energy-efficiency planning
Midway Contemporary Art,* Minneapolis, $100,000, energy-efficient renovations
Minnesota Marine Art Museum,* Winona, MN, $75,000, energy-efficient solar [aneling
Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson, $50,000
Museum of Art + Light, Manhattan, KS, $75,000, energy-efficient solar paneling
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,* $50,000, energy-efficient climate control
Neuberger Museum of Art Purchase, NY, $50,000, energy-efficient climate control
Not An Alternative,* Vashon, WA, $100,000, climate-focused arts venue
Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO, $50,000, energy-efficient climate control
Temple University of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education,* Philadelphia, $100,000, energy-efficient upgrades
Valerie J. Maynard Foundation, Baltimore, $50,000, energy-efficient climate control
Wassaic Project,* Wassaic, NY, $75,000, energy-efficient HVAC system and upgrades
Willamette University, Salem, OR, $64,952, energy-efficient climate control
Yaddo,* Saratoga Springs, NY, $100,000, energy-efficient climate control
Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT, $25,000, energy-efficient upgrades
*Grantee previously received an FCI grant
