The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, a nonprofit founded by the New York abstract expressionist painter Helen Frankenthaler, announced this week the names of 48 art museums and schools receiving grants between $2,500 and $100,000 to fight climate change from its climate-focused subsidiary, the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative (FCI). The FCI grants money to art institutions and education facilities working on sustainable projects, it was developed in collaboration with RMI and Environmental & Culture Partners.

This year the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation has also announced it is increasing the FCI funding to $15 million from $10 million, this will extend funding through at least 2025. This is up from $5 million in 2021, when the initiative first launched. This increase in funding will accelerate the climate initiative’s “commitment to climate action in visual arts sector” a press release stated.

Recipients in this year’s round, include the Noguchi Museum, Pratt Institute, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Portland Museum of Art, New Orleans Museum of Art, SITE Santa Fe, the Wassaic Project in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, California College of the Arts, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, and the Miller Institute of Contemporary Art at Carnegie Mellon University, among others. 

The funds will be used by art museums and schools to support a myriad of sustainable projects, among this upgrades to HVAC systems, the installation of renewable energy resources, the implementation of green strategies on building envelopes, and designing low-emission buildings.

“We are thrilled by the continued interest the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative has received from visual arts institutions who want to fight climate change, but often don’t have the means,” said Lise Motherwell, director and board chair of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation in a statement. “These organizations have inspired us with their ingenuity and commitment to lower their carbon footprints. We decided to extend our funding and FCI’s grantmaking cycle, so that others can participate in this clean energy initiative.”

CEO of Environment & Culture Partners, Sarah Sutton, said this year’s cohort saw “the largest number and most sophisticated project proposals to date.” “The increased appetite for pursuing energy efficient practices across the cultural sector is a clear indicator that the essential changes being made by FCI grantees is moving the needle in favor of clean energy and climate smart choices,” Sutton added.

The full list of 2023 FCI recipients can be viewed here. FCI is concurrently planning a special public program on Friday, September 22 during Climate Week NYC, with more information to follow.