APAA Advisors Celebrate Giving Tuesday
On this Giving Tuesday, APAA is proud to highlight the charitable and nonprofit organizations supported by our members. Our goal is to shine a light on these impactful organizations during a season that inspires generosity and connection.
FAPE Director and APAA Treasurer Jennifer Duncan toasts with guests at FAPE’s 2024 State Department Dinner
Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE)
FAPE, led by APAA Treasurer Jennifer Duncan, is a pioneering public-private partnership that has been weaving American artistry into the fabric of U.S. embassies since 1986. FAPE creates permanent installations that encourage cross-cultural understanding within the diplomatic community and the international public. FAPE is embarking on a historic campaign with their GIFT FOR THE NATION 250 Collection. This groundbreaking initiative marks both America's semiquincentennial and FAPE's 40th anniversary in 2026 through an ambitious two-part gift that will showcase American creativity in diplomatic missions worldwide. FAPE Vice President Darren Walker said, “Our intent for this gift is to connect every American, represent every American, and inspire every American through art.”
Jewish Family and Community Services of the East Bay
APAA member Suzy Locke works in the warehouse of the Jewish Family and Community Services of East Bay, helping refugees select donations. This organization provides social services to the arriving Afghan, Ukrainian, and other refugees. They also help them with all they need to start their new lives. Most everything they need is donated from the community. The Federal government provides each family with a tiny table, two chairs, single beds for the children and a double bed for the adults. These refugees get a little money but not enough even for groceries, sometimes. Oftentimes, they run out of food money before the end of the month, and the volunteers make financial donations and shop to help these families until their next checks. When delivering these bags of food to these families their grateful smiles and thank you’s are so heartfelt.
The Neon Museum
APAA member Michele Quinn has served on the Board of Directors of The Neon Museum here in Las Vegas for the past 2 years. They have just come out of their annual Strategic Planning meeting with an updated mission statement that will better reflect the full scope of what the museum has to offer, beyond just neon signs. It is the only accredited art museum in Las Vegas at this time.
They are also in the process of due diligence as they prepare to move locations to the historical Art District in Downtown Las Vegas – thereby doubling their exhibition space and finally including both indoor and outdoor viewing for the unique collection.
This past fiscal year, Michele has also taken on the Chair of the Collections Committee, following the formidable Roger Thomas, and has served on both the Development and Governance Committees.
The Angeles Art Fund
The Angeles Art Fund is a giving circle APAA member Victoria Burns co-founded to connect like-minded arts patrons, curators, and artists and support Los Angeles-based non-profits and artist-led projects that facilitate socially impactful work.
This past year, the fund supported the Institute of Contemporary Art’s exhibition Scientia Sexualis, an ambitious group exhibition realized as part of PST ART: Art & Science Collide. The project is a research-driven exhibition exploring the raced and gendered assumptions that structure scientific disciplines governing our sense of the sexual body. Together, the exhibition, accompanying catalogue, and related programs examine and reconfigure the relationship between art and science, and create an alternative access point to the history of science where sex, gender, and pleasure are concerned.
During a time of increased discrimination and legislation that limits the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, the exhibition is especially timely, exploring challenging issues with nuance and depth. Featured artists include: Panteha Abareshi, Dotty Attie, Louise Bourgeois, Nao Bustamante, Andrea Carlson, Demian DinéYazhi’, Nicole Eisenman, El Palomar, dean erdmann, Jes Fan, Nicki Green, Oliver Husain & Kerstin Schroedinger, Xandra Ibarra, KING COBRA (documented as Doreen Lynette Garner), Joseph Liatela, Candice Lin, Carlos Motta, Wangechi Mutu, Young Joon Kwak & Gala Porras-Kim, Cauleen Smith, P. Staff, Joey Terrill, Chris E. Vargas, Millie Wilson, and Geo Wyex.
Art21
Art21 is an incredibly valuable professional resource and source of inspiration for APAA member Erica Samuels. Long before she joined the Board of Trustees in May 2023, she had seen dozens of the films made by the A+ team at Art21.
Art21 was built on the belief that the words and works of contemporary artists should be accessible to all. Art21’s mission is to educate and expand access to contemporary art through the production of documentary films, resources, and public programs. As a Trustee, she hopes she can help to support that mission by spreading the word.
In addition to Erica’s work on their Community Expansion and Gala Committees, a highlight of her involvement with Art21 this past year was curating a private screening event in partnership with APAA on Friday, September 13th, 2024, at SoHo House. Alongside APAA President Alex Glauber, they welcomed 14 APAA members and 11 Art21 invitees for an afternoon of film screenings celebrating the practices of artists like Margaret Kilgallen, Salman Toor, Amy Sillman, Alex Da Corte, Rose B. Simpson, and the Creative Growth Art Center. Erica shares that it’s a privilege to support Art21 and its work in making contemporary art accessible, meaningful, and transformative for so many.
Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall
Oratorio Society of New York
APAA member Elizabeth Levine has been involved as an alto and contributor with the Oratorio Society of New York for 35 years. They perform 3 concerts a year at Carnegie Hall, including music such as Verdi Requiem; Bernstein Kaddish; Handel Messiah; Off Carmina Burana.
The Smith College Museum of Art
The lead gift to a challenge grant received by the Smith College Museum of Art to fund a travel budget and discretionary fund for the Charlotte Feng Ford Curator of Contemporary art, Emma Chubb. APAA member Wendy Cromwell has been on the Director's Visiting Committee for some time. One of their major accomplishments in the past few years was to make admission free for all.
The Smith College museum is in Northampton, MA, close to the Clark, Mass MoCA, the Mead, and the Mount Holyoke Museum. Emma's current exhibition is the first survey for multidisciplinary artist Younes Rahmoun (b. 1975, Tetouan Morocco), titled Here, Now.
Second Street Gallery
APAA member Mary Pontillo is the President of the Board of Second Street Gallery, a non-profit contemporary art gallery in Charlottesville, VA. The gallery provides a space for emerging and established artists to show their work in a professional setting that is unmatched in central Virginia.
Their Gallery Director, Kristen Chiacchia, used to work at Edward Tyler Nahem and brings that NY Gallery standard to their small town. Artists remark how “I can’t believe there is a gallery of this caliber in Charlottesville!” For artists who have had limited exhibition activity, having the chance to see and photograph their works in such a special environment can be career changing.
Mary’s family is happy to sponsor multiple exhibitions a year and the gallery is always seeking donations of any size. They function on a shoestring budget (less than $250,000 annually) so a little goes a long way. In addition, this is a great gallery for advisors to keep their eye on for works at a reasonable price point, especially for emerging collectors. Fifty percent of all sales proceeds go right back to the gallery’s operating budget.
"At All Times"" or "En Todo Tiempo" is a sound-based art installation created by Venezuelan artist and HRF Art in Protest resident, Nadia Hernández
Human Rights Foundation’s Art in Protest
APAA member Holly Baxter is the Executive Director for the Human Rights Foundation’s Art in Protest program. Art in Protest seeks to elevate artists whose work is connected to their struggle for democracy and human rights. They offer dissident artists the opportunity to enhance their work through the Art in Protest Residency and provide various platforms and exhibition spaces to expand their reach.
The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. HRF partners with world-changing activists in creating innovative solutions to unite the world against tyranny. HRF hosts the annual Oslo Freedom Forum. The Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF) is an international human rights conference series hosted and produced by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF). Bringing together the world’s most engaging human rights advocates, journalists, artists, tech entrepreneurs, and world leaders, we aim to share their stories and brainstorm ways to expand freedom and unleash human potential across the globe.
Art in Protest also brings art to HRF’s Oslo Freedom Forum conference series to raise awareness about the state of artistic freedom on a global scale. This year they began a second artist in residency program in collaboration with Fountainhead residency in Miami with founder Kathyrn Mikesell, for the launch of Human Rights Foundation and Fountainhead Art in Protest Residency program.
They also hosted an exhibition in Oslo during the Oslo Freedom Forum of works, by artist Song Byeok, a dissident artist and North Korean defector.
Brandywine Workshop and Archives
APAA member Barbara Wallace was a former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Brandywine Workshop in Philadelphia, and for many years served on the advisory Board. In the early 2000s, many years ago, APAA members came to Philadelphia and toured the Brandywine Workshop.
Philadanco
The next organization is Philadanco (Philadelphia Dance Company). Barbara was Vice President of the Board of Directors and am now on the Advisor Board.
Worth Artist Residency
In 2010, APAA member Candace Worth converted her family’s property in upstate New York for a summer artist residency program. The Worth Artist Residency is a unique opportunity for NYC-based artists to escape from the pressures of the contemporary art world and work for an extended period in a spacious, rural environment. The residency is located in the beautiful Catskill Mountains, in a bucolic 140-acre setting of pristine meadows, forest, and the Little Delaware River. Candace has hosted 23 artists since 2010.
Candace is also on the board of Animal Haven, a no-kill rescue organization and shelter in lower Manhattan. With the recent donation of a vehicle, the shelter’s dogs can now be taken out on the weekends to a farm upstate for outdoor time, socialization, and better exercise to ensure better quality of life. Support Animal Haven below.
Addison Gallery of American Art
APAA member Andrea Feldman Falcione serves on the Board of Governors as well as the steering committee for the Addison Artist Council.
Museum Exchange Leadership Team (Left to Right: Robert Wainstein, Michael Darling, Joanne Cohen, and David Moos) at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, March 2023 in front of Robert Irwin, 1º 2 º 3 º 4º, 1997.
Museum Exchange
APAA member Joanne Cohen serves as Director of Healthcare & Education at Museum Exchange. She was responsible for facilitating over 400 gifts of art to academic and healthcare organizations in 2024, in addition to more than 500 gifts of art to museums that were overseen by her colleagues.
Gala Fundraiser at Shoreby Club hosted by MOCA
Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland
APAA member Joanne Cohen has also been a longtime board member at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland. She has donated 30+ works of art by artists from the region for a fundraiser to support an upcoming exhibition of Northeast artists at moCa. The fundraiser was a huge success centering artists and raising support for the future exhibition.
Friendship Circle
APAA member Rachel Greene and family have loved being involved with Friendship Circle, a twenty year old organization that pairs typically-developing teens with youths with differences and disabilities. The program seeds and supports friendships that last for years, and builds a more inclusive community. Friendship Circle events are fun for all, and also provide much needed respite for parents of those who have higher needs and often experience social isolation. Two of Rachel’s sons volunteer for Friendship Circle and she is on the Committee for this year’s 20th Anniversary Gala.
Family Centers
APAA member Julie Graham (of Graham & Friedrich LLC) is on the board of Family Centers and has been involved for 30 years. The organization is based in Greenwich Connecticut but its outreach is largely in Stamford with additional coverage in Darien, New Canaan, and Port Chester. It is a social service organization with a varied program from young children in pre-school, to shut ins, grieving families whether from violent deaths or something like the world trade towers collapse (there were a lot of families in Fairfield County affected), or death from drugs. The organization also provides health care in public schools in Stamford. Everything from mental health to dental care.
