The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation announced today a joint commitment of $800,000 to provide immediate support to 80 small and mid-sized cultural organizations across the United States, helping to advance critical, community-based visual arts programs in jeopardy of being cancelled due to financial uncertainties. All supported programs were selected to receive grants through Challenge America, a longstanding initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to extend the arts to underserved communities, which was abruptly suspended earlier this year. NEA-supported initiatives have since been threatened further with the federal administration’s recent proposal to eliminate the NEA completely in 2026.
From photography workshops for people with developmental and physical disabilities in rural Georgia, to healing arts workshops for pediatric cancer patients and their families in Burlingame, California, each project was vetted and approved through the NEA’s established grant review process. The list of organizations to receive the $10,000 grant was made public in January 2025, however, due in part to staff reductions, administrative delays, and new compliance reviews related to recent Executive Orders, the distribution of funds has been indefinitely delayed, if not cancelled outright. By providing immediate support, the Warhol and Frankenthaler Foundations aim to ensure that these 80 visual arts projects—many of which serve vulnerable populations and remote communities—can move forward without further interruption.
“The Warhol Foundation recognizes the essential contributions that small arts organizations make to our cultural lifeblood by giving artists in every corner of the country a platform from which to be seen and heard,” said Joel Wachs, President of the Andy Warhol Foundation. “We want them to know that we see the extremely difficult circumstances under which they are operating and we value and appreciate their work. We are committed to providing some semblance of stability and continuity during this time of unprecedented upheaval.”
“In times of crisis—whether in response to natural disaster, global pandemic, or financial disruption—foundations do their best work when they come together to assert shared values,” said Elizabeth Smith, Executive Director of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation. “We at the Frankenthaler Foundation are pleased to partner with the Warhol Foundation to support the health of visual arts organizations by stepping forward to assist with these vital and timely funds. While our missions focus support on the visual arts, our shared hope is that this effort may inspire peer funders to support Challenge America grantees working outside of the visual arts, who remain in urgent need of assistance.”
A complete list of grantees and related programs can be found here.