2008 AWARD ANNOUNCEMENT

THE JUDITH ROTHSCHILD FOUNDATION AWARDS OVER $150,000 TO 15 PROJECTS

Now in its fourteenth year, this innovative grant program is
dedicated to advancing the work of American visual artists
who are recently deceased and under-recognized.

New York (March 5, 2008) — The Judith Rothschild Foundation announced today 15 grant awards totaling over $150,000 for the current year. The grants, which range from $5,000 to $20,000, will support and stimulate interest in the work of 15 artists as well as a number of others included in a group project. In keeping with the Foundation’s unique mission, all grants are for recently deceased American visual artists who are deemed outstanding, yet under-recognized.

Grant recipients this year come from across the country, including: California, Illinois, Minnesota, Missourri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC. The grants will contribute funding for: museum and gallery exhibitions; publications; the acquisition of works of art for public collections; the cataloguing, conservation, and documentation of artists’ work.

A number of the grants this year will go toward museum exhibitions and their accompanying catalogues, including:

• an exhibition on self-taught artist James Castle with accompanying catalogue, organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA;
• a traveling retrospective exhibition together with accompanying catalogue and symposium on painter Perle Fine, organized by Hofstra University Museum, Hempstead, NY;
• an exhibition with accompanying catalogue on three women artists one of which is painter Lee Lozano, organized by the Wexner Center for the Arts, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH;
• an exhibition on collage/assemblage artist Salvatore S. Meo with accompanying catalogue, organized by The University of the Arts, The Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA;
• an exhibition together with accompanying monograph on photographer Homer Page, organized by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO;
• an exhibition on sculptor Anne Truitt with accompanying monograph, organized by the Smithsonian Institution, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC;
• a traveling retrospective exhibition on photographer Brett Weston with accompanying catalogue, organized by The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, in partnership with the Oklahoma City Museum of Fine Art, Oklahoma City, OK;
• a group exhibition of African American Art and the Julius Rosenwald Fund collection with accompanying catalogue, organized by the Spertus Museum, Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, Chicago, IL.

• a monograph on abstract relief painter Charles Biederman written by art historian/curator Susan C. Larsen in partnership with the artist’s trust, Inver Grove Heights, MN;
• a publication on selected writings by artist Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, co-published by the University of California Press and the University of California Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA;
• a monograph on photographer Louise Rosskam, written by independent scholars Laura Katzmann and Beverly Brannan, Washington, DC.

• documentation and archival storage of work by painter/poet Jackson Mac Low, organized by the artist’s estate, New York, NY;
• the acquisition of the 1971 drawing Final Color Rubbing by sculptor Robert Overby for the Hammer Museum, University of California, Los Angeles, CA;
• preservation of work by artist Alan Shields, organized by the artist’s estate, Shelter Island, NY;
• digital photography of work by painter Leo Valledor, organized by the artist’s estate, San Francisco, CA.

The unique mission of the grant program focuses on encouraging interest in recently deceased American painters, sculptors, and photographers whose work is of the highest quality but lacks adequate recognition. The grant program is dedicated to ensuring that the work of under-recognized, deceased artists has meaningful opportunities for public viewing and critical reassessment.

"Since its inception in 1995, The Judith Rothschild Foundation’s support program has contributed millions of dollars toward a wide range of projects, providing hundreds of opportunities for significant re-evaluation of the work of recently deceased American artists," commented Elizabeth Slater, Senior Vice President, Grant Program. "Through this juried process, we are committed to calling long-overdue attention to the vital, yet often little known contributions these artists have made to our culture."

Recipients are selected solely by members of the Foundation’s Grants Review Committee from applications submitted, and is co-chaired by Elizabeth Slater and Harvey S. Shipley Miller, Trustee, who serve ex-officio and who do not vote. The Committee membership changes annually, and is comprised of noted scholars, critics, museum professionals, and working artists who serve anonymously during their terms. This year’s Committee members were: Debra Balken, Independent Curator, Somerville, MA; Will Barnet, artist, New York, NY; Keith F. Davis, Curator of Photography, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO; John R. Lane, Eugene McDermott Director, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX; and Helen Molesworth, Curator, Modern and Contemporary Art, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, MA.

"Every year, the Grants Review Committee is faced with the challenge of selecting our award recipients from a large group of extremely worthy applicants from the United States and abroad, and this year was no exception. With the current awards, we were particularly pleased with the broad scope of applications, allowing the Foundation to support the efforts of organizations, and estates across the United States," stated Mr. Miller.

To receive Grant Program Guidelines, contact The Judith Rothschild Foundation at (212) 929-0669, email Slatereliz@aol.com or visit:www.judithrothschildfdn.org.