The Terra Foundation

Throughout its twenty-five-year history, the Chicago-based Terra Foundation for American Art has supported exhibitions, scholarship, and educational programs designed to engage individuals around the globe in an enriched and enriching dialogue on American art. Currently, the foundation operates the Musée d’Art Américain Giverny, initiates and grants to exhibitions and projects in the field of American art, and actively acquires works of art to augment its collection.

The Foundation provides opportunities to see works in its collection by supporting exhibitions and programming at the Musée d’Art Américain Giverny and through a multi-year loan to The Art Institute of Chicago galleries of American art. The Terra Foundation also lends objects from its collection for exhibitions all over the world.

The year 2005 marked the official inauguration of the Terra Foundation’s expanded grant program, a new step of its evolution. In an effort to make scholarly resources more available around the world, the Terra Foundation recently gave a substantial, multi-year grant to the Archives of American Art, a division of the Smithsonian Institution, to make their most frequently requested items available online. The foundation also supports scholars through residential fellowships at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and at the Musée d’Art Américain Giverny, in addition to travel grants offered through the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, the John-F. Kennedy Institut für Nordamerikastudien in Berlin, and l’Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art in Paris.
Since 2001, the foundation has organized every summers the Terra Summer Residency. The eight-week residency, held in the Musée d'Art Américain Giverny at the Musée d’Art Américain Giverny. provides artists and scholars with an opportunity for independent study of American art within a framework of interdisciplinary exchange and dialogue.

The Terra Foundation for American Art has made it a priority to foster innovative projects that emphasize multinational perspectives and participation. After the « American Artists and the Louvre » held at the Musée du Louvre, the foundation will continue to develop strategic partnerships to foster the interpretation and enjoyment of American art.

Implicit in all activities of the Terra Foundation for American Art is the belief that art has the potential both to distinguish cultures and to unite them.