The Aspen Institute Artist-Endowed Foundations Initiative | AEFI Welcomes New Foundation Leaders

Focused on the strategic considerations of those entering the Artist-Endowed Foundation field, whether as senior staff, board member, or advisor to an artist or an artist’s beneficiary engaging in art stewardship planning, the Seminar on Strategy for Artist-Endowed Foundation Leaders is an annual program, with the next edition scheduled for spring 2027.

The Aspen Institute Artist-Endowed Foundation Initiative | AEFI is pleased to announce that 26 leaders affiliated with 25 Artist-Endowed Foundations, artists’ studios, and artists’ estates have completed the rigorous 2026 Seminar on Strategy for Artist-Endowed Foundation Leaders.

AEFI’s Seminar was initiated in 2016 in response to the continued growth of the Artist-Endowed Foundation field (now estimated at 400 extant foundations holding more than $9 billion in FMV assets) and the desire for professional education opportunities on the part of those playing new roles creating, leading, and governing these unique institutions. Its curriculum focuses specifically on the strategic considerations of individuals entering the AEF field and is based on the results of AEFI’s flagship research program, the National Study of Artist-Endowed Foundations, with findings first released in 2010 and subsequently updated periodically. Now an annual program, the Seminar’s 2026 iteration is its eighth edition. Including the members of this graduating class, more than  150 Seminar alumni are active in and around the AEF community today.

Select Members of the 2026 Seminar Class:

• Taylor Renee Aldridge, Executive Director, Modern Ancient Brown Foundation (McArthur Binion)
• Margaret J. Baechler, Donald Baecher Foundation
• Laura Bardier, Director, James Howell Foundation
• Ian Berry, Executive Director, Ellsworth Kelly Foundation
• Solana Chehtman, Director of Artist Programs, Joan Mitchell Foundation
• Hèléne Guenin, Manager, Yves Kelin Foundation
• Fernanda Guliak, Executive Director, Viñoly Foundation (Rafael Viñoly)
• Michael Dayton Herman, Managing Director of Strategic Initiatives, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
• Mario Johonson, Deputy Director, Art+Practice (Mark Bradford)
• Shahrzad Kamel, Executive Director, Robert Frank Foundation
• ST Luk, Project Director, Reversible Destiny Foundation (Arakawa and Madeline Gins)
• Frank Martinez, President, The Milton and Shirley Glazer Foundation
• Matthew Nichols, Executive Director, Louise Fishman Foundation
• Ethan Wiley, Director, William T. Wiley Foundation

Select Seminar Alumni:

• Justin Brancato, Executive Director, Toshiko Takaezu Foundation (2016)
• Simon Castets, Executive Director, Keith Haring Foundation (2023)
• Rachel Churner, Director, Carolee Schneemann Foundation (2021)
• Charles Duncan, Executive Director, Richard Pousette-Dart Foundation (2016)
• Lisa Le Feuvre, Executive Director, Holt / Smithson Foundation (Nancy Holt, Robert Smithson) (2018)
• Kara Gilmour, Director, Janet Fish Foundation (2025)
• Antonio David Lyons, Executive Director, Valerie J. Maynard Foundation (2023)
• Lissa McClure, Executive Director, Woodman Family Foundation (Betty, Francesca, George Woodman) (2019)
• Rebecca McGrew, Executive Director, Edward & Nancy Reddin Kienholz Foundation (2023)
• Musa Mayer, President, The Guston Foundation (Philip Guston) (2016)
• Jon S. Ott, Inaugural Executive Director, Richard Hunt Legacy Foundation (2025)
• Steven Rose,  Executive Director, Emily Mason | Alice Trumbull Mason Foundation (2021)
• Berenice Sarafzadeh, Chief Operating Officer, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation (2025)
• Hedi Sorger, Executive Director, Peter Hujar Foundation (2025)
• Mary Clare Stevens, Executive Director, Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts (2016)
• James Merle Thomas, Deputy Director, Helen Frankenthaler Foundation (2023)
• Michele Wallace, President, Anyone Can Fly Foundation (Faith Ringgold) (2021)
• Laura S. West, Executive Director, Wyeth Foundation for American Art (Andrew Wyeth) (2025)
• Victoria Woodhull, President, Kenneth Noland Foundation (2017)
• Yoshito Yoshioka, Executive Director, One Million Years Foundation (On Kawara) (2016)

AEFI is a component of the Aspen Institute’s Program on Philanthropy & Social Innovation. It functions as a collegial learning community, bringing together foundation leaders to ask questions, gather information, and share lessons learned about effective practices and policies that are key to building the fast-growing Artist-Endowed Foundation field’s charitable impact in art stewardship and in cultural philanthropy.

The Seminar on Strategy for Artist-Endowed-Foundation Leaders is AEFI’s professional education program for those entering the Artist-Endowed Foundation field, either as executive leaders, board members, or as individuals supporting an artist or an artist’s beneficiary in their long-term art stewardship planning, potentially involving foundation creation. More than 50 AEF leaders serve as faculty members for each Seminar, alongside scholars and expert service providers. As such, the Seminar stands as an act of great generosity on the part of the AEF community and its friends, welcoming new members and colleagues.

For further information about the Seminar, contact Christine J. Vincent, AEFI Managing Director.