Joan Mitchell Foundation

The Joan Mitchell Foundation cultivates the study and appreciation of artist Joan Mitchell’s life and work, while fulfilling her wish to provide resources and opportunities for visual artists.

As the steward of Joan Mitchell’s legacy, the Foundation manages a collection of Mitchell’s artwork and archives containing her personal papers, photographs, sketchbooks, and other historical materials. The Foundation administers copyright and reproduction requests related to Mitchell’s artwork, and regularly partners with institutions to ensure that a wide audience has access to Mitchell’s work through exhibitions, educational activities, and public programming. In 2015, the Foundation established the Joan Mitchell Catalogue Raisonné project, a long-term research project that will result in a scholarly publication documenting the artist’s paintings.

Fulfilling Mitchell’s mandate to “aid and assist” living artists, over the past 32 years the Foundation has evolved a range of initiatives that have directly supported more than 1,300 visual artists at varying stages of their careers, providing more than $21 million in funding to artists. The Joan Mitchell Fellowship gives annual unrestricted awards of $60,000 directly to artists working in the evolving fields of painting and sculpture, with funds distributed over a five-year period alongside learning, peer engagement, and network-building opportunities. The New Orleans-based Joan Mitchell Center hosts residencies for national and local artists, complemented by professional development offerings, open studio events, and other public programs that encourage dialogue and exchange with the local community. The Creating a Living Legacy (CALL) initiative provides free and essential resources to help artists of all ages organize, document, and manage their artworks and careers. Together, these programs actively engage with working artists as they develop and expand their practices.