Art Programs

Emily Hall Tremaine and her husband Burton Tremaine amassed a modern art collection embodying the range of masters and innovation spanning the twentieth century. The Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation honors its founder and her unique artistic vision through the contemporary art program. The Foundation’s support of contemporary art is twofold. Through the Marketplace Empowerment for Artists program visual artists are given the essential tools necessary to succeed as artists in the marketplace.  The Emily Hall Tremaine Exhibition Award program encourages curators to constantly redefine and push the boundaries of contemporary art.

The Emily Hall Tremaine Exhibition Award was created in 1998 to honor the talent and artistic vision of our founder, Emily Hall Tremaine, whose passion for art inspired, challenged and brought joy to those around her. Through the Exhibition Award, the Foundation rewards innovation and experimentation at the curatorial level. During each award cycle, the Foundation supports three curators partnered with established non-profit exhibition spaces. Each exhibition challenges audiences and the mainstream cannon of contemporary art by stretching and reworking established art world ideologies.

The Marketplace Empowerment for Artists (MEA) program fulfills an important gap in the needs of the American visual artist community.  The goal of the program is to address the broad issues of business development and community networking in addition to the existing services for visual training at the emerging and mid-career levels.  The Foundation recognizes that for visual artists to be successful in the market place, they need certain strategic visioning and planning skills in addition to artistic talent.

There are two components to the MEA program. The first focuses on the development and implementation of a graduate level course for Master of Fine Arts students that cultivates and hones both practical and critical career-oriented skills. The second component supports arts and artist service organizations to develop professional and strategic planning skills training programs for practicing visual artists at varying career levels.

For additional information about the Foundation’s current work in our Art Program, please see our News Center.

For additional information about the Foundation’s previous work in our Art Program, please see our Biennial Report.