ART OVERVIEW
Emily Hall Tremaine and her husband Burton Tremaine amassed a modern art collection embodying the range of masters and innovation spanning the twentieth century. Click here to see selected pieces from the former Tremaine Collection.

The Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation honors its founder and her unique artistic vision through its contemporary visual art program. The Foundation’s current expression of Emily’s vision is threefold:

Supporting Artist Careers – Since 2002, EHTF directly expanded career opportunities for visual artists by increasing access to business development expertise, entrepreneurial skills, and related professional practice and career supports.  As grantees in the arts service and university arenas began to look at the comprehensive conditions needed for artists to thrive (including professional practice and business/entrepreneurial supports), EHTF seeded and is now functioning as the backbone organization for a field-wide formative assessment tool called Artists Thrive.  The vision for Artists Thrive includes improving conditions for artists and creatives within traditional art settings; in integrating visual art and design benefits into the emerging economy; and in diverse career development.  As EHTF invests in the growth of Artist Thrive through summits, working groups and potential communities of practice, grantmaking will also support leading nonprofit art & culture organizations engaged in this work.

Curators on the Cusp – we know that curators directly affect discourse in contemporary art, so in keeping with Emily Hall Tremaine’s desire to challenge critical thinking, we seek to support curators’ skill development, networking and learning, and overall field building efforts through the a portfolio of opportunities. 
  1. Emily Hall Tremaine Exhibition Award – this hallmark program offers curators the unique opportunity and creative freedom to research, redefine, and push new themes in contemporary art exhibitions. 
  2. Emily Hall Tremaine Exhibition Research Grant – in concert with the Exhibition Award, this program supports 2 curators to research a potential exhibition.
  3. Practice on the Cusp – a suite of opportunities supporting curatorial practice including mentorship, a journalism fellowship, and grants for peer networks and innovation.
  4. Exhibitions on the Cusp - our year-long monthly e-publication celebrating the 20th year of the Exhibition Award.

highlights

Artists Thrive is a dynamic measurement tool that invites a holistic valuation of artists. It outlines a spectrum of performance to spur continuous improvement among artists, arts professionals, and others who work with, or want to work with, artists.