Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation

The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation is an American art foundation located in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Dallas, Texas.[1] The foundation exhibits work in its Santa Fe Art Vault, lends work for touring exhibitions from its permanent collection, and funds various artistic and criticism initiatives through grant programs.

History

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The foundation was formed by Carl Thoma and Marilynn Thoma in 2014.[1][2] The Thomas donated their personal collection of over 1500 works, which they had begun collecting in 1975, to the foundation.[3][4][5] The foundation's collection focuses primarily on three areas: digital art, Spanish Colonial art and Japanese contemporary painting and sculpture.[4][6] The value of the foundation's assets were reported to be US$79 million in 2015.[1]

Grants and awards

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The foundation administers an award for writers who specialize in digital art.[7][8][9] The Thoma foundation also offers scholarships to graduate students conducting research and writing about Spanish Colonial art.[10][11] In 2019 the foundation awarded US$159,000 for the scholarship of Spanish colonial art.[12] The same year, the Thoma foundation awarded US$500,000 to the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland support its initiative to offer free admission to its galleries.[13]

In some cases the foundation has funded thematic exhibitions on subjects related to its collections, such as the 2018 Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art exhibition I Was Raised on the Internet.[14][15]

Exhibition activities

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In Santa Fe New Mexico, the foundation operates a gallery on Canyon road called Art House, where it exhibits works from its permanent collection.[3][16][17] The Thoma foundation also frequently loans items from its collection for museum exhibitions.[1][18] The collection is also shown in Chicago by appointment, in its own warehouse and exhibition space called the Orange Door.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Reporter, Megan Bennett. "'A really arty family' champions its passions". www.abqjournal.com.
  2. ^ Isaacs, Deanna. "A peek behind the orange door into the Thoma Art Foundation's dazzling stash". Chicago Reader.
  3. ^ a b "Thoma Foundation – Chicago & Santa Fe — Two intimate art spaces that encourage dialogue between work and viewer". www.bmw-art-guide.com.
  4. ^ a b "Thoma: Meet an Art-Collecting Couple Committed to Visual Arts".
  5. ^ "Carl Thoma pursues the art of the deal". Crain's Chicago Business.
  6. ^ a b Zastudil, Nancy (11 July 2016). "Collecting: Carl & Marilynn Thoma - art ltd. magazine".
  7. ^ Greenberger, Alex (7 June 2018). "Thoma Foundation's Digital Arts Writing Awards Go to Mary Flanagan and Dawn Chan".
  8. ^ ""Indispensable." Who are the Funders Backing Writing on the Arts?".
  9. ^ "Thoma Foundation Reveals First-Ever Digital Arts Writing Award Winners". www.artforum.com.
  10. ^ "Announcing the Marilynn Thoma Fellowship in Spanish Colonial Art - Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation". 1 May 2018.
  11. ^ "Call for Thoma Latin American Art Scholars - University of Texas Libraries - The University of Texas at Austin". beta.lib.utexas.edu.
  12. ^ Selvin, Claire (2019-02-05). "Thoma Foundation Awards $159,000 to Scholars of Spanish Colonial Art". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  13. ^ "Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland Adopts Free Admission Policy". www.artforum.com.
  14. ^ Villarreal, Ignacio. "The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago opens 'I Was Raised on the Internet'". artdaily.com.
  15. ^ Morris, Jane (2018-06-27). "From Y2K to Tor: new show explores how artists make sense of the internet". The Art Newspaper.
  16. ^ "Collecting Digital Art: Highlights + New Acquisitions from the Thoma Foundation". 1 August 2017.
  17. ^ Abatemarco, Michael. "Preserving old new media: Digital art from the Thoma Foundation".
  18. ^ "New Media, New Millennium: Digital Art from the Thoma Foundation". Hunter Museum of American Art.
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