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Non-profit

Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

Website:

www.warholfoundation.org/
Location:

New York, NY
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)-PF

Type:

Private foundation
Formation:

1987
President:

Joel Wachs
Budget (2023):

Revenue: $26,705,722
Expenses: $25,291,125
Net Assets: $372,671,770 23

References

  1. The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990 – Part I). 2023.

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The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts is a private foundation created by the estate of late artist Andy Warhol. 1 The Andy Warhol Foundation awards grants to visual arts organizations and created the Creative Capital Foundation to award grants to individual artists. 2

According to its website, the grants are provided to artists that the foundation claims “challenge art historical and social conventions, address systemic inequities, and push art in new directions.” 3

Background

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, also known as the Andy Warhol Foundation, was established in 1987 in New York City by the estate of late artist Andy Warhol. 1 It awards grants to nonprofit visual arts organizations and manages a collection of Andy Warhol’s art. 1 It claims to provide grant support for artists it claims help “challenge art historical and social conventions, address systemic inequities, and push art in new directions.” 3

As of 2025, the Andy Warhol Foundation claims to have awarded almost $300 million in grants to over 1,000 arts organizations while donating roughly 52,786 works of art to 322 art institutions. 4

Initiatives

The Andy Warhol Museum was established in 1989 in partnership with the Dia Art Foundation and Carnegie Museums through the donation of “over 8,000 artworks and tens of thousands of archival objects” from Warhol’s estate. 5

The Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonne was created in 1977 and assumed by the Andy Warhol Foundation in 1993. It is an ongoing project to catalog and publish volumes that document Warhol’s paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, and films. 6

The Creative Capital Foundation was established in 1999 by the Andy Warhol Foundation in response to the government reducing National Endowment for the Arts funding of the arts in the 1990s. 5 7 It has awarded $55 million in grants to artists since it was established. 8 Since its founding, other organizations and individuals have donated to it, including Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Agnes Gund, and the Muriel Pollia Foundation. 9 10

Funding and Grants

The Andy Warhol Foundation is funded by an endowment created from Warhol’s estate and by revenue generated from the licensing and sales of his art. The Foundation awards approximately $15 million each year. 5

In the tax year ending April 30, 2024, the foundation awarded 179 grants totaling almost $16 million. 11 In its fall 2024 grantmaking cycle, the foundation awarded $4.1 million to 47 grantees. 12

Grantees include the Vera List Center for Art and Politics, a research center and public forum for art, culture, and politics; 13 the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, which “preserves and promotes contemporary art as a shared expression of the Ukrainian and American experience”; 14 and the Arts Advocacy Project hosted by the National Coalition Against Censorship. 15 16

In April 2025 the Andy Warhol Foundation and the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation created a fund to distribute to visual arts organizations to replace funding suspended by the National Endowment for the Arts. 17

Leadership

Joel Wachs is the president of the Andy Warhol Foundation, working in the role since 2001. 18 Wachs attended UCLA, earned a law degree from Harvard, and a master’s in taxation law from New York University. He previously worked as a tax attorney, and was later elected to the Los Angeles City Council. 19 He ran for mayor of Los Angeles three times unsuccessfully before becoming president of the Foundation. 19

Deborah Willis is the board chair of the Foundation as of 2025. 20 She is a professor and chair of the photography department at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. She is also the director of New York University’s Center for Black Visual Culture and Institute for African American Affairs. She has written several books, including Envisioning Emancipation: Black Americans and the End of Slavery with Barbara Krauthamer, and Michelle Obama: The First Lady in Photographs. Her most recent publication was one she co-authored entitled Kamala: Her Historic, Joyful, And Auspicious Sprint to the White House, which covered the political career of former Vice President Kamala Harris. 21

Controversies

In April 2025 the American Alliance for Equal Rights requested that the IRS investigate the Creative Capital Foundation, along with the Lagrant Foundation and the Gates Foundation, claiming that these foundations engaged in discriminatory practices by excluding white Americans from benefits solely because of race. It argued that the Creative Capital Foundation, which the Warhol Foundation created, awarded $700,000 to Asian, Black, Indigenous, and “Latinx” artists and excluded white artists. 22

References

  1. “The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.” Candid Foundation Directory. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://fconline.foundationcenter.org/fdo-grantmaker-profile/?key=WARH001
  2. [1] “History.” The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts – About. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://warholfoundation.org/about/history/
  3. “About.” The Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://warholfoundation.org/about/
  4. “Mission.” The Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts – About. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://warholfoundation.org/about/
  5. “History.” The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts – About. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://warholfoundation.org/about/history/
  6.  “Paintings, Sculptures, and Drawings.” The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts – Warhol. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://warholfoundation.org/warhol/catalogue-raisonne/paintings-sculptures-drawings/
  7. Scott Martelle. “Creative types get a bit of business schooling.” Los Angeles Times. August 20, 2006. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-aug-20-ca-capital20-story.html
  8. “About Creative Capital.” CultureSource. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://culturesource.org/creative-capital/
  9. “Support.” Creative Capital. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://creative-capital.org/support-general/
  10. Regina Mahone. “Joel Wachs, President, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.” Candid Philanthropy News Digest. October 16, 2012. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/features/newsmakers/joel-wachs-andy-warhol-foundation
  11. The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990 – Part XIV). 2023.
  12.  “Warhol Foundation Names Fall 2024 Grantees.” Artforum. January 23, 2025. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://www.artforum.com/news/andy-warhol-foundation-names-fall-2024-grantees-1234725777/
  13. “The Vera List Center for Arts and Politics.” The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts – Grants. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://warholfoundation.org/grants/archive/the-vera-list-center-for-arts-and-politics/
  14. “Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art.” The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts – Grants. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://warholfoundation.org/grants/archive/ukrainian-institute-of-modern-art/
  15. “Arts Advocacy Project.” The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts – Grants. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://warholfoundation.org/grants/archive/national-coalitaion-against-censorship-arts-advocacy-project/
  16. “Grantees.” The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts – Grants. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://warholfoundation.org/grants/archive/
  17. Tessa Solomon. “Amid NEA Dismantling, Warhol and Frankenthaler Foundations Announce $800,000 Fund.” May 2025. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/amid-nea-dismantling-warhol-and-frankenthaler-foundations-announce-800-000-fund/ar-AA1Eq0yy?ocid=BingNewsSerp
  18. “Joel Wachs.” The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts – People. Accessed May 14, 2025. https://warholfoundation.org/about/people/joel-wachs/
  19. “Joel Wachs.” LGBT History Month. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://lgbthistorymonth.com/sites/default/files/icon_multimedia_pdfs/2024/Wachs-LGBT_HistoryMonthBios2024%2031.pdf
  20. “People.” The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Arts – About. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://warholfoundation.org/about/people/
  21. “Deborah Willis.” Tisch NYU. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://tisch.nyu.edu/about/directory/photo/95947945.html
  22. “American Alliance for Equal Rights Files Request to IRS to Examine Racial Practices at Three Tax-Exempt Foundations: Gates Foundation, Lagrant Foundation and Creative Capital Foundation.” PR Newswire. News provided by American Alliance for Equal Rights. April 1, 2025. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/american-alliance-for-equal-rights-files-request-to-irs-to-examine-racial-practices-at-three-tax-exempt-foundations-gates-foundation-lagrant-foundation-and-creative-capital-foundation-302417428.html
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Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts


New York, NY