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ABOUT THE FOUNDATION BRIEF HISTORY AND BACKGROUND The Romare Bearden Foundation was established by the estate of the artist in 1990 to preserve and perpetuate his artistic and intellectual legacy. Nanette Rohan Bearden, the artist's wife and a noted dancer and choreographer, was custodian of his legacy until her death in 1996. During his lifetime and today, Romare Howard Bearden (1911-1988) is recognized for his significant contributions to American art. For over a decade, the Foundation has worked to ensure that his place in the canon of American art is secure and that his artwork and his life are accessible to current and future generations. Since it moved from Staten Island to Manhattan, the Foundation has expanded operations in its new headquarters, adding new offices, Bearden's archives and personal library, an art gallery and an art storage facility. The Foundation also strengthened its administrative and governance infrastructure with professional staff and an engaged Board of Directors, secured new intellectual capital through a distinguished Board of Advisors, formalized its operations, enhanced its local and national profile with the realization of numerous ambitious projects and defined new programs, goals and plans for the future. Through its work, the Foundation ensures that Romare Bearden's cherished memory and rich artistic legacy live on locally, nationally and internationally. As one of the oldest African-American established and operated foundations, the Romare Bearden Foundation has emerged as a model of a Black cultural and philanthropic organization that continues to thrive and reinvent itself. [[image]][[/image]] The Visitation, 1942 Oil on canvas, 50" x 40" Image courtesy of Romare Bearden Foundation/licensed by VAGA, NY PROGRAM FOCUS In the past, the Foundation fulfilled its mandate primarily through modest grants to talented art students, art programs that nurture the creativity of children, cultural institutions that aid deserving artists, and scholarly research and preservation of Bearden's work. Grantees included the Madison Arts Center UrbanArts Outreach Program; Cinque Gallery, New York; Bridge Street Preparatory School, Brooklyn, New York; Saint Augustine School of the Arts, New York; Brandywine Workshop, Philadelphia; Davidson College, North Carolina; and The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York. Over the past several years, the Foundation has supported and developed special programs and projects that advanced new scholarship on Bearden, and that expanded public knowledge of his art, life and creative interests, particularly in music, dance, theater and literature. Among the most notable projects: the highly successful, seven-month long Romare Bearden Homecoming Celebration (2004-2005), that included Bearden related dance, music