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Congratulations Jeffrey Gibson!

Jeffrey will represent the United States at the 2024 Venice Biennale, marking a historic moment. A member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians with Cherokee ancestral roots, Gibson will be the first Indigenous artist to have a solo exhibition for the US pavilion at the international contemporary art exhibition.

Thoma Foundation Announces 2023-2024 Awards in the Art of the Spanish Americas

This year, the Thoma Foundation is pleased to award two scholars whose work advances our knowledge of the construction of historiography of viceregal Andean painting, and the artistic networks and the role of patronage of the Franciscan Order in Cusco during the second half of the seventeenth century. The fellows and award winners were selected from a competitive pool of international applicants based on their academic accomplishments, their scholarly commitment to the art of the Spanish Americas, and the relative merit of their projects. All awardees were chosen by a jury of experts in the field.

Now On View at Art Vault: Lust Severs, Guest Curated by Jennifer West

The Thoma Foundation is excited to announce the opening of Lust Severs, an exhibition that explores functional and experiential aspects of technology. Guest curated by pioneering film artist Jennifer West, this exhibition interrogates how the digital tools and physical materiality of technology mediate both bodily sensations and mental conceptions of the world around us.

Thoma Foundation Announces Support of Jaune Quick-to-See Smith Retrospective

The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation is proud to have awarded a $150,000 grant to the Whitney Museum of American Art in support of its upcoming retrospective of Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (b. 1940). An enrolled Salish member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation, Smith has forged a personal yet accessible visual language throughout her career that speaks to issues of identity, history, environment, and politics.

Exploratory Travel Awards

The Thoma Foundation has made its third round of Exploratory Travel Awards to support the work of graduate students embarking on thesis or dissertation research related to the Art of the Spanish Americas. ⁠This Fall, we were delighted to support two emerging scholars, who will each receive $5,000 to facilitate travel to key archives and collections.⁠ We wish Daen and Camila safe and productive travels, and look forward to seeing what their work uncovers!⁠ Daen Palma Huse (left) is an MPhil/PhD researcher at the History of Art Department, University College London (UCL). Camila Miravalles (right) is a PhD candidate for the University of Buenos Aires and UBACyT Doctoral Fellow.

Daen Huse (left) and Camila Miravalles (right)

Introducing Moving Arts’ New Teen Space!

The Thoma Foundation sends their congratulations to Moving Arts Española on both the opening of their new teen programming wing, Bowie’s Backstage, and Executive Director Salvador Ruiz’s naming as a UniVisionario. Two years ago, we first had the honor of meeting co-founders Sal Ruiz and Roger Montoya, whose leadership, dedication, and passion for serving their community is positively contagious.

The entrance to Bowie’s Backstage.

Message from Our Planet Traveling Exhibition

Twenty software, video, and light-technology artworks from nineteen international artists and artist groups working at the forefront of digital and electronic art will be exhibited in Message from Our Planet, a traveling exhibition curated around the idea that media technologies – from vintage devices to cutting-edge digital algorithms – offer distinct ways for artists to communicate with future generations, encapsulating the artifacts and ambitions of contemporary society.

Shifting Tides: Art in the 18th-Century Caribbean

The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation has given a grant of $25,000 in support of Shifting Tides: Art in the 18th-Century Caribbean, a symposium and study day to be hosted at the Winterthur Museum in April 2023. The organizers note that, “Histories of colonial and viceregal American art tend to privilege art produced in continental spaces as they came to be organized as nation states, overlooking the interrelatedness of early Caribbean and continental colonies and the significance of the Caribbean region.”

A white couple in nice clothing smiling at each other in front of a red wall with a historic painting and digital artwork.

Our Mission

The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation recognizes that education and the arts enhance individuals’ lives and communities. Education is centered in the rural Southwest, primarily focusing on scholarships. In the Arts, we make grants, lend and exhibit our art collection. We are strong believers in leadership, innovation, and equality of opportunity.

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