The Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) has been awarded two grants totaling $140,000 from The Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts and VIA Art Fund | Wagner Foundation. The Museum was awarded a Spring 2022 Grant from the Warhol Foundation to support the exhibition Haimaz, Heimr, Hjem, Heem, Hām, Home, opening in March of 2023. As a VIA Art Fund | Wagner Foundation Incubator grantee, UMOCA will receive support to further its commitment to its community through fostering experimental practices and advancing critical discourse in contemporary art on a national level.

“The generous support of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the VIA Art Fund and Wagner Foundation will enable UMOCA to strengthen its commitment to engaging with and growing the arts ecosystem in Utah through programming, advocacy, and collaboration with local and national artists and the diverse communities in our state,” said UMOCA’s Executive Director, Laura Allred Hurtado.

“Artist-centered organizations are tasked with finding new, forward-thinking ways to present artists’ perspectives to regional, national and international audiences,” states Joel Wachs, President, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. “The Foundation’s support for these organizations helps to open pathways for artists to make meaningful contributions to conversations about the pressing issues of our time.”

Brooke Davis Anderson, Executive Director of VIA Art Fund stated: “For 4 years VIA Art Fund has partnered with Wagner Foundation to maximize opportunities for small art organizations around the nation. We work together to provide the armature – through general operating support – so that these vital cultural sites can engage deeply with their communities, think collaboratively with artists, and develop creative solutions to their most front-of-mind challenges and opportunities.”

Charlotte Wagner, Wagner Foundation Founder & President commented: “We are now 4 years into a 5-year commitment [with the VIA Art Fund]. Together, we continue to expand our geographic reach and provide funding into the arts ecosystem across the county. All 5 new cohort members are deeply engaged in their local community and strive to elevate the arts to bring people together. Their work spans across social and artistic discourse to alternative arts spaces but what they all have in common is a genuine community-centered approach.”

SOURCE Utah Museum of Contemporary Art