Lunder Institute @

The Colby College Museum of Art’s Lunder Institute for American Art has invited six prominent art institutions across the nation to respond to this question as part of its new initiative, Lunder Institute @.  Starting in February 2024, the de Young Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco will host the first Lunder Institute @ program, followed by The Broad in Los Angeles, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas, the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy, Andover, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and finally, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.

Each institution was asked to respond to the question of the state of American art by having internal conversations across departments and sharing what emerged from these through a public program. This initiative offers space and time to institutions to consider, discuss, and innovatively respond to some of the pressing issues, opportunities, and challenges within the field of American art in relation to their own institution, collection, and location within the United States. Importantly, this work also fosters necessary dialogue within and between institutions.

Practice and methodology are core interests to the Lunder Institute, and that interest extends beyond individuals—artists, scholars, curators, etc.—to institutional practices within the field of American art. As a think tank for the field, and part of a leading academic art museum, the Lunder Institute seeks to provide opportunities and resources for institutions to engage with questions related to American art. A primary goal of this initiative is to promote transparency in the field of American art, beyond public-facing exhibitions and scholarship, to extend that process across each organization, and share a product of that engagement with the public.

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For more information and to register for upcoming events: https://lunderinstitute.colby.edu/what-we-do/lunder-institute-at/