The University of New Mexico Art Museum (UNMAM) is delighted to announce that it has received a $50,000 unrestricted grant from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation in support of its exhibitions, teaching initiatives and institutional priorities. 

Upon announcing the award, James Merle Thomas, the Foundation’s Deputy Director, noted: “We are pleased to support UNM Art Museum in recognition of the strength of its programmatic vision, its exemplary participation in the Frankenthaler Prints Initiative and the dynamic exhibitions that resulted, and the Museum’s vital role within the University and the broader New Mexico arts community.” 

Echoing the Foundation’s recognition of UNMAM’s collaborative vision, UNMAM Director Arif Khan highlighted the impact the grant will have. “This generous grant from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation is a welcome affirmation. It recognizes the role that UNMAM plays in creating collaborations and partnerships at and beyond UNM,” he said. 

Prints Initiative Spurred Exhibition, Curriculum Initiatives 

UNMAM was a recipient of the Foundation’s 2023 Frankenthaler Prints Initiative. As one of 10 university art museums selected for the initiative’s second round, UNMAM received a group of Helen Frankenthaler prints and a $25,000 grant to support their study, presentation and interpretation.  

In response, UNMAM developed the exhibition, Push & Pull: The Prints of Helen Frankenthaler and Her Contemporaries, and a corresponding art history course that permitted students to take part in exhibition development. “Abstraction on Paper: Curating Postwar American Prints and Drawings (AHIS 429/529)” met weekly in the UNMAM Beaumont Newhall Study Room, where students studied postwar American art and printmaking, worked directly with collection materials, and developed interpretive labels and sound pieces that were incorporated throughout the exhibition galleries. 

Celebrating abstraction in all print processes, Push & Pull featured modern and contemporary abstract prints and drawings from UNMAM’s collection, focused on the works of Helen Frankenthaler and Elaine de Kooning. Displayed alongside their contemporaries, the exhibition highlighted their collaborations with American publishers such as Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE), Tyler Graphics Ltd., and Tamarind Institute. The exhibition ran January 31-May 17, 2025. 

UNMAM also issued an open call for students to create works on paper in response to Frankenthaler’s prints. Three students were selected and their artwork was featured in the exhibition. 

To learn more about the exhibition and student collaborations, click here and watch interviews with student artists in the UNMAM Closer series here. 

Leadership and Visibility Through AAMG 

In June 2025, UNM Art Museum hosted the annual national meeting of the Association of Academic Museum and Galleries (AAMG). Representatives of the Frankenthaler Foundation attended the conference and participated in a panel session on the Frankenthaler Prints Initiative held in the Push & Pull Main Gallery.

The conference highlighted UNMAM’s role in strengthening connections among university museum leaders and curators and in advancing a growing national community of academic arts institutions at the intersection of curatorial practice, art historical training and campus engagement.

About the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation 

Established and endowed by Helen Frankenthaler during her lifetime, the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation is dedicated to supporting broader public engagement with the visual arts through a range of philanthropic, educational, curatorial, and research initiatives. Since becoming active in 2013, the Foundation has strategically expanded its program through groundbreaking initiatives that sustain the field and foster systemic change. As a primary resource on the artist, the Foundation broadens the reach of her work to new audiences through exhibitions, publications, and programs that convey the relevance and dynamism of her creative vision.