Robert Lehman Foundation Inc

What Robert Lehman Foundation Inc does

The Robert Lehman Foundation Inc. is a private 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation incorporated in 1943 by Robert Lehman, the former Chairman of the Board of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Headquartered at 116 East 73rd Street in New York City with 1–10 employees, the Foundation operates an endowment-based grant-making model funded by returns from its investment portfolio, with no commercial product or service revenue. Its core activity is distributing grants to nonprofit visual arts organizations across two bi-annual review cycles (fall proposals due September 15 with decisions by mid-November; spring proposals due April 1 with decisions by mid-June).

The Foundation funds four primary program areas: museum exhibitions, art education (with emphasis on underserved communities), scholarly publications, and capital projects, plus the Edwin L. Weisl, Jr. Lectureships in Art History program capped at $7,500 per application. Grants are restricted to qualified 501(c)(3) organizations, and recent programmatic evolution has broadened exhibition support beyond works complementing the historical Robert Lehman Collection to include contemporary art projects with intellectual merit. The Foundation's identity is deeply anchored in the Robert Lehman Collection — over 2,600 works including ~800 drawings and ~400 frames spanning early Renaissance to 20th century — permanently housed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art since its transfer on January 30, 1970.

The go-to-market model is event-driven rather than commercial: the Foundation does not market to drive revenue but manages inbound grant proposals through its website (robertlehmanfoundation.org) and communicates grantmaking activity through program news and a newsletter. Its customer base comprises named grantees including Madison Square Park Conservancy, BRIC Arts Media, Storm King Art Center, Portland Art Museum, Art21, American Folk Art Museum, Denver Art Museum, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, MoMA, and Buffalo AKG Art Museum. Leadership consists of President Philip H. Isles and Executive Director Francesca Valerio, with family trustees Robert Owen Lehman and Kate Lehman on the board.

Name

Robert Lehman Foundation Inc

Legal name

Robert Lehman Foundation, Inc.

Website

https://robertlehmanfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1943

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Robert Lehman Foundation is a 1943 New York-based 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation that awards grants to nonprofit visual arts organizations for exhibitions, art education, scholarly publications, capital projects, and lectureships, operating bi-annual application cycles and anchored by the Robert Lehman Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Arts Philanthropy

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts, Culture & Humanities Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAJ)

Keywords

• Visual arts grants
• Art philanthropy
• Nonprofit foundation
• Arts education funding
• Museum exhibition grants

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Others, Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Endowment-Based Grant Making: The Foundation operates as a charitable endowment that generates revenue from its investment portfolio. These funds are distributed as grants to visual arts organizations. The Foundation does not generate commercial revenue from products or services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

The Robert Lehman Foundation Inc. is a private nonprofit charitable foundation that provides grants to nonprofit 501(c)(3) visual arts organizations. It funds museum exhibitions, art education programs targeting underserved communities, scholarly publications, capital projects at cultural institutions, and the Edwin L. Weisl, Jr. Lectureships in Art History program at colleges. Grants are awarded through bi-annual review cycles (fall and spring).

Product overview

Robert Lehman Foundation Inc is a charitable foundation incorporated in 1943 to support the visual arts. The Foundation does not offer a commercial product or software platform. Its core activity is providing grants to museums, arts organizations, educational institutions, and cultural organizations. The Foundation supports museum exhibitions, art education programs, scholarly publications, art history lectureships, and capital projects that complement the Robert Lehman Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Foundation also maintains and publishes catalogues documenting the Robert Lehman Collection, which comprises over 2,600 works of art including paintings, drawings, manuscripts, majolica, frames, textiles, and European decorative arts dating from the early Renaissance to the twentieth century, housed in the Robert Lehman Wing at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Exhibition Grants

Named customers9 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• The Metropolitan Museum of ArtcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 January 1970Robert Lehman's collection of more than 2,600 works of art was transferred to The Metropolitan Museum of Art on January 30, 1970. The collection is housed in the Robert Lehman Wing, designed to evoke the ambiance of the Lehman family residence. Robert Lehman served as Chairman of the Board's Board of Trustees, and the Foundation continues to support exhibitions and programs that complement the collection.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Terra Foundation for American Art: Private foundation dedicated to supporting the study and exhibition of American art globally. Comparable in mission, scale, and family-foundation governance model to the Robert Lehman Foundation.
• The Getty Foundation: Philanthropic arm of the Getty Trust supporting visual arts exhibitions, scholarly publications, and art history research. Highly comparable to Robert Lehman Foundation in mission, scholarly orientation, and grantee profile.
• Henry Luce Foundation: Family-founded foundation with a major American Art program supporting museums, exhibitions, and art history. Closely comparable in family foundation governance and visual arts grantmaking focus.
• Joan Mitchell Foundation: Private foundation supporting individual artists and arts organizations through grants and residencies. Comparable family-foundation origins and direct grantmaking to visual arts organizations.
• Dedalus Foundation: Private foundation supporting modern and contemporary art, scholarship, and art education. Highly comparable family-foundation structure and focus on art history publications and exhibitions.
• The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation: Family foundation supporting modern and contemporary art scholarship and exhibition. Comparable in family-foundation model, scholarly publication program, and visual arts grantmaking focus.
• Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation: Private family foundation supporting visual arts through grants, exhibitions, and scholarly publications. Closely comparable in family governance, programmatic scope, and grantee profile.

Broad incumbents

• The Kresge Foundation: Major US foundation with arts and cultural programming supporting capital projects and operations at cultural institutions. Comparable to Robert Lehman's capital project grants but with a broader cross-sector portfolio.
• The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation: One of the largest US foundations supporting visual arts, museums, and art conservation. Direct overlap with the Robert Lehman Foundation's grantmaking themes, but at materially larger scale and broader programmatic scope.
• Doris Duke Charitable Foundation: Family-founded foundation with a substantial arts portfolio supporting performing and visual arts organizations. Overlaps with Robert Lehman's grantmaking themes but operates at much larger scale and broader scope.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/robert-lehman-foundation-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Robert Lehman Foundation Inc