2025 in Numbers
- 25M+People impacted—sharing meaningful art experiences that foster joy, connection, and well-being.
- 73New museums joined our partner network—bringing our total to over 300!
- 818Artworks available for loan through our Partner Loan Network—bringing more art into museums near you.
- 17Exhibitions traveled across the country—proof that great art was never meant to stay still.
- 109Innovative projects developed in collaboration with our Learning & Engagement team—a 49% increase from 2024.
- 92Museum partners participating in COVES research survey—because understanding audiences matters.
- $6.8MTotal funding—providing the support our partners need to expand access to art in their communities.
Partner Loan Network
This year, the Partner Loan Network deepened its commitment to bringing art out of storage and into communities nationwide. In the 3 years since the art-sharing initiative was established, it has grown significantly to support the circulation of artworks from over 20 museum collections. In 2025, we added 11 new lending partners, who contributed 264 new artworks to the Partner Loan Network—bringing the total number of circulating works to 818. Notably, artworks from the Museo de Arte de Ponce are now on view at the Springfield Museums in Massachusetts and feature important 19th- and 20th-century Latin American and Puerto Rican artists. They represent the first works we have traveled from Puerto Rico, marking an exciting milestone in expanding the geographic reach of this program.
Art Bridges Collection
The Art Bridges Collection continues to be a foundational aspect of art sharing for our museum partners. This year, we supported multiple projects, including lending works by Indigenous artists to Hudson River Museum’s “Smoke in Our Hair: Native Memory and Unsettled Time.” Additionally, we announced a major partnership with the Terra Foundation of American Art and Talladega College, relating to the co-acquisition of “The Amistad Murals,” three paintings by American artist Hale A. Woodruff, which will begin their national tour in 2026. We welcomed a new curatorial role to support interpretation across all art-sharing programs, and two internally curated exhibitions began their tour—“Metal the Mirror,” featuring works by Isamu Noguchi in the Art Bridges Collection, at the Bruce Museum and “Crafting Sanctuaries” at The Museum of Art + Light. Lastly, we debuted a new video series, titled “Behind the Canvas,” showcasing contemporary artists from our collection.
Traveling Exhibitions
While continuing our mission to expand access to art in communities nationwide, our Traveling Exhibitions program advanced a dynamic slate of exhibitions that both celebrate and challenge the American art canon. This year alone, we partnered with museums across the country to travel 17 exhibitions. To broaden the range and diversity of offerings, we launched 6 new exhibitions, featuring artists like Louise Nevelson, Michelangelo Lovelace, Keith Duncan, and Jordan Ann Craig, as well as our own curated projects. Building on this momentum, we are onboarding 9 additional exhibitions that are slated to begin touring in 2026, ensuring a robust and continually evolving pipeline of impactful arts experiences for communities everywhere.
Cohort Program
It was a big year for the Cohort Program, which was thoughtfully redesigned following a robust evaluation to provide more support and guidance to our partners and allow the program to scale more easily. While keeping the focus on art sharing and community engagement, new sustainability training and a collections care apprenticeship were added to further eliminate restrictive practices and barriers and to expand access to employment in the museum field. Excitingly, 4 new cohorts with a total of 20 museum partners were launched in the new cohort format, and in September, they met in Bentonville, Arkansas, for a first round of convenings. Meanwhile, the 6 cohorts that are currently running, composed of 32 museum members, continued to collaborate on art-sharing projects, holding convenings and traveling 12 exhibitions with affiliated programming in communities across the country.
Learning & Engagement
In 2025, the Learning & Engagement team collaborated with our museum partners on 109 unique projects, representing a 49% increase from 2024. Programs supported through Learning & Engagement Awards reached diverse demographics to increase local and community engagement, and 65% of funded programs were geared toward adult audiences—particularly young adults and professionals, including college and university students. The Idea Center has grown as well with over 100 entries on this searchable repository, which also now includes multimedia storytelling through an interview with our partners at the Trout Gallery, the art museum of Dickinson College. In this video, staff members reflected on how their Pop-Up Mini Exhibits program built authentic relationships with their community and how activities can be designed to truly resonate with audiences. More partner interviews will be added to the Idea Center in 2026, featuring success stories, lessons learned, and advice from the field.
Evaluation
Last year, Art Bridges funded meaningful research at museum partners via 3 evaluation awards. Examples of these awards include front-end evaluation at The Hecksher Museum of Art in preparation for its upcoming "Eclipse of the Sun" exhibition featuring 22 works from the Art Bridges Collection. This evaluation revealed key findings about what visitors and community partners expect from the exhibition and is being used to inform the museum’s exhibition design and programming. We also funded the Clyfford Still Museum in the second phase of its evaluation of the exhibition, "Tell Clyfford I Said Hi." This evaluation provided insights into the process of connecting the featured artworks back to the Colville community, where they were created, and the value that co-creation with youth on the Colville reservation brought to the students, their teachers, and the museum. In addition, COVES-Art Bridges welcomed 25 new sites to the cohort, increasing the total number of participating museums to 92. Within the year, our partners collected 22,510 visitor surveys, and responses showed an average net promoter score of 75.9, indicating that most visitors enjoyed their experience and are likely to tell others about it. In 2025, we conducted in-depth research into COVES data to reveal people’s motivations for visiting art museums, and we found distinct changes across age groups. Older adults, for example, are significantly more likely to go to the museum to learn or expand their knowledge. As we move into 2026, we look forward to sharing additional findings from COVES and supporting more art museums in better understanding their audiences and serving their communities.
Art & Wellness Initiatives
In October, we launched our inaugural Art + Wellness convening, a 3 day professional development opportunity for teams from selected museums that featured guest speakers, workshops, and planning time to develop projects focused on art and community well-being. Out of 197 applications, 6 museums were selected to participate in the convening, including Allentown Art Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art, El Paso Museum of Art, Frye Art Museum, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, and North Carolina Museum of Art. These museums will borrow artwork from the Partner Loan Network for a 2-year display period and receive $50,000 to realize their art and wellness projects. Based on the success of the program, we plan to host more art and wellness-focused convenings in the future—as soon as Spring 2026!
Fellows Program
The inaugural class of the Art Bridges Fellows Program completed their fellowships at Cincinnati Art Museum, Joslyn Art Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Philadelphia Art Museum, Portland Art Museum, and Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. These 6 fellows served termed positions at their museums in various departments, including Curatorial, Learning & Engagement, Rights & Reproduction, Conservation, and Registration. Some of these individuals will continue to work at their respective museums, while others pursue graduate school or other work in the museum field. Meanwhile, our second and third class of fellows convened in Bentonville, Arkansas, for their annual gathering in the fall. Earlier in the summer, we launched an Alumni Network to remain connected with our previous fellows and interns after they complete the program with us.
Internship Program
Our Internship Program continues to support emerging professionals through career development in the arts, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors. Last summer, we hosted 12 interns from across the country for an 8 week, full-time program in Bentonville, Arkansas, providing housing and travel support. Interns work in departments across the foundation to gain hands-on experience, visit local cultural sites, and attend professional development workshops and artist talks. This fall, we welcomed 8 local interns for a part-time, hybrid, academic-year program that includes working onsite at the Heartland Whole Health Institute and attending professional development sessions. Several recent interns have moved into full-time roles at museums like Clark Atlanta University Art Museum and Perez Art Museum, among others, while other alums have secured permanent roles with us at Art Bridges.
