Art21 Launches 4,000-Hour Archive for 25th Anniversary with Bloomberg Philanthropies Backing
Art21 has unveiled "25 Years of Art21," a year-long commemoration marking its 25 years as an independent contemporary art producer, centered around the Art21 Archive. This archive holds more than 4,000 hours of interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and exhibition records of over 300 artists, supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Hearthland Foundation, the Jon and Mary Shirley Foundation, and the Evelyn Toll Family Foundation. The collection, which dates back to 1999, showcases significant moments and exclusive interviews. Upcoming offerings will feature short films, the Untold Story series, Art21's inaugural podcast, and written interviews. Notable programming includes Art21 Rewind on September 30, 2026, and the introduction of an online course. The organization first aired publicly in September 1996.
Key facts
- Art21 announced "25 Years of Art21," a year-long 25th-anniversary celebration, on September 15, 2026 in New York, New York
- The Art21 Archive preserves over 4,000 hours of never-before-seen interviews, works-in-progress footage, and exhibition documentation of more than 300 artists
- Seed funding comes from Bloomberg Philanthropies' Digital Accelerator for Arts and Culture and The Hearthland Foundation, with additional support from the Jon and Mary Shirley Foundation, the Evelyn Toll Family Foundation, and the Art21 Board of Trustees
- Filming first began in 1999, and September 2026 marks 25 years since Art21's first broadcast on public television, which opened with Richard Serra
- The archive includes Kara Walker's A Subtlety or the Marvelous Sugar Baby (2014), Jack Whitten's final on-screen interview, and Margaret Kilgallen tagging traincars in a San Francisco railyard with Barry McGee
- Art21 Rewind, a public screening of "Art in the Twenty-First Century" Season 1, takes place September 30, 2026 at SVA Theatre in New York City
- An Introduction to Contemporary Art, Art21's first online course hosted by Emma Nordin and Jurrell Lewis, launches online via art21.org in Fall 2026
- Art21 has created 85+ hours of free films documenting over 300 artists across six continents, reaching over 50 million viewers online last year
Entities
Artists
- Kerry James Marshall
- Bruce Nauman
- Julie Mehretu
- Kara Walker
- Jack Whitten
- Margaret Kilgallen
- Barry McGee
- An-My Lê
- Sarah Sze
- Phyllida Barlow
- Elizabeth Murray
- Richard Serra
- Sally Mann
- Laurie Anderson
- Emma Nordin
- Jurrell Lewis
- Kate Capshaw
- Steven Spielberg
Institutions
- Art21
- Bloomberg Philanthropies
- Bloomberg Philanthropies' Digital Accelerator for Arts and Culture
- The Hearthland Foundation
- Jon and Mary Shirley Foundation
- Evelyn Toll Family Foundation
- Art21 Board of Trustees
- SVA Theatre
- Screening Society
- Art21 Shop
- Eventbrite
- Vimeo
Locations
- New York
- New York, New York
- United States
- San Francisco
- California
Sources
- Art21 —