Info

Provisions is committed to exploring new models for art and culture that lead to a more inclusive, equitable, and connected society.

From its library home in George Mason University’s School of Art in Fairfax, Virginia, Provisions’ educational and research programs produce socially-engaged projects at sites throughout the US Capitol Region and across the globe. Projects include exhibitions, public art, residencies, screenings, workshops, lectures, curricula and publications. Participants include artists, activists, academics, students, professionals from a variety of disciplines, and everyday people.

Provisions partners with organizations, artists, scholars, activists and students to develop and amplify new narratives and experiences across cultures utilizing grassroots modes of creative action to build knowledge of social change in its artistic and creative dimensions. The library, public programming, and research opportunities host artistic, intellectual, and activist endeavors that explore the educational and social promise of contemporary culture.

FOUNDING 

Provisions was founded by Gaylord Neely (President, Gaea Foundation) in 2001 with a five- year seed grant to bring about social change by identifying and amplifying compelling voices of thinkers, writers, and artists from around the world.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Tom Ashcraft (Sculptor, Public Artist, Western Carolina University), and John Feffer (Writer, Editor, Researcher, and Playwright, Institute for Policy Studies)

EMERITUS BOARD MEMBERS

Gaylord Neely (Founder, Psychologist), Caroline Small (Writer, Editor, Researcher), Gareth Branwyn (Writer), Gita Drury (Philanthropic Advisor), Jeff Leasure (Attorney), Kinshasha Holman Conwill (Museum Administrator), Lea-Ann Bigelow (Financial Administrator, Art Historian), Mark Rosenzweig (Librarian), Rita Thapa (Professor), Robert Moossy (Attorney), and Tom Ashcraft (Sculptor, Public Artist, Professor)

PAST ADVISORS

Alice Myatt, JoAnne LaSala, and Lisa Writter

PROJECT PARTNERS

George Mason University; Cultivate Amherst!!; Goethe-Institut-Washington; The Kennedy Center; The Phillips Collection; The National Gallery of Art, The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; The National Portrait Gallery; Mexican Cultural Institute; Museo de Antioquia (Medellín, Colombia); UMBC Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture; Dupont Underground; Kulturpark; Elsewhere; Furthermore; Art in Embassies; City As Living Laboratory; and others.

FUNDING PARTNERS

Gaea Foundation; George Mason University; Quixote Foundation; Metabolic Studio; Trust for Mutual Understanding; Open Society Foundations; Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts;Lambent Foundation; Nathan Cummings Foundation; Humanities Council of Washington DC; Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities; National Endowment for the Arts; Angelina Fund; Arca Foundation; Bell Family Foundation; Broad Art Foundation; Creative Communities Fund of the Community Foundation of the National Capital Region; CrossCurrents Foundation; Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation; Peter Norton Family Foundation; Stewart R. Mott Charitable Trust; Tides Foundation.

STAFF

Donald Russell (Executive Director, Co-Founder)

PAST STAFF

Adam Griffiths, Angela Goerner, Blair Murphy, Dave Wiecking, Del Hornbuckle, Maribel Torres-Piñero, Niels Van Tomme, Peggy Kroutil, Sita Reddy, and Terry Scott

CURRENT FELLOWS

Chongha Peter Lee, Diana Guzijan, and James Huckenpahler 

PAST FELLOWS

Stephanie Sherman (Research Residencies Program), Edgar Endress (Floating Lab Collective), Nicolas Dumit Estevez (Balkans Project), Pedro Lasch (Naturalizations Project); Paul Farber (Scholar, Monument Lab), Will Kent (Library Practices), John Feffer (Balkans Project), Michael Loadenthal (Movement Archives, George Mason University, School for Conflict Analysis & Resolution), Olivia Georgia (Balkans Project), James Huckenpahler (Artist), Laura McGough (Scholar), Ding Ren (Artist), Steve Rowell (Public Art Practices), Lynn Sowder (Scholar), Anne Sullivan (Scholar), Jon Winet (Artist)

PAST INTERNS

Fithi Abraham, Wanchen Zhao, Drew Schaeffer, Julia King, Marice Sy, Evelyn Seay, Andrew Hetrick, Elena Goukassian, Damaris Martinez, Paula Matallana, Angela Douglas, Kevin Moss, Melisse Ilhan, Valdi Sica, John Costa, Amy Tasillo, Lindsay Hawks, Katherine English, Mary Donovan, Christian Jaskolka, Matthew Klise, Yago Hunt-Laudi, Evelina Scott, Alys N. Sink, Sloane Taylor, Jonathan Hawks, Jonathan Garnett, Hannah Klein, Krystle Okafor, Anthony Golan-Vilella, Miranda Gendel, Dandan Luo, Taylor Waites, Ari Anisimova, Susannah Blair, Kelley Bostwick, Jacob Chamberlain, Sam Dollenmayer, Andrew Farquhar, Angela Goerner, James Greisler, Annie Immediata, Harmony Lamm, Roc Lee, Caitlin Munro, Stela Nenova, Shannon Post, Jacqueline Protka, Luke Stacks.