Support
Every contribution makes an outsized impact at the Carpenter Center, supporting artists, exhibitions, publications, and programs. There are many ways to support our work, and gifts of any amount are welcome.
To make a donation or discuss other ways to give, please contact us at [email protected] or 617.496.5387.
Giving Circles
Inspired by Le Corbusier's Polychromie Architecturale, our Giving Circles take their names from the vibrant green, yellow, and blue accents that animate the Carpenter Center. For Le Corbusier, color was an essential element of architecture—shaping how we experience space, movement, and light. Our Giving Circles honor this legacy while investing in the artists, ideas, and public experiences that shape the Carpenter Center's future.
Giving Circle members enjoy opportunities to engage more deeply with the Carpenter Center throughout the year through exhibition previews, conversations with artists and curators, behind-the-scenes experiences, and our annual supporters gathering. Opportunities vary by giving level and are offered in accordance with Harvard University guidelines.
All donations to the Carpenter Center count towards class gifts. Donations may be split between two annual payments.
Green Circle
$250+ annually
The Green Circle is an invitation to become part of the Carpenter Center community. Members believe contemporary art should be accessible to everyone and help ensure the Carpenter Center remains free, welcoming, and open to all.
Annual support at the Green Circle level sustains new artist commissions, exhibitions, screenings, performances, publications, artist talks, and public programs that connect artists and audiences through contemporary art.
Green Circle members receive:
- Invitations to exhibition openings, screenings, performances, and public programs
- Advance notice of select exhibitions and special events
- Opportunities to engage more deeply with the artists and ideas shaping the Carpenter Center throughout the year
Yellow Circle
$1,000+ annually
The Yellow Circle is a community of dedicated supporters whose sustaining annual gifts strengthen the Carpenter Center's year-round work.
Your commitment provides the stability needed to support new artist commissions, exhibitions, publications, screenings, performances, and public programs while fostering artistic experimentation and new ideas.
In addition to Green Circle benefits, Yellow Circle members receive:
- Invitations to exhibition previews
- Behind-the-scenes conversations with artists and curators
- Advance notice of curator-led travel opportunities, collection visits, and other special Carpenter Center experiences
- Recognition in the Carpenter Center’s donor listings
Blue Circle
$5,000+ annually
The Blue Circle is a community of passionate advocates for contemporary art who provide visionary leadership through extraordinary annual support of the Carpenter Center.
Your support makes possible our most ambitious new artist commissions, exhibitions, publications, screenings, performances, and public programs—empowering artists to realize significant new work and ensuring the Carpenter Center continues to thrive as one of the country's leading university-based centers for contemporary art.
In addition to Yellow Circle benefits, Blue Circle members receive:
- Invitations to the annual Carpenter Center supporters gathering
- Intimate gatherings with artists and curators
- Early access to exhibition previews, screenings, and performances
- Priority invitations to curator-led travel programs and collection visits
- Opportunities to learn about upcoming commissions and exhibitions in development
- Leadership recognition as a Blue Circle supporter on exhibitions and publications
Why support the Carpenter Center?
Through our program of commissions, students and the public are the first to engage with ambitious new artworks.
For instance, the entirety of Jonathan Berger’s 2019 Carpenter Center commission—which the New York Times called an “utterly extraordinary sculpture installation”—went on to be a standout of the 2021 Whitney Biennial ↗ B. Ingrid Olson’s Carpenter Center commission was included in the 2024 Whitney Biennial ↗ Candice Lin was included in the Venice Biennale after showing at the Carpenter Center ↗ Tony Cokes’s Carpenter Center commission was recently acquired by the MFA Boston.
Thank you to our supporters!
- The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
- Teiger Foundation
Blue Circle
- Margaret Wang
- Girlfriend Fund
- Wagner Foundation
- Lucy Baird
- Jack and Dolly Geary
- Mallory Ruymann
- William Rawn
Yellow Circle
- Alexander Glauber
- Marjory Jacobson
- John Ravenal
- Laura Steinberg
- Andrew Witkin
Green Circle
- Carolyn Fine Friedman and Jeremiah Friedman
- Rebecca Nemser
At Harvard University generous support for Carpenter Center programs is provided by the Division of Arts and Humanities, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and the Department of Art, Film, and Visual Studies.