Terra Foundation Fellowship

Between 2023 and 2025, the Queens Museum was awarded two grants by the Terra Foundation for American Art to research, catalogue, and exhibit objects from the Museum’s art collection. The project was intended to serve as a learning opportunity for community members and QM—connecting the labor of archival work to the perspectives of local audiences, investigating notions of American Art in “the World’s borough.”

In the first phase of the project, undertaken in 2024, three Terra fellows were invited on-site to inventory and research photographs in QM’s collection, host focus groups with local experts, and participate in public programs. These initiatives interrogated the Museum’s holdings, inviting local community stakeholders and QM’s audience into conversations around the legacy of collecting and definitions of American Art.

The second phase, undertaken in 2025, invited the same three fellows back to QM to create a collaborative exhibition. Mentorship, research, and a deeper insight into the exhibition-making process remained at the core of this rare opportunity to approach the subject of American Art through a uniquely intimate and analytical lens.