Art acquisitions, conservation work, publications and activities for schoolchildren, young adults and the elderly: funds and foundations from all around the world help us to realise a huge range of projects. This support is vital to the Van Gogh Museum.
The support offered by funds and foundations has facilitated various educational and research projects. Thanks to these initiatives, we have been able to introduce young adults with a bicultural background to the heritage of Vincent van Gogh, as well as primary schoolchildren, the elderly and people with a visual or auditory impairment.
The restoration studio of the Van Gogh Museum now is fortunate to have digital X-ray equipment thanks to a generous donation by the PACCAR Foundation.
Now, it is no longer necessary to transport equipment to the museum in order to take X-rays of paintings. This new equipment also produces direct digital images, making the process of taking and handling these important images much more efficient.
Society is changing and the museum is catering to new audiences: those who are less likely to visit the museum as a matter of course, and with whom the museum is less familiar. We are working together with the target group on a four-year project to develop forty activities in order to research how the museum can gain relevance to young Amsterdam residents (aged 18 to 30 years old) with a bicultural background.
A comprehensive learning pathway such as this would simply not be possible without the support of third parties. In Fonds 21, the Van Gogh Museum has found an outstanding partner for Van Gogh Connects. Fonds 21 actively works to reach a new and diverse audience for professional art and culture. The fund will therefore offer financial and substantive support for the duration of Van Gogh Connects.
Looking for teaching material about Vincent van Gogh? Thanks to the support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the Van Gogh Museum has developed free digital lessons for primary and secondary school teachers.
The lessons are suitable for a range of subjects, such as drawing, art classes, languages, history and geography, and can be played directly on a smartboard in class.
Van Gogh at School is supported by funding from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, one of the world’s largest private philanthropic organisations. The foundation supports organisations and projects in the field of art and culture, education and social welfare.
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation focuses on international projects that have a far-reaching, enduring and positive impact on society in general, and on vulnerable groups such as children and the elderly in particular.
Feeling Van Gogh is an interactive programme developed especially for blind and partially-sighted visitors and their sighted friends, families and carers.
Feeling Van Gogh has been given a permanent place in the museum, with a 3D reproduction of the Sunflowers painting accessible to all visitors. There is also a special programme of guided tours and workshops. Visitors are invited to feel Van Gogh’s brushstrokes, smell the sunflowers and ‘listen’ to the painting.
This programme is also supported by Stichting Blinden-Penning and the Bartiméus Fonds.
In recent years, we have worked closely with partners in the health and welfare sector to improve the cultural participation of elderly people.
The programme consists of museum activities specifically for the over-70s and creative workshops in community centers, libraries and care homes. The museum is also hosting special afternoons for elderly visitors. The programme responds to the specific needs and desires of these visitors and supports participants wherever necessary.
Every year on 30 March, we celebrate Vincent van Gogh’s birthday. In 2018 and 2019, we pulled out all the stops with a special edition of children’s magazine Kidsweek, which was distributed to Dutch primary schools in the week of Vincent's birthday.
The campaign makes it easy for schools to hold fun lessons involving Vincent van Gogh, and teachers can become acquainted with our digital Van Gogh lessons.
Vincent van Gogh wrote that ‘paintings fade like flowers’. The appearance of many of Van Gogh’s paintings and drawings has indeed changed significantly as a result of colour degradation.
The support of the AXA Research Fund enables a PhD student to conduct advanced research into the risk to Van Gogh’s paintings due to light sensitivity.
If you are interested in supporting one of our projects, please contact Emma Swaan to discuss the possibilities.
Relationship Manager Dutch funds and foundations
+31 (0)20 5708763
e.swaan@vangoghmuseum.nl
