A new class. Annually, the Joan Mitchell Foundation activates a knowledgeable network of nominators and judges to determine how to disburse the substantial resources it devotes to grants for individual artists. Each grant becomes a collaboration over the years, as the Foundation’s rare programming engages artists at every stage of their careers; in three, four, five decades, the same “emerging” artists featured in this catalogue may participate in the Creating A Living Legacy (CALL) program in order to organize and inventory their creative work in retrospect. They may also participate in residencies at the Joan Mitchell Center in New Orleans, or consult with experts vetted by the Foundation for professional, economic, and institutional guidance. Each artist, in turn, opens the Foundation to new geographies, new materials, new historical positions, “newness” writ large. One day, it could be enlightening to survey and contextualize the varied practices of all the artists supported by the Foundation—as even the generous grande dame herself, Joan Mitchell, surely could not have predicted the myriad fruits of her gift. For now, I offer the following as a primer for Mitchell, to catch her up on the most recent beneficiaries of her legacy—a roll call for the honorary headmistress of a new class...
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