Bank of America’s Art Conservation Project, which promotes cultural sustainability around the globe, has been helping to conserve and protect great works of art since 2010.
The program has awarded more than 275 grants in 40 countries on five continents – including works by Monet and Van Gogh and works featured at the Museum of Modern Art and the Musee du Louvre.
It’s a philanthropic effort of the highest magnitude, but one available to smaller venues as well.
As the project begins taking applications for funding that will be distributed in 2026, New Jersey Market President Alberto Garofalo reminds museums in the state they are eligible.
“When we think about preserving artwork for future generations, we tend to think of the Monets and Picasscos,” he said. “What’s great about our Art Conservation Project is that it isn’t limited to artworks with national or global significance – it can be a work that New Jersey kids see during their school trips every year.”
Nonprofit cultural institutions of all sizes with artwork requiring conservation are encouraged to submit a proposal here.
The 2026 proposal submission period runs through Sept. 12. All proposals will then be reviewed by a panel of conservation professionals.
The last time a work in New Jersey received funding was 2018, when Joy of the Waters, a 1920 piece at Montclair Art Museum, was selected.
Garofalo, who is not involved in the judging in any way, said he feels New Jersey would represent well.
“New Jersey is home to some of the finest cultural institutions in the country,” he said. “It’s important that we preserve works for the future.”
Bank of America supports and partners with a wide range of arts-focused nonprofit organizations to bridge our shared history, create opportunities, and generate local economic impact as one aspect of the bank’s many efforts to drive Responsible Growth.
Brian Siegel, Global Arts, Culture & Heritage Executive at Bank of America, said efforts now are about the future.
“Art reflects the creativity, ingenuity and history of the people who created these works – and like everything, art is vulnerable to the passage of time,” he said. “Together with some of the world’s finest cultural institutions, we can help preserve these works for future generations.”
Siegel said each project is unique, and many rely on a wide range of advanced conservation techniques to restore and preserve them. For more details on the 2025 Bank of America Art Conservation Project recipients and what each conservation project entails, click here.
Because we know you are wondering, here’s a look at the 2025 awardees:
- Possum Dreaming by Michael Nelson Jagamara and Salute to Slessor’s 5 Bells by John Olsen at the Sydney Opera House
- The Blinding of Samson by Rembrandt Harmensz Rijn at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt
- A Rake’s Progress by William Hogarth at Sir John Soane’s Museum in London
- More than 100 paintings of American Presidents at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C
- La Debutante by Roberto Matta at the Museo de Artes Visuales in Chile
- Triptych on the East Wall of the Rothko Chapel in Houston
- The Henriot Family by Pierre-Auguste Renoir at The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia
- Roadwork by McArthur Binion at the Detroit Institute of Arts
- Zun Wine vessel in the shape of an owl at the Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Eagle Eye by Nam June Paik at the Ackland Art Museum at UNC at Chapel Hill
- Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks by Claes Oldenburg at the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven
- Black Book of Hours (Horae beatae marie secundum usum curie romane) at the Hispanic Society of America, conserved in partnership with the TEFAF Restoration Fund
- Six Gothic artworks at the Museo Nacional de San Carlos in Mexico City
- Ezechiel stained glass windows at Sainte Chapelle in Paris
- Tableau Tir by Niki de Saint Phalle at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm
- Watching the Tidal Bore by Komuro Suiun at the Yamatane Museum of Art in Japan
