Central and Eastern European Initiative

Strengthening scholarship in the region after the fall of the Berlin Wall

Project Details

A library with bookshelves and desks with computers

Research library of the Collegium Budapest, Hungary

About

Goal

This initiative aimed to strengthen art historical scholarship in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union by providing fellowships for individual scholars, expanding key art historical libraries, and supporting summer research institutes.

Outcomes

  • Support for 120 scholars in the region to conduct research outside of their home countries, often for the first time
  • Enhanced collections in art historical libraries in the region
  • Summer research institutes for regional scholars at the University of Rochester and the University of East Anglia
  • Reduction in intellectual isolation for a generation of colleagues whose access to resources and intellectual discourse was limited

Approach

The Foundation awarded grants to individual scholars for fellowships and to institutions for convenings and expanded resources.

Scope

From 1991 to 1997, the Foundation gave 169 grants totaling $4.6 million to 154 grantees.