Art in Embassies, an office within the U.S. Department of State, promotes cultural diplomacy through exhibitions, permanent collections, site-specific commissions and two-way artist exchanges in more than 200 U.S. Embassies and Consulates around the world. Through art, international audiences gain a sense of the quality, scope, and diversity of American and host country art and culture. Initiated by President Kennedy in 1963, the program is funded by the U.S. Department of State.
The amount of money allotted for art in each building is calculated with a formula based on the gross square footage. [1] AIEP's curatorial team develops thematic exhibitions in collaboration with each ambassador, taking into account the host country's artistic traditions and cultural mores. They recommend artists and works of art, negotiate all loans, and propose placement of the art within the embassy residences. After all loans are secured and the art insured, AIE's registrars coordinate with professional art handlers for the assembly, packing, crating and safe shipment of each exhibition to post. [2] Since 1963, approximately 10,000 pieces of art have been placed in ambassador residences, embassies, and consulates throughout the world, including work by Maya Lin, Jeff Koons, [3] Ellsworth Kelly, Martin Puryear, Louise Bourgeois, Joel Shapiro, Benjamin Abramowitz [4] and other prestigious artists. [1] The total value of art on loan to the embassy program is estimated at $200 million. [1]
Initiated in 2002, the American Artists Abroad program was created to extend Art In Embassies' exhibitions beyond the walls of U.S. diplomatic residences into local communities. Participating American artists travel to countries where their work is exhibited and engage in a series of public cultural programming activities, such as lectures, workshops, and studio visits.
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes an embassy or high commission, which is the main office of a country's diplomatic representatives to another country; it is usually, but not necessarily, based in the receiving state's capital city. Consulates, on the other hand, are smaller diplomatic missions that are normally located in major cities of the receiving state. As well as being a diplomatic mission to the country in which it is situated, an embassy may also be a nonresident permanent mission to one or more other countries.
The United States Department of State Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) is responsible for overseeing the construction, management, and operations of U.S. diplomatic facilities around the world.
The Embassy of Canada in Washington, D.C. is Canada's main diplomatic mission to the United States. The embassy building designed by Arthur Erickson and opened in 1989 is located at 501 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., between the United States Capitol and the White House, just north of the National Gallery of Art. In addition to its diplomatic role, the embassy provides consular services for Delaware, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. It also hosts a Trade Commissioner Service office responsible for the states of Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia, and West Virginia.
The British Embassy, Washington D.C. is the British sovereign's diplomatic mission to the United States of America, representing the interests of the United Kingdom and British Government. It is located at 3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. The embassy compound includes the chancery offices, as well as the British Ambassador's residence.
The Embassy of France in Washington, D.C., is the French diplomatic mission to the United States.
A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The Secretary of State's Register of Culturally Significant Property is an honorific listing of diplomatic properties that figure prominently in the international or architectural heritage of the United States. It was founded in 2000 as a White House Millennium Project, in equation of the National Register of Historic Places for domestic properties maintained by the Secretary of the Interior. These historic places include chanceries, residences, office buildings, a museum, a cemetery, and a guest house; the properties are either owned or leased by the U.S. Department of State at the time of designation.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the governmental body responsible for conducting foreign relations of the Republic of Turkey. The Ministry is responsible for Turkey's diplomatic missions abroad as well as for providing support for Turkish citizens who are abroad and for the promotion of Turkish culture, as well as for implementing the country's foreign policy in accordance with its national interests. Established on 2 May 1920, its primary duties are administering diplomatic missions, negotiating international treaties and agreements, and representing the Republic of Turkey at the United Nations. The ministry is headquartered in the Turkish capital of Ankara and counts on more than 200 missions as embassies, permanent representation offices and consulates general, abroad. As of 2021, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains 235 diplomatic posts worldwide. The current Minister of Foreign Affairs is Hakan Fidan, who has held the position since 3 June 2023.
Diplomatic relations between Switzerland and the United States were established in 1853 by the U.S. and in 1868 by Switzerland. The first diplomatic representation of the U.S. was established in Basel in 1853.
The Embassy of Austria in Washington, D.C., is the primary diplomatic mission of the Republic of Austria to the United States and represent the interests of Austria and Austrian citizens in the U.S. It is located at 3524 International Court, NW, Washington, D.C., in a neighborhood primarily occupied by diplomatic missions. Its immediate neighbors are the Embassy of Slovakia, the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, and the Embassy of Egypt. The chancery building houses and operates several services and offices relevant to the pursuit of its mission in the United States.
The Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE) is a non-profit 501(c)(3), non-partisan organization dedicated to enhancing the United States' image abroad through American art. Founded as a public-private partnership in 1986, FAPE works with the U.S. Department of State to contribute fine art to U.S. embassies around the world. FAPE's donations include works by more than 145 American artists placed in over 70 countries. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., FAPE has raised over $42 million in art and monetary contributions.
The Embassy of Slovenia in Washington, D.C. is the Republic of Slovenia's diplomatic mission to the United States. The embassy in Washington is also responsible for representing Slovenia in Mexico. The chancery is located just off Embassy Row at 2410 California Street NW in the Kalorama neighborhood. Consular assistance is also provided by Slovenia's network of consulates in the U.S. and Mexico.
The Branch Office of the Embassy of the United States of America in Tel Aviv is part of the diplomatic mission of the United States in the State of Israel. The complex opened in 1966, and is located at 71 HaYarkon Street in Tel Aviv. It served as the United States Embassy until May 14, 2018, when the seat of embassy was relocated to Jerusalem.
Qatar Museums is a Qatari government entity that oversees the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA), Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, MIA Park, QM Gallery at the Katara Cultural Village, ALRIWAQ DOHA Exhibition Space, the Al Zubarah World Heritage Site Visitor Centre, and archaeological projects throughout Qatar, as well as the development of future projects and museums that will highlight its collections across multiple areas of activity including Orientalist art, photography, sports, children's education, and wildlife conservation.
Ellen Spencer Susman is an American journalist, philanthropist, political appointee and television producer. She was nominated by Barack Obama in September 2011 to serve as a member of his Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She served from 2013 to 2016 as the director of the US Department of State Art in Embassies Program, a public-private partnership of American and international artists, collectors, galleries, foundations, museums and universities.
The Consulate General of the United States in Wuhan is one of the five American diplomatic and consular posts in mainland of the People's Republic of China.
The Embassy of the United States of America in Dublin is the diplomatic mission of the United States of America to Ireland.
The Embassy of the United States of America to Somalia is a diplomatic mission of the United States in Mogadishu, Somalia from 1960 to 1991. In 1957, the US opened a consulate-general in Mogadishu—the capital of the Trust Territory of Somalia, a UN trusteeship under Italian administration. The consulate was upgraded to embassy status in July 1960, when the US recognized Somalia's independence and appointed an ambassador. The embassy served to counter Soviet influence during the Cold War and also served as a base for the United States Agency for International Development, which had a large presence in the country. In 1989, the embassy moved from a dilapidated building in central Mogadishu to a new compound on the outskirts of the city.