Calderwood Foundation

OVERVIEW: The Calderwood Foundation supports performing arts, higher education, and other local causes in the Boston area.

FOCUS AREAS: Performing arts, higher education

IP TAKE: Calderwood is in the process of spending down its assets, yet there still good opportunities here for fine arts organizations.

PROFILE: Established in 1968, the Calderwood Foundation is a private foundation based in Boston, Massachusetts. The foundation was established back following the successes of Stanford M. Calderwood, the arts patron who brought the Masterpiece Theater to American public television. Before that, he gained recognition and wealth at the Polaroid Corporation and as president of the Public Broadcasting Service in Boston. Stanford passed away in 2003. The law firm of Choate Hall & Stewart LLP has run the operations of the foundation, and there does not appear to be a foundation staff. Top grantmaking interests address performing arts and higher education.

This foundation does not have a website to guide grantseekers. However, Calderwood's main areas of grantmaking interests are performing arts, artists' colonies, and higher education, which is evidenced in its grantmaking. Large past grants include $2.5 million to Harvard, $2.35 million to the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum, and $1 million to Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. Artists' colonies also get some attention from Calderwood. Generally, only one artists' colony is awarded a Calderwood grant annually, and those grants tend to be around $250,000.

Overall, foundation grants tend to be between a few thousand dollars to well into the millions of dollars. Learn more about this funder’s giving by examining its tax records. Almost all Calderwood grants are made in the Boston area, where Stanford lived and died. The foundation considers the Chestnut Hill and Wesley Hills area of Massachusetts, as well as a few parts of New Hampshire, for funding as well.

It does not appear that this foundation accepts unsolicited grant applications. The foundation phone number is 617-248-4760.

PEOPLE:

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