Left to right: Gordon Parks, unidentified woman, and Ralph Ellison
Throughout his life, Gordon Parks championed fellow artists and activists, and emphasized the importance of collaboration to his own artistic endeavors. For more than a decade, The Gordon Parks Foundation has made a central part of its mission supporting the work of artists and writers whose practice reflects and extends Parks’s legacy. A vital part of this support extends to the Foundation’s archive, at the center of which is Parks’s photograph and negative collection, made accessible to the public through exhibitions and publications. Beginning with the establishment of its fellowship programs, the Foundation also actively acquires and stewards works by artists who were active in Parks’s artistic circles or have followed in his footsteps. These collections range from contemporary works by our fellows and prize winners, to those by artists who were a part of Parks’s artistic circle, the latter an endeavor that began with the acquisition of collection of photographs by Ralph Ellison. The newly established Gordon Parks Foundation Legacy Acquisition Fund further expands this important aspect of the Foundation’s mission, focusing on artists who belonged to the artistic networks Parks was a part of, and whose work plays a historic role in the understanding of art as a form of activism.
The Gordon Parks Foundation Legacy Acquisition Fund, launched in 2025, awards $25,000 annually to a mid- or late-career artist whose work is connected to Gordon Parks’s life and legacy and has likewise left an enduring mark. The funds will go towards the purchase of artworks from the artist. These artworks will be accessioned into The Gordon Parks Foundation’s permanent collection, and made available for study, research, and exhibitions. Additional programming and online resourcesprovide greater access to and understanding of the artists’ practices. Through the Legacy Purchase Fund, the Foundation makes available artworks and educational resources that will highlight, make visible, and amplify the networks of artists who worked alongside Parks and carried on his lifelong mission of "the common search for a better life and a better world."