Kelton Foundation facts for kids
The Kelton Foundation, also known as the Richard Kelton Foundation, is a special group based in Santa Monica, California. It was started in 1983 by a real estate developer named Richard Kelton, who passed away in 2019. This foundation is a private group that helps others and doesn't make money for itself.
The main goal of the Kelton Foundation is to explore human cultures, science, and art connected to the ocean. It has a huge collection of artworks, known as the Kelton Foundation Collection or Kelton Collection.
Richard Kelton was very interested in art about the sea from the Pacific region. He also collected art from the China Trade, items showing different cultures, and Aboriginal Australian art. He traveled and collected these works until about 2007. In 1980, he held his first art show at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena. This was likely the first time Aboriginal Australian art was shown in the United States.
The foundation puts on art shows and lends its art and objects to other museums and groups. It also helps experts who are doing research related to its interests.
The Kelton Collection includes art by modern Indigenous Australian artists. Some of these artists are Takariya Napaltjarri, Daisy Leura Nakamarra, Minnie Pwerle, and Dhuwarrwarr Marika. Richard Kelton had a special connection with artists like Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri. Many other artists are also part of the collection, from places like Arnhem Land, the Tiwi Islands, and the eastern Kimberley region in Western Australia.
The foundation also helps fund the Blue World Web Museum. This is an online museum that focuses on art about the sea. Its goal is to create online exhibitions that you might not find elsewhere. It also aims to teach people and make them more interested in maritime museums.
In December 2020, Richard Kelton's family sold over 250 artworks to a collector from Switzerland named Bruno Raschle. The sale was for about US$10m. The Foundation still helps Australia by supporting health and schooling projects for Indigenous people.
External links
- Research programs supported by the Foundation
