The Vera List Center for Art and Politics is a research center and a public forum for art, culture, and politics.

The Vera List Center for Art and Politics is part of The New School, a US-based 501(c)(3) not-for-profit university, Tax ID # 13-3297197. The university provides a vibrant academic home for our programs and a community of world class scholars, as well as facilities and administrative services at no cost. Thanks to The New School’s support, we have very few overhead costs and are able to apply 100% of donations from individuals to direct support of our programs. All donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Our founder, Vera G. List, set up several modest endowments to support our work. More recently, our board member Jane Lombard established an endowment to support the Jane Lombard Prize for Art and Social Justice. Apart from these endowments—which together cover less than 25% of our total costs in a typical year—our staff and programs are funded entirely through donations.

All our work is organized under two-year program cycles stemming from our Focus Themes. Our most recently completed program cycle, Correction*, spanned the period July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2024, with the VLC Sabbatical Year spanning July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. During this three-year period, our total organizational expenses were $2,722,559. 

Fundraising totals by source for the same period were:

Institutional Grants: $1,315,134
Gifts from VLC Board: $435,248
Gifts from Other Individuals: $137,830