About Eames Institute
To advance the legacy of designers Ray and Charles Eames by stewarding their collection and archives, inspiring creative problem‑solving, and making design, education, and the Eames Collection accessible to the public.
Focus Areas
arts & culturemuseumsdesignarchives & collectionseducationcommunity developmentregenerative agriculture
Funding Style
general operating supportunrestricted supportflexible/core funding
About Eames Institute
The Eames Institute’s giving reflects a clear throughline: support for design, craft, archives, and the public institutions that extend the Eames legacy. Its recent grants include major general support for Girls Garage in Berkeley, United States Artists in Chicago, and Sonoma Mountain Institute in Santa Rosa, showing attention to both creative practice and the places where design, learning, and land stewardship intersect. The foundation also funds museums, education, and community-facing arts groups, with unrestricted support appearing often in its grants list. That mix fits the Institute’s stated purpose of stewarding the collection and archives of Ray and Charles Eames while making design and education accessible to the public. In practice, the grant list shows support for organizations working in hands-on making, art education, exhibitions, collection care, and regenerative agriculture. Recipients range from California-based groups such as Occidental Arts & Ecology Center and Urban Tilth to institutions in Chicago, New York, and New Haven, indicating a national footprint rather than a single-city pattern. The overall profile is one of steady general support to organizations that align with the Institute’s design-centered mission.
What Eames Institute Funds
A major strand of the Eames Institute’s giving is design and hands-on making. It awarded $130,400 to Girls Garage in Berkeley for general support, and it also backed Inneract Project in San Francisco and Ideoorg in San Francisco, both through general support. Another visible theme is museums, archives, and public access to design history. The Institute gave $65,000 to United States Artists in Chicago for general support, and it supported Yale University Press in New Haven, which fits the education and publishing side of its mission. Community and land-based work also appears in the grant list. The foundation gave $20,000 to Occidental Arts & Ecology Center in Occidental and $10,000 to Urban Tilth in Richmond, alongside support for Sonoma Mountain Institute in Santa Rosa. Those grants connect with the Institute’s ranch and regenerative agriculture programming.
How Eames Institute Gives
The typical grant size is tightly clustered: the 25th percentile is $10,000, the median is $10,000, and the 75th percentile is $16,250. Most listed awards are at the $10,000 level, with a smaller number of larger general-support grants reaching $32,500, $55,000, $65,000, and $130,400. The pattern also suggests repeat support. United States Artists, Sonoma Mountain Institute, Girls Garage, Santa Fe Art Institute, The Rebuild Foundation Nfp, and Reuse Alliance Inc each appear in more than one year in the recent-grants list. The Eames Institute’s public-facing funding channels include general donations, major gifts, sponsorship, planned giving, and membership support, and it is identified as not funding individuals and not making program-related investments.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$284K
Total Assets
$136.2M
Total Revenue
$65.4M
Total Expenses
$12.2M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $10K and $16K, with a median of $10K.
25th Percentile
$10K
Median
$10K
75th Percentile
$16K
Geographic Reach
National7 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
JOHN CARY
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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