Oak Spring Garden Foundation

About Oak Spring Garden Foundation

The Oak Spring Garden Foundation centers its grantmaking on plant science, plant conservation, and the cultural history of plants, while also supporting artists, scholars, and residents who use the Oak Spring resources for focused work. Its operating model is built around fellowships and residencies rather than large institutional awards, and the recent grant list shows repeated support for individual researchers, botanical artists, and bibliographic scholars. Awards of $10,000 appear throughout the program, with a higher $15,000 sabbatical award for advanced plant-science and conservation work. Two recurring examples are the Plant Science Research Fellowship and the Stacy Lloyd Fellowship for Bibliographic Study, each represented by multiple recent awards. The foundation also uses residency formats to support interdisciplinary work, botanical art, and culinary practice, pairing access to the estate, library, gardens, accommodations, and meals with smaller grants. Recent grants include awards to Anna Wyngaarden for the plant science research fellowship and to Joseph Litts for bibliographic studies, illustrating how the foundation funds individual work tied to its collection and landscape. It also makes occasional project-specific grants beyond its fellowship structure, including support connected to conservation and public-interest work.

What Oak Spring Garden Foundation Funds

Plant science and conservation are the clearest throughline in the recent awards. The foundation gave $15,000 to Scott Meiners for the Plant Conservation and Plant Science Research Sabbatical Program, and $10,000 awards to Anna Wyngaarden for the Fellowship in Plant Science Research, Erin Eichenberger for the Plant Conservation Biology Fellowship, and Leland Werden for the same fellowship. These grants support individual research rather than institutional programs. A second cluster is bibliographic and archival work. Oak Spring Garden Foundation awarded $10,000 to Joseph Litts for the Stacy Lloyd Fellowship for Bibliographic Studies and $10,000 to Allison Fulton for the same fellowship. Botanical art and artistic excellence are also present, with $10,175 to Panos Aprahamian and $10,000 to Sara Lindsay through the Eliza Moore Fellowship for Artistic Excellence. The foundation’s program list also includes residencies in botanical art, interdisciplinary practice, music, and culinary work.

How Oak Spring Garden Foundation Gives