"I'm Mark, the archivist with the Vilcek Foundation, and I'm here to give you a quick history lesson of our headquarters. December 1st marks the official beginning and 25th anniversary of the Vilcek Foundation for an organization that has awarded $9.6 million in prizes and $7.4 million in grants. It's remarkable that this foundation started in a makeshift office in Jan Maritz's New York City apartment. A space considered the heart of the home and a hub of activity brought together the Vilcek's, future president Rick Kinsel and board members to craft what would eventually become the core pillars of the foundation and a mission that would connect two seemingly disparate worlds and celebrate creativity. Its first goal was to support science projects at the NYU School of Medicine, and then in 2002, they awarded their first grants in the arts to the Santa Fe Opera. In 2004, they changed their name to what it is today, in part to raise awareness to the public, but also to counter the negative sentiments towards immigrants after September 11th. The new program acknowledged foreign-born contributions through the introduction of prizes, because the increase in workload and the need for additional staff meant that the space in the Vilcek's apartment was becoming too small. A solution was found in a 1902 carriage house on the Upper East Side. An historic landmark with a Beaux Arts façade, the building was renovated by Peter Toe and ready to move in by 2007. Not only did this allow the foundation to expand its personnel, but provided a gallery space to hold small exhibitions by immigrant artists. The foundation's first headquarters officially opened to the public on June 5th, 2008, with an exhibition by Korean artist Il-Li and Iranian artist Peran Jinchi. Over the next five years, many exhibitions were held at the foundation, including a celebration of the hit television show, Lost, in 2010, coinciding with its finale. In 2013, the need to expand was once again upon the foundation, and so the second headquarters was relocated to a new location on 70th Street, its current location. The house was renovated by the Architecture Research Office, with a visual identity designed by Pentagram. Staff moved into this new space in 2018, and in 2019, the first exhibition, titled Ralston Crawford, Torn Signs, opened. After the COVID pandemic, we reopened to the public with an exhibition by our previous prize winner, Nari Ward. 2023 saw the New York opening of the exhibition, Grounded in Clay, Spirit of Pueblo Pottery in conjunction with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, featuring pieces from the foundations and the Vilcek's Native American pottery collection. To learn more about the Vilcek Foundation, our work with immigrants, and upcoming events, please sign up for our newsletter at vilcek.org."