The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico (HWF) is a private, 501(c)(3) non-profit, educational and charitable organization committed to supporting the arts.
Founded in 1954, the HWF manages one of the oldest artist residency programs in the USA. The Foundation’s mission is to “Support the artist and the creative process” and serves as a haven for visual artists, literary artists and music composers.
The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation is located on fifteen acres in the heart of Taos, New Mexico, a multicultural community renowned for its popularity with artists.
Big changes are underway at HWF! In 2026, we’re taking a bold pause in our residency program to renovate and reimagine our beloved campus. This exciting transformation is already in motion. Thanks to a generous donor, every roof on campus is being replaced! Now, we’re reaching out to our extended HWF family to join us in this once-in-a-generation effort to renew, sustain, and expand the creative sanctuary that has inspired artists since 1954.
For decades, we've done what we could to maintain the artist casitas on our campus in the narrow windows between residency sessions. For the past several decades, our casitas have been occupied by artists participating in Helene's visionary artist residency program. With three 3-month sessions each year, there’s only about a month between for upkeep, making major renovations nearly impossible.
To truly preserve and renew this historic campus for the long term, we need time and space. By pausing residencies in 2026, we’re finally creating the opportunity to do the deep work our facilities need, without disrupting the artists we serve.
While we have the roofs covered (pun intended!), we still need your help with other big-ticket improvements: stucco, windows, and interior renovations, to name a few. This is a rare opportunity to modernize and enhance our campus while the spaces are available, and we’d love for you to be part of it.
The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation has always been a place of quiet transformation. A sanctuary where artists reflect, explore, and create. As we pause residencies in 2026 to focus on campus renovations, we’re also setting our sights on the future.
Looking ahead, Executive Director Nic Knight envisions a bold, three-tiered plan that starts with a vital renewal of the campus and sustaining the Foundation’s legacy of supporting artists, and progresses into two expansion phases.
Renovate and upgrade the existing infrastructure on our historic campus — including new roofs (already generously funded), stucco repair, energy-efficient windows, updated plumbing and electrical, interior renovations, and new appliances where needed. Achieving this goal will allow HWF to hire much-needed staff to support our mission efficiently and to replenish our endowment, ensuring the organization remains stable, resilient, and artist-focused for generations to come.
Develop additional facilities on the Foundation’s southern acreage — including indoor and outdoor performance venues, exhibition spaces, a sculpture garden, and specialized artist facilities for ceramics, printmaking, and photography. Achieving this vision would allow HWF to provide resident artists with travel and living stipends. Additionally, realizing this expansion will enable us to bring several of our historic casitas into full ADA compliance, ensuring accessibility for artists and visitors of all abilities while preserving the architectural charm and legacy of these adobe structures. Renderings coming soon!
Create educational and workshop spaces that serve the broader Taos community, with a focus on creative programming for local youth and emerging artists. This vision reflects HWF's deep belief in the power of creative practice — and Nic's commitment to ensuring that the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation continues to inspire artists for generations to come.
If you want to learn more, we welcome you to schedule a personal tour of our historic campus. Explore the campus to experience the serenity of the casitas, but also to see the help they’re quietly waiting on. Tour the property and discover where Nic envisions the facilities expansion.
If you’re considering a major gift or curious about how you might contribute — whether through a gift, a trade, hands-on effort, or even sharing this opportunity with fellow supporters of the arts — I’d love to speak with you personally. Let’s schedule a tour of the campus where you can learn about the Foundation’s history and vision for the future, see the impact of HWF on the lives of artists, and witness firsthand its vital role in maintaining Taos as a thriving arts community.
To start a conversation, email Nic:
admin@wurlitzerfoundation.org
You will receive a charitable tax deduction that will provide you with savings on this year's tax return.
For the past decade, estate gifts have sustained the Foundation's mission, quietly and powerfully. Maybe you're not in the position to give now, but have something you can pledge that will make a significant impact in the future. If HWF has touched your life or the life of someone you love, consider including us in your estate planning. Planned giving helps us build a healthy endowment that will support future generations of artists.
Donating appreciated securities, including stocks, bonds, and crypto, is an easy and tax-effective way for you to make a gift to HWF.
Donors making gifts of $500k or more may be recognized through the dedication of a casita — one of our cherished artist studio-homes — or a new space built as part of the future expansion. It’s a unique opportunity to leave a lasting imprint on a place that fosters beauty, reflection, and creative growth.
We’re grateful for the many ways our community shows up for HWF. If you're excited about the future but not in a position to give financially, there are still plenty of ways to make a meaningful impact.
We invite local and national businesses to become project sponsors by contributing materials, services, or professional support. Recognition options include:
If your business is aligned with creativity, sustainability, or cultural preservation, let's collaborate.
We’re building a volunteer corps to assist with campus revitalization. Volunteer roles may include:
If you’d like to roll up your sleeves and help out, we’d love to hear from you. Inquire Here
We're seeking in-kind gifts that directly support our renovations and artist experience. You or your business can help by donating items such as:
If you're a supplier or contractor, we welcome donated or discounted building materials and labor for things like stucco, windows, plumbing, or electrical upgrades.
If you’re curious about how you might contribute — whether through a gift, a trade, hands-on effort, or even sharing this opportunity with fellow supporters of the arts — I’d love to speak with you personally. Let’s schedule a tour of the campus where you can learn about the Foundation’s vision and history, see the impact of HWF on the lives of artists, and witness firsthand its vital role in maintaining Taos as a thriving arts community.
- Nic Knight, Executive Director
Helene Wurlitzer has remained an enigma to many for over half a century, due in great part to the fact that she chose to remain anonymous, and that her many philanthropic works, which contributed to the betterment of humanity, be kept private.
In fact, many would agree that Helene’s vision and legacy have done more than any other force to infuse the arts into the Taos community, playing a profound role in preserving Taos as both an international destination for artists and a renowned arts community.
So who was Helene Wurlitzer, and how did she end up in Taos, New Mexico? When did she establish the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, and for what purpose? Who has benefited from her Foundation, and who continues to benefit?
We will answer these questions, and break the enigma surrounding the HWF, as we invite you to Meet Helene.
Helene was selected as one of four historical women of Taos, chosen by the community of Taos and the Taos Pueblo, to celebrate Taos women and to represent the diversity of our community. In 2023, renowned muralist Jenny Ustick, in collaboration with UNM-Taos and Taos Arts Council, completed a mural on the south wall of Rio Grande Hall on Civic Plaza Drive. Learn More
The Foundation offers three months of rent-free and utility-paid housing to people who specialize in the creative arts. Our eleven artist casitas, or guest houses, are fully furnished and provide residents with a peaceful setting in which to pursue their creative endeavors.
The Foundation accepts applications from painters, poets, sculptors, writers, playwrights, screenwriters, composers, photographers, and filmmakers of national and international origin.
Applications are reviewed by a selection committee consisting of professionals who specialize in the artistic discipline of the applicant. Numerous jurors serve on committees for each: visual arts, music composers, writers, poets, playwrights, and filmmakers. Jurors, who know nothing about the artist's demographics, score in five categories based purely on the merit of the applicant's creative work samples.
Artists in residence have no imposed expectations, quotas, or requirements during their stay on the HWF campus. The HWF’s residency program provides artists with the time and space to create, which in turn enriches the artistic community and culture locally and abroad.
For 72 years the HWF has committed to perpetuating Helene's legacy of supporting artists by providing charitable assistance to thousands of artists from all over the world. When artists come to Taos to create in one of our adobe casitas they bring creativity and artistic influence, perpetuating Taos' rich history as an art community. After their residency, they take a little piece of Taos back to where they're from.
Past grantees have included painter Agnes Martin, Pulitzer Prize winning writer N. Scott Momaday, award-winning composer Andrea Clearfield, painter and independent filmmaker Cynthia Madansky, amongst many others.
The HWF Academic Scholarship Program - In addition to residency grants, further enhancing its commitment to the arts, the HWF offers academic scholarships to graduating high school students who wish to enter college as art majors. Each year at least two emerging art students from the Taos community are selected to receive the scholarship.
In 2009 the HWF began collaborating with the Chesley/Bumbalo Foundation to bring such playwrights as Ben Benne, Mashuq Deen, and Rae Binstock to campus to work on LGBTQ theater.
The HWF campus consists of mostly open fields bordered by trees, dotted with eleven artist residency casitas. We are very fortunate to have these natural open spaces, which are still connected to a centuries-old network of acequias that serve to irrigate the Taos valley. Read more & support...
