The Robert E. Gard Foundation is committed to helping people and their communities discover the vital role the arts play in their day-to-day lives.

Explore the links to learn more about the Robert E. Gard Foundation and about the man himself.

Congratulations to Karen Goeschko, the 2020 Gard Foundation Leadership Award recipient.

“For a career committed to creative communities founded on human empathy, respect and love.”

Watch Karen’s tribute video here.

We have spent several years undertaking an oral history project with the Archives and Records Management program of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries.

We’re excited to announce that the recordings are now completed and available! Board member emeritus Harv Thompson – Gard’s successor in the extension arts programs – assembled previous interviews and conducted new interviews that highlight the perspectives of 18 former professors or administrators about the extension arts programs.

Visit the oral history project here.

Read four blog posts about the book, To Change the Face & Heart of America, and purchase the book here!

• Ars Populi: Art of/by/for the People, by Dr. Doug Borwick
• Relating to each other as whole people,  by Tatiana Hernandez
• Do we want to foster the arts or do we want to foster creativity?,  by Joanna Chin
• Daily Inspiration to Fight the Good Fight: Gard’s “To Change the Face and Heart of America,” by Todd Trebour