Home Journal In Memoriam: Ted Berger

In Memoriam: Ted Berger

Ted Berger sitting in front of a window

Theodore S. (Ted) Berger (1940-2026), an Emeritus member of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Board of Directors, passed away on January 29, 2026, in New York. A lifelong advocate for the arts, Berger began his career at Columbia University, served as Executive Director of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) for 25 years, and was a member of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Board of Directors from 2006 to 2020. He served as Treasurer from 2011-2017 and was instrumental in the development of the Foundation's artist-centered programs, in particular the Creating a Living Legacy (CALL) initiative and the Joan Mitchell Center residency program.

Berger’s obituary in The New York Times noted: “Under Mr. Berger, NYFA supported causes like health insurance for artists and arts education in schools. It also provided artists with free work space, and defended them in the late 1980s and early ’90s when Congress slashed funding to the National Endowment for the Arts over artwork deemed indecent or worse.”

“Ted was a remarkable force for artists. Over the years of working with him he always asked what more can we do,” said Christa Blatchford, Executive Director of the Joan Mitchell Foundation. “Ted showed up at our board table again and again with challenging questions about how we live our values as a community. His generosity and curiosity were gifts to us and his impact on the Foundation’s programs will always be felt.”

Ted Berger with Joan Mitchell Foundation grant recipient Cicely Cottingham, 2018, photo by Alice Grindling; Ted and Asya Berger with CALL artist Freddy Rodriguez, 2012, photo by Osha Waiters.

When Berger stepped down from the Joan Mitchell Foundation’s Board of Directors in 2021, he shared this reflection on the Foundation’s impact:

“What makes the Joan Mitchell Foundation unique is its centeredness on living artists, its national scope, and its commitment to equity in all of its different definitions linked to its responsiveness and its concern. Increasingly, I’ve been thinking more and more that we’re part of a community of caring—thinking about how artists are living today, asking what could their lives and legacies be tomorrow, and questioning what is our responsibility for how we care for a legacy, like Mitchell’s, and the future of this country’s creative community.”

We are grateful to Ted for his many contributions to the arts sector and to the Foundation’s work and culture. Ted will be deeply missed and fondly remembered by many in the Joan Mitchell Foundation community.