We’re thirty-seven years old! Can you give us the gift of even more decades?

Sterling Walker and Durk Dehner at the 26th Annual Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival 2021. Photo by Motorboot Photography

Tom of Finland Foundation
Over Three and a Half Decades Protecting, Preserving and Promoting Erotic Art

Durk and Tom by Jim Wigler, c. 1984

In 1984, Tom and I established his Foundation to promote his work along with other erotic art so that it receives the academic attention it deserves. Tom’s work had a defining impact on the way Gay men throughout the world were perceived and more importantly, how they perceived themselves. 

Our growing archive of images by other artists to complement the extensive one of Tom’s work is always in progress. These archives provide an invaluable resource to curators, students, art historians and collectors.

Thanks to the generosity of our members and supporters, let’s look back on what we’ve been doing this special year:

• 2021 would have been Tom’s 101st birthday and ToFF’s theme this year is “Tom of Finland 101”, where education has been emphasized as part of all of our programming.
• Our Foundation has presented awards since 2000 to stellar individuals who have demonstrated their vast commitment to our community, please meet the class of 2021.
• We have hosted our art fairs in New York and Los Angeles in auditoriums, lofts, nightclubs and community centers. Then they came “home” to TOM House and this year we found our “second home” in Hollywood where everything come together beautifully.
• In May, after fourteen months indoors with TOM House closed, we joined a weeklong series of in-person events at Frieze New York. Following the opening of TOM OF FINLAND: The Darkroom, an exhibition of the Tom’s photography work, we hosted a panel talk, and a dinner with esteemed guests on 8th May, Tom’s birthday.
• From the end of May until 11th June we presented, Sexology 101, a charitable auction for Tom of Finland Foundation, where the artists were the “professors”. We are very grateful for all the remarkable profs who generously donated their work and the performers who gave of themselves at TOM House.
• With the world feeling comfortable partying out-of-doors, we teamed with Disco Dining Club and laid a debauched dinner table for our eager feasters. We thank all the performers, community members, volunteers, and decorators who brought Pleasure Park, Exposed to life.
• As part of our commitment to serve the public, Tom of Finland Foundation has been making online galleries of our erotic art collection available to the public, with Patrons of The World of TOM receiving the first look.
• We have continued our Life Drawing Sessions, both online and hybrid with artists and models on the TOM House outside patio, “The Cockpit”.

Our vision is to have our existing programs continue and to expand on a worldwide level, reaching out to communities that have not yet had the opportunity of honoring and taking pride in what we express in Queer culture. I want to make sure there is a legacy of funding in place to match our legacy of programming. Tom’s vision for a world with freedom and sexual liberation for all must continue, and there are still places all over the globe where Tom’s work can have a huge impact on people’s lives. It takes a lot of support to make goals like this happen.

• Our Foundation has expanded its reach with three new members of our Board of Directors who bring greater community perspective, as well geographic reach to leadership. At our 2021 Staff and Board Strategic Planning Retreat, these new Board members joined the existing six Directors in a planning the future direction of the Foundation, while confronting the challenges all nonprofit organizations face in the current environment.
• We have been fortunate to be able to bring on young staff and volunteers as we move towards the future and fulfilling our mission.
• ToFF has a long history of arranging international exhibitions and in 2022 our expanded roster will include shows in France and Italy that focus on thirty to forty different artists from our permanent collection supported with work by Tom.

There will always be touch points in history where society becomes increasingly conservative in its attitudes toward sex and sexuality. I hope you will consider joining us in making sure Gay artists can express themselves, and to maintain spaces where young Queer people can discover kink.

In planning for the future of TOM’s Foundation, you are an essential component. Foremost, it is my hope that we share a common philosophy: The presence of Tom of Finland Foundation contributes to a more inclusive and diverse global culture that spreads the doctrine that we are all creations of Mother Earth and have our rightful place here on her planet.

• We have initiated an Artist of Color Fund in addition to our Marcello Lupetti Artist Fund. Donations of all sizes are always welcome, including networking with your friends and business contacts to encourage further support. Donations can be earmarked for specific purposes.
• To date this year, we have received gifts of 397 works of art to our collections, 109 objects to our archive, and 95 publications to the ToFF library.

There are very few places in this world that we can call our own: TOM House and the Foundation’s programs and collections reflect who we are with our acceptance of all those who identify as Queer and our allies.

I am asking you to commit, as we have here, to our cause by contributing the resources necessary to make our visions a reality. Gifts can be made in the form of one-time donations, membership at eight levels, participating in our endowment fund, and supporting our artist funds. A living trust and gifts upon death can be of real property, bonds and securities, and cash. Consider TOM’s Foundation as part of your estate planning and always think of us as the sheltered home for your own art and materials collections.

LA Icon: Tom of Finland House. Historic-Cultural Monument #1135.

I have made it my life’s work to fortify the erotic arts as they define in so many ways what it is to be Queer in our natures. To the level in which we celebrate the expressions of who we are determines our destiny as a fully nurtured and culturally abundant community of kindred folk. Make the Foundation a priority in contributing to your own legacy.

Durk Dehner
President & Cofounder, Tom of Finland Foundation
14th December 2021

Published: 14th December 2021

Categorised in: Friends of Tom, Tell All Yer Friends!