Onera Foundation

09/03/2026

This past weekend, we were thrilled to welcome Emilia Kabakov to the Onera Foundation.

Emilia and her late husband, Ilya Kabakov, are represented in AMERICA ABROAD: Art, Architecture, and Diplomacy with four lithographs from The Flying Komarov (1994), depicting soaring figures in flight—a recurring theme in their work evoking freedom, escape, and possibility. The lithographs complement the Kabakovs’ monumental mosaic mural Flying, installed at the U.S. Embassy in London in 2025 through the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE). It was a great honor to welcome Emilia and share the exhibition with her.

Emilia Kabakov Laurence Lafforgue FAPE

Image 1
From left to right: Laurence Lafforgue, Executive Director of the Onera Foundation, and artist Emilia Kabakov, in front of the Onera Foundation entrance in New Canaan, CT. Photo courtesy of Emilia Kabakov’s studio manager.

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Installation view of America Abroad: Art, Architecture, and Diplomacy: Works from the FAPE Collection at the Onera Foundation, New Canaan, Connecticut. Featured in this view are Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, The Flying Komarov, 1994; Robert Rauschenberg, Domicile, 1996; Jasper Johns, Untitled, 1999; and Brett Weston, Building Reflections, c. 1980. Artworks courtesy of the artists and the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies. Photo by Simon Cherry.

09/01/2026

Discover the Onera Foundation, a cultural destination in the heart of New Canaan dedicated to art, architecture, and preservation.

Located at 63 Park Street in the historic 1836 home of legendary editor Maxwell Perkins, Onera presents exhibitions and programs that explore new ways of thinking about the preservation of significant American architecture.

Now on view: AMERICA ABROAD: Art, Architecture, and Diplomacy, featuring rarely seen works from the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE) Collection, including works by Carmen Herrera, Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Roy Lichtenstein, and many others.

Onera is open Wednesday–Saturday, 12–5 PM. Admission is free.

Want to learn more? Join Executive Director Laurence Lafforgue for one of Onera’s upcoming guided tours. Tours are free, with advance registration required. Learn more and register at the link in our bio!

08/22/2026

Our Curator Spotlight series continues with Peter Reed, guest curator of AMERICA ABROAD: Art, Architecture, and Diplomacy: Works from the FAPE Collection.

This week, Peter highlights Carrie Mae Weems’ Echoes For Marian (2014). In this photograph, Carrie Mae Weems stages a reenactment of a 1939 event, when Marian Anderson, the acclaimed African American opera singer, performed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before an audience of some 75,000 people on Easter Sunday.

Swipe through to hear Peter share more about the work and its place in the exhibition.

AMERICA ABROAD is on view at the Onera Foundation in New Canaan through December 31, 2026.

08/18/2026

There’s more to discover at Onera Foundation beyond the current exhibition. 🌿

Surrounding our historic 1836 Greek Revival home are modernist gardens designed by Richard Bergmann, with a Le Nôtre-inspired geometric parterre, stepped terraces, sculpture paths, and historic hemlocks.

The gardens are included in the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Gardens, recognizing their significance in American landscape design.

Next time you visit Onera, take some time to explore the gardens before or after experiencing AMERICA ABROAD: Art, Architecture, and Diplomacy: Works from the FAPE Collection inside.

📍 63 Park Street - New Canaan, CT
Open Wednesday–Saturday, 12–5 p.m.
Free admission, registration suggested

08/05/2026

Calling all Connecticut Art Trail visitors!

If you’re exploring the Connecticut Art Trail, be sure to add the Onera Foundation to your itinerary. Experience AMERICA ABROAD: Art, Architecture, and Diplomacy: Works from the FAPE Collection and discover works by some of America’s most celebrated artists in this free exhibition.

As a special thank you, visitors who present their Connecticut Art Trail passport will receive a complimentary exhibition postcard set while supplies last.

📍 63 Park Street - New Canaan, Connecticut
🗓 Wednesday–Saturday | 12–5 p.m.
🎟 Free admission

We look forward to welcoming you!

08/03/2026

Introducing our new Curator Spotlight series.

Each week, we’ll highlight a different work from AMERICA ABROAD: Art, Architecture, and Diplomacy: Works from the FAPE Collection and share the stories behind the art, architecture, and ideas that shape the exhibition.

This week, Laurence Lafforgue, Executive Director of the Onera Foundation and co-curator of the exhibition, introduces Ed Ruscha’s Column with Speed Lines (2003)—a striking print that places a classical column against bold red, white, and blue “speed lines,” exploring the enduring ideals of American democracy amid the pace of the modern world.

Swipe through to discover why this work is a favorite, what it reveals about the relationship between art and architecture, and why it speaks so powerfully to Onera’s mission to foster a deeper appreciation of significant American architecture.

07/16/2026

Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes before an exhibition opens?

Before the gallery doors open, months of planning, collaboration, and careful installation bring an exhibition to life. Every artwork, object, and sightline is intentionally placed to tell a larger story.

Take a behind-the-scenes look at the installation of AMERICA ABROAD: Art, Architecture, and Diplomacy: Works from the FAPE Collection, co-curated by Onera Foundation Executive Director Laurence Lafforgue and guest curator Peter Reed, a member of FAPE’s Professional Fine Arts Committee, in collaboration with FAPE.

Now on view through December 31, 2026.

📍 Onera Foundation
63 Park Street, New Canaan, CT

🕛 Wednesday–Saturday | 12–5 PM
🎟️ Free admission. Registration suggested.

07/14/2026

Meet guest curator Peter Reed, whose vision and expertise helped shape our exhibition AMERICA ABROAD: Art, Architecture, and Diplomacy: Works from the FAPE Collection. A member of the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE) Professional Fine Arts Committee, Peter brought decades of curatorial experience to this remarkable exhibition.

Peter Reed was Senior Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs at The Museum of Modern Art from 2005-2020. Previously, he was Curator in the Department of Architecture and Design where he had been a member of the curatorial staff since 1992. He organized numerous exhibitions at MoMA and contributed to publications on architects including Alvar Aalto, Philip Johnson, Louis Kahn, and Frank Lloyd Wright among others. Reed holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in art history from the University of Pennsylvania. Reed also serves on the Professional Fine Arts Committee of FAPE.

Visit AMERICA ABROAD at Onera Foundation through December 31, 2026.

07/11/2026

Now on view at Onera Foundation: AMERICA ABROAD.

Presented on the occassion of the 250th anniversary of the United States and FAPE’s 40th anniversary, this exhibition offers a rare opportunity to experience artworks typically seen only inside U.S. embassies around the world.

Featuring works by renowned American artists including Ed Ruscha, Carrie Mae Weems, Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Julie Mehretu, Robert Rauschenberg, and many more, AMERICA ABROAD explores how art and architecture have shaped American diplomacy from the Cold War to today.

🗓️ On view through December 31, 2026
📍 63 Park Street, New Canaan, CT
🎟️ Free admission (registration suggested)
🕛 Open Wednesday–Saturday | 12–5 PM

04/18/2026

On April 28, the Onera Foundation welcomes Onera Prize 2025 recipient and interior designer–turned preservation research fellow Anne Maxwell Foster for a talk that revisits one of the most overlooked elements of the built environment: the window awning.

Once a defining feature of city streets, awnings offered a simple, low-tech way to reduce heat and improve comfort long before air conditioning. Today, Foster’s research asks what these forgotten elements might still offer—and what stands in the way of bringing them back.

Ahead of her talk, we asked her a few questions about her work.

Once a defining feature of city streets, awnings offered a simple, low-tech way to reduce heat and improve comfort long before air conditioning. Onera Prize 2025 recipient and interior designer–turned preservation research fellow Anne Maxwell Foster asks what these forgotten elements might still o...