The Decorative Arts Trust

The Decorative Arts Trust, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was founded in 1977, promotes awareness, encourages appreciation, and champions the study of the decorative arts and material culture through educational programs, communications, and grantmaking.

For the United States Semiquincentennial, the Decorative Arts Trust (the Trust) created Collecting250.org, an interactive online resource that celebrates the importance of objects in narrating the history and evolution of the United States and the communities contained within. Museums and historical societies submitted images and information about objects in their collections that tell powerful stories about national, state, or local identity.

Collecting250 showcases 250 objects from over 140 institutions, and all 50 states and the District of Columbia are represented. The ability to search for entries based on location, category, and keyword provides the chance to make exciting and enlightening discoveries in unexpected places. Collecting250 is a free and accessible resource.

As a grantmaker, the Trust has awarded funding to a variety of Semiquincentennial projects. Some examples are Concord Museum’s Whose Revolution exhibition and the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s publication, Art, Industry, and Reform in Philadelphia, 1876–1926, which accompanies the spring 2026 exhibition of the same name. Semiquincentennial themes will be explored during the Trust’s 2026 programs in New York, Boston, Scotland, and Virginia.