Public sites with a strong connection to a historic visual artist (or a group of artists) may apply to join HAHS. Members agree to maintain, preserve and administer the historic place, protect and conserve the related collection in its ownership, possession or control in an appropriate manner, and demonstrate a commitment to education and interpretation. Each site interprets the historic place of an artist for a broad and diverse audience, in order to accurately and honestly convey the history of the site in the context of larger themes of American history and culture.
As an ever-expanding collective, HAHS strives to fully represent the rich scope of our nation’s artistic legacy through its membership. HAHS recognizes that spaces for creating art exist beyond traditional home and studio paradigms including outdoor studios, collective workspaces and artist-built vernacular environments. The network also embraces that there are different models for preserving cultural artistic legacy and for activating sites, than a traditional historic house museum, and we encourage these types of organizations to inquire about membership.
Through our membership sites, we are committed to telling the fuller story of American art that includes communities that have traditionally been underrepresented. We are dedicated to increasing sites representing the stories of people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, Indigenous, self-taught, and women artists.

Recently sites representing artists who worked outside the academic mainframe have been and are being recruited and welcomed into HAHS. Kohler Foundation, Inc. has generously provided underwriting to support sites for whom annual dues would pose a hardship.

The program is also actively seeking to expand the breadth of its membership through:
- Increasing geographic representation throughout the country
- A wider scope of historical eras
- More diversity of race, gender, socio-economic status of its artists
- Inclusion of a larger range of artistic media
Potential sites are encouraged to reach out for more information about membership via the button below. This button will take you to a form that asks for initial information about your site. Once the HAHS staff has received your completed form, you will be contacted to schedule a one-on-one meeting with the HAHS Director. These meetings occur weekly on Fridays at 10am ET (9am CT / 7am PT) or 11am ET (10am CT / 8am PT).
A note: Applications for membership are now being accepted on a rolling open call. All applications will be peer reviewed by members of the Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios staff and advisory committees, composed of leadership staff working at HAHS-member sites, and esteemed members of the art history and preservation community. Applications will be reviewed once annually, with acceptance being tied to critical mass for national public announcement. Membership to HAHS is offered in 2 categories: Affiliate Membership and Full Membership. HAHS is a membership fees-based program. Annual dues are determined on a sliding scale and based on a site’s annual operating budget (see more details below).
Each HAHS member should exhibit a strong combination of the following, while not every criteria must be achieved to gain entrance to the program.
Affiliate Membership
Affiliate Membership Criteria
- For sites in early years of operation (3 years and under)
- Preserve a site/space associated with where an artist(s) lived and/or worked
- Advance the legacy of the place and artist(s) through active outreach, interpretation and education (which may occur exclusively online if a site is not regularly open)
Affiliate members can also be:
- Privately owned
- In the process of applying for non-profit status
- Operating as a for-profit while still having a strong legacy, community engagement, and interpretative component
- A living artist, foundation, or other entity actively planning for opening of a public site
- An Artist Endowed Foundation, with preserved artist spaces, which are not currently open for public visitation
- A preserved site not currently open for public visitation
- A preserved site associated with an artist or artists which is not strictly a historic home or studio, but may have served as a salon or convening/exhibition space for artists and their working process
- A preserved space that was the historic home or studio of an artist, which now primarily operates in another capacity
OR
- Do meet Membership criteria but prefer to engage at an Associate level
- Do meet Membership criteria, but cannot meet annual dues requirements
- Do not currently meet Membership criteria, but wish to work towards that category by first engaging in the Associate category
Affiliate Membership Benefits
- Affiliation with the National Trust for Historic Preservation
- Affiliation with HAHS, the umbrella organization of a broad range of artist’s sites in the U.S.
- Networking opportunities with HAHS staff and directors, curators, managers, and other art and preservation professionals from Membership sites
- Listing in the Affiliate Member tab on HAHS website
- Feature with other Affiliate Members in annual special edition HAHS e-newsletter
- Opportunity to attend some HAHS workshops (at own expense)
- Opportunity for guidance towards meeting criteria for Full Membership
Affiliate Membership Dues
- $100 per site per year
- Possibility for underwriting of individual member dues based on need
Full Membership
Membership Criteria
- Must have been operating as a site for more than 3 years
- Interpret the historic site where an artist or artists created visual art, for a broad and diverse audience
- Maintain, preserve, and administer their sites and collections.
- Preserve original features, materials, appearance, workmanship, landscape and greater environments, to the extent possible
- Open to the public on a regular basis, which might include being open by appointment
- Owned by a non-profit organization or a federal/state/local/ government agency
- Appropriately staffed to host visitors and interpret their site
- Provide engaging visitor experiences through interpretive programming
- Previous criteria being listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places will now be seen as an additive aspect of a member prospect, but no longer key to acceptance into the program.
Membership Benefits
All benefits of Affiliate membership, as well as:
- Ability to request letters of support for grant applications, awards, landmark status, etc.
- Access to professional mentoring, public outreach, peer learning and creative exchange with HAHS staff and membership colleagues
- Engagement with membership’s collective expertise for best practice models and standards, and trends in visitation
- Participation in a network actively fostering excellence and advocacy for sites of preserved artist legacy
- Feature on designated directory page of the HAHS website
- Representation in the HAHS traveling photo exhibit
- Feature in 3 HAHS-generated e-newsletters annually
- Opportunity to host the traveling HAHS photo exhibition
- Opportunity to be featured on National Trust platforms
- Opportunity to attend membership workshops at sites around the country (and on occasion, internationally)
- Participation in exclusive HAHS virtual programs, reaching national and international audiences
- Representation in future editions of the Historic Artists’ Homes & Studios Guidebook (first edition published in 2020)
Membership Dues
- 4-tiered sliding scale based on annual operating budget
- $500 (budgets up to $499,000); $750 (budgets between $500,000 and $749,999); $1,250 (budgets about $750,000)
Interested in joining HAHS?
Help us tell site-specific stories about our nation’s art history