What We Fund

In 2008, The Helis Foundation began a unique partnership with The Historic New Orleans Collection, acquiring significant artworks and objects that serve to highlight key periods of our region’s cultural record. Through these acquisitions, the Foundation has facilitated The Collection’s commitment to building its collection of artwork and culturally significant artifacts that preserve the unique history of New Orleans.

The portfolio of works acquired by The Helis Foundation on behalf of The Collection provides New Orleans residents and visitors with an unparalleled glimpse into New Orleans’ collective history. The detailed engravings decorating the F.H. Hatch Presentation Silver Service transport us to the U.S. Custom House at the foot of Canal Street in 1861, while New Orleans painter Rolland Golden’s thought-provoking Katrina Series captures the destruction of our city after Hurricane Katrina in powerful portraits of devastated landscapes. Though seeming disparate, these acquisitions both offer unique perspectives on our region’s history.

In 2016, the The Historic New Orleans Collection published a catalogue documenting the foundation’s acquisitions.