Creators Equity Foundation is a unique institution, founded in 1982 by the American painter, Jesse Reichek, and the American sculptor and craftsman, James Prestini. The Foundation owns major works of these artists.

The Foundation's primary goal is to fund the production of art by those persons who, for societal reasons having to do with class, race, health, or economic history, could not produce their art without financial assistance.

Each grant is given as an individual gift, with no requirements for subsequent reporting. Grantees are located and recommended by a peer network associated with our Board of Directors.

The assets of the Foundation, in addition to a small endowment, consists of art collections: the works of Reichek and Prestini, photographs and photograms by Gyorgy Kepes, Barbara Morgan, and others, and prints and drawings by members of the New Bauhaus, Chicago Institute of Design.

Mr. Prestini provided leadership and direction for CEF until his death in 1993. He also significantly increased the Foundations assets by assembling a vast and brilliant art library, numbering over 13,000 volumes.

CEF's Board of Directors made two decisions in 1993: first, to create a library catalogue using contemporary library software, and to hire an Executive Director whose task would be to market the collections, using the resultant funds to support a more substantial grant program.