Centre national des arts plastiques 1.56

The Centre national des arts plastiques is a French institution established in 1982 under the Ministry of Culture and Communication that promotes creation of visual arts. It provides assistance to artists and galleries, and manages the Fonds national d'art contemporain .BackgroundThe Cnap has its origins in the Division des Beaux-Arts created in 1791 just after the French Revolution with its own budget to encourage living artists and educate citizens. This was succeeded in turn by the Bureau des Beaux-Arts in 1800, Bureau de l’encouragement des Arts in 1879, the Bureau des Travaux d’art in 1882 and finally the Centre national des arts plastiques in 1982. Throughout this history the goal was to encourage creation of contemporary work. CNAP was created by a prime ministerial decree of 15 October 1982, under the Minister of Culture.ActivitiesThe purpose of Cnap was defined as support and promotion of artistic creation in different forms including photography, graphic arts, design and crafts. The Cnap acquires and commissions works of art, and disseminates them, contributes to modern application of ancient crafts, and to application of new technologies and materials, supports visual artists and provides education to the public and to artists. Cnap provides various types of assistance to artists resident in France. Research grants are given to artists to fund research or development of an artistic project. Assistance may be given for creation of an audiovisual or multimedia work. Galleries may be funded for the first solo exhibition of an artist, or for production of the first catalog of an artist's work in a gallery. A writer, theoretician or art critic may be given support for research.CollectionCnap was given responsibility for managing the Fonds national d'art contemporain (FNAC; National Foundation for Contemporary Art). As of 2014 the foundation, dating back to the French Revolution, had 95,000 works. Many of these are displayed in museums, public places and government buildings. The Centre Georges Pompidou opened in 1977, now housing the Musée National d'Art Moderne (National Museum of Modern Art), and many modern works were transferred to it from the FNAC, which now focuses on contemporary art.