Mission
The Kaleta A. Doolin Foundation (KADF), a feminist non-profit organization, is dedicated to being a resource and strategic partner for social and environmental justice by protecting and advocating for women and girls for the purpose of advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the arts and sciences.
(Her)story
The Kaleta A. Doolin Foundation (KADF) is named for our eponymous founder, Kaleta A. Doolin, an artist and Feminist Arts advocate. Doolin was born in Dallas, Texas to Mary Kathryn (Kitty) Doolin and Charles Elmer (C.E.) Doolin, inventor of Fritos and Cheetos and founder of the Frito Company, later to become the Frito-Lay Company. Doolin returned to Dallas after living in Austin, TX and Aspen, CO and received both a B.F.A. degree in 1983 and an M.F.A. degree in 1987, from the Southern Methodist University, Meadows School of the Arts.
Improved Janson: A Woman on Every PageKaleta A. Doolin, 2018Learn More»
While in graduate school, Doolin recognized the lack of women represented in the canonical art history textbook, “(Janson’s) History of Art”. This observation and her lived experience inspired Doolin to champion the rights and fair representation of women and girls, and together, serves as the driving mission for KADF. Stemming from her piece “Improved Janson”, KADF seeks to foster a world that includes “a woman (or girl) on every page”.
KADF Today
KADF was first established in 1998 under the name, Art Happens, in order to incentivize American art institutions to purchase and exhibit the work of women artists. In 2015, Art Happens was renamed The Kaleta A. Doolin Foundation (KADF), with a larger purpose to advance equity for women and girls and to encourage cultural diversity and representation in the arts and sciences. In 2020, KADF appointed its first Executive Director and continued to expand its mission to protect and advocate for women and girls toward achieving social and environmental justice, by fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion in the arts and sciences.