[1] The Foundation, which offers prize fellowships to painters, poets, sculptors, writers, playwrights, composers, photographers and filmmakers, was established in 1954 and incorporated as a private nonprofit in 1958.

[2][3] The Foundation was conceived, funded, and organized by Helene Billing Wurlitzer (1874-1963), a philanthropist from Cincinnati who relocated to Taos in the early 1940s.

[6] Helene believed in supporting artists in their process, and understood the ripple effects that unburdened time can have on a creative life.

The land was a short walk from Taos Plaza at the center of town and included three small adobe homes on acres of alfalfa fields.

The result was a campus with eleven residences and a commons house for visiting artists, writers, and composers, in addition to her home and guesthouse.

The 15-acre campus consists of open fields bordered by old-growth trees, connected to a centuries-old network of acequias, a traditional means of supplying water to the Taos valley.

Notable Grantees,[7] 1954-2000 Ansel Adams Agnes Martin Andrew Dasburg Earl Stroh[8][9][10] Emil Bisttram Percy Tsisete Sandy, Kai-Sa (Red Moon)[11][12][13] Patrocino Barela N. Scott Momaday Artists who have been awarded more recent residencies at the foundation include: David Noon, Harryette Mullen, Regina Hansen Willman, Philip Gambone, Emily Warn, Robert Chesley,[14] Paul Elwood, Mary Crow, Carol Bergé, Jon Berson,[15] Conrad Richter, Judith Arcana, Jonathan Blum, and J. Timothy Hunt.