Villa Albertine and Fondation Bettencourt Schueller Renew Partnership for Crafts & Design Residencies and Immersion Programs
Art & Design
Agnès Alfandari, directrice des Mobilités et des manifestations internationales à l'Institut français ; Mohamed Bouabdallah, conseiller culturel à l’Ambassade de France aux États-Unis et directeur de la Villa Albertine ; Christopher Miles, directeur général de la création artistique au ministère de la Culture ; Hedwige Gronier, directrice du mécénat culturel à la Fondation Bettencourt Schueller ; Anne Grillo, directrice générale de la mondialisation au ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères ; Sam Stourdzé, directeur de l’Académie de France à Rome – Villa Médicis
Fondation Bettencourt Schueller has expanded its exclusive support for Villa Albertine’s crafts and design initiatives, doubling its funding for the Crafts & Design residency program and the Oui Design! professional immersion week in New York.
This renewed commitment strengthens transatlantic collaboration between French and American craftpeople, designers, and cultural professionals.
A longstanding partner of Villa Albertine, the French Institute for Culture and Education in the United States, Fondation Bettencourt Schueller has played a key role in developing residencies and professional exchanges dedicated to contemporary crafts and design.
Since 1999, it has been a pioneering force in the promotion of French crafts, notably through the Prix Liliane Bettencourt pour l’Intelligence de la Main® and a long‑term support policy in favor of leading French cultural institutions.
As part of this renewed partnership, announced during a press conference at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs in Paris on February 17, Fondation Bettencourt Schueller has committed five additional years of funding to Villa Albertine’s craft and design programs, reinforcing its mission to support French creative professionals in the United States.
During the same conference, the foundation also reaffirmed its broader engagement with France’s cultural diplomacy network, announcing increased support for Villa Kujoyama in Japan and Villa Médicis in Italy.
This collaboration underscores a shared commitment to fostering excellence in crafts and design, encouraging innovation, and building lasting professional networks across borders.
Learn more about the programs supported by Fondation Bettencourt Schueller below and stay tuned for information on Oui Design! this spring.
Crafts & Design Residencies
Dedicated to French craftspeople and designers, these residencies last from one to three months and provide participants with professional support to renew their practice, engage with local creative ecosystems, and develop new projects rooted in a specific U.S. context.
Learn more here.
Oui Design! Immersion Programs & Festival
Oui Design! is an exhibition and professional immersion week fostering dialogue between the French and American craft and interior architecture scenes. The New York edition offers French design professionals a 10-day experience bringing together designers, craftspeople, curators, and cultural practitioners through studio visits, talks, workshops, and public programs. It highlights contemporary French craft and design within New York’s creative ecosystem and culminates in a public event at Villa Albertine’s headquarters during NYCxDESIGN Week.
Stay tuned for more information about the 2026 Oui Design laureates.
Fondation Bettencourt Scheuller is the exclusive sponsor of Villa Albertine’s craft and design residencies and Oui Design! festival and immersion program.
In partnership with
Fondation Bettencourt Schueller
As a family foundation and a public-interest foundation at the same time, the Fondation Bettencourt Schueller has chosen to “take talents to the top” to contribute to France’s success and influence.
To this end, the Foundation seeks, selects, supports and promotes women and men who are rethinking our future in three fields that make a tangible difference to the common good: life sciences, the arts and an inclusive society.
With a philanthropic mindset, the foundation takes action through prizes, donations, personalized support, effective communication and co-created initiatives.
Since the foundation was founded in 1987, it has awarded prizes to 676 laureates and supported more than 1,400 projects led by talented individuals, teams, associations and organizations.
For more information: www.fondationbs.org/en| Twitter: @Fondation_BS | Instagram: @fondationbettencourtschueller | Facebook: @BettencourtSchuellerFoundation | #talentfondationbettencourt