Sun Foundation

Founded in 1973 by educators and artists Joan Root and Robert Ericksen, the Sun Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that provides imaginative and vibrant art and environmental science programming in rural Washburn, Illinois.

Mission and Vision

Our mission is to strengthen and advance the arts and environmental sciences in our community by providing innovative, high-quality programs, services, publications, research, regranting financial support, and cooperative efforts for the general public, underserved groups, schools, artists, and arts organizations.

The Sun Foundation is organized exclusively for education, scientific, and charitable purposes. Specifically, the Foundation researches, designs, produces, and disseminates educational materials that advance and develop integrative and interdisciplinary studies between artists and scientists and the understanding thereof, to enable humankind to live in harmony with nature, by securing a quality environment for all life, thereby enriching the human condition.

Since 1973, the Sun Foundation has nourished new talents for the arts and environmental sciences in three generations of young stewards for planet Earth.