by encouraging excellence in scholarship and in the performing arts, and by supporting research libraries and other institutions that transmit cultural heritage.

Gladys Krieble and Jean Paul Delmas were devoted to two cities: New York and Venice. Concerned generally with encouraging excellence in scholarship and in the arts, they believed in supporting wide access to research library collections, the quality of dance performance, and the study and performance of early music. Gladys Krieble Delmas established the Foundation in 1976 and inaugurated programs of annual grants for United States and British Commonwealth scholars studying Venetian history and civilization. Eventually, the Foundation would expand to encompass the array of interests of both its founders.