Fonds régional d'art contemporain

The Fonds régional d'art contemporain (FRAC) is a network of 23 public collections of contemporary art across France. They are funded both regionally and nationally, and depending on the size of each collection they may be hosted in existing historical buildings, or in their own art museums.

Founding and history

FRAC was founded by culture minister Jack Lang, as part of a decentralization policy to move aspects of governance out to regional governments. Starting in 1982, regional funds were set up to promote and encourage contemporary art by forming regional collections, and engaging in outreach to local communities and cultural institutions. This quickly grew to 23 regional collections.

The goals of the FRAC program were:

• To build a heritage of contemporary art in the region, and support the creation of new art through the combined actions of acquisitions and commissioning works. Each FRAC may decide to specialize in a particular category of contemporary art.
• To disseminate funds widely within each region, developing regular partnerships with cultural institutions, local authorities and schools.
• To raise broad awareness in contemporary art methods, through tours, speakers, events with artists, and workshops with young people.

Next generation

Starting in 2012, the FRAC next generation program set out plans to build 6 physical museums for some of these collections:

• Aquitaine (Bordeaux, architect Bjarke Ingels Group, opening 2017),
• Bretagne (Rennes, architect Odile Decq, opened July 6, 2012),
• Centre (Orléans, architects Jakob + MacFarlane, opened September 5, 2013)
• Franche-Comté (Besançon, architect Kengo Kuma, opened April 6, 2013),
• Nord-Pas-de-Calais (Dunkerque, architects Lacaton et Vassal, opened November 16, 2013), and
• Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

FRAC collections

The 23 FRAC collections, as of 2015:

Region	City	Name	Creation	Collection
Alsace	Sélestat, Agence culturelle d'Alsace	Frac Alsace	1982	1357 works, 489 artists	[1]
Aquitaine	Bordeaux	Frac Aquitaine	1982	330 artists, over 1000 works
Auvergne	Clermont-Ferrand	Frac Auvergne	1985	238 artistes	[2]
Bourgogne	Dijon	Frac Bourgogne	1984	650 works
Bretagne	Rennes	Frac Bretagne	1981	3928 works, 496 artists	[3]
Centre-Val de Loire	Orléans	Frac Centre	1982	13424 works, 391 artists	[4]
Champagne-Ardenne	Reims	Frac Champagne-Ardenne	1984	680 works, 243 artists	[5]
Corse	Corte	Frac Corse
Franche-Comté	Besançon	Frac Franche-Comté	1982	473 works, |255 artists	[6]
Île-de-France	Paris, 19th arrondissement	Le Plateau / Frac Ile-de-France		1347 works, 552 artists	[7]
Languedoc-Roussillon	Montpellier	Frac Languedoc-Roussillon		981 works, 372 artists	[8]
Limousin	Limoges	Frac Limousin	1982	1271 works, 311 artists	[9]
Lorraine	Metz, hôtel Saint-Livier	Frac Lorraine	1983	729 works, 277 artists[10]
Midi-Pyrénées	Toulouse	Les Abattoirs - Frac Midi-Pyrénées		2332 works, 701 artists	[11]
Nord-Pas-de-Calais	Dunkerque	Frac Nord-Pas-de-Calais	1983	1272 works, 512 artists	[12]
Basse-Normandie	Caen	Frac Basse-Normandie	1983	979 works, |393 artists	[13]
Haute-Normandie	Sotteville-lès-Rouen	Frac Haute-Normandie
Pays de la Loire	Carquefou	Frac des Pays de la Loire
Picardie	Amiens	Frac Picardie	1983	1538 works, 223 artists	[14]
Poitou-Charentes	Angoulême	Frac Poitou-Charentes	1983	801 works, 326 artists
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur	Marseille	Frac Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur	1982	849 works, 389 artists	[15]
Rhône-Alpes	Villeurbanne	Institut d'art contemporain
Martinique	Fort-de-France	Frac Martinique
La Réunion	Saint-Denis	Frac Réunion

References

1. Collection du Frac Alsace, sur Videomusem, au 16 juin 2009.
2. Collection FRAC Auvergne, consulté le 22 mai 2011
3. Collection du Frac Bretagne, sur Videomuseum, au 29 janvier 2009.
4. Collection du Frac Centre
5. Collection du Frac Champagne-Ardenne, sur Videomuseum, au 1er octobre 2009.
6. Présentation, sur le site du Frac de Franche-Comté.
7. Collection du Frac Île-de-France, sur Navigart, au 25 août 2015.
8. Collection du Frac Languedoc-Roussillon, sur Videomuseum, au 31 août 2007
9. Collection du Frac Limousin, sur Videomuseum, au 7 juin 2007.
10. Collection du FRAC Lorraine
11. Collection du Frac Midi-Pyrénées / Les Abattoirs, sur Videomuseum, au 7 août 2008.
12. Collection du Frac Nord-Pas-de-Calais, sur Videomuseum, au 6 avril 2009.
13. Collection du Frac Basse-Normandie, sur Videomuseum, au 26 mars 2009.
14. Collection du Frac Picardie, sur Videomuseum, au 12 octobre 2009.
15. Collection du Frac Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, sur Videomuseum, au 16 février 2009.