Sarah Herda is the director of the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. Founded in 1956, the Graham Foundation fosters the development and exchange of diverse and challenging ideas about architecture and its role in the arts, culture, and society and is the largest foundation in the United States committed to awarding project-based grants to individuals and institutions working at the forefront of architecture. She has expanded the international grantmaking program and transformed the Foundation’s headquarters, the historic Madlener House in Chicago, into a significant exhibition space, with an active program of talks, performances, and other events.
Herda served as an artistic director of the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial in 2015—the exhibition featured work by over 130 architects, artists and designers from 30 countries and was visited by over 500,000 people. She continues to serve on the Biennial’s board of directors, as well as the board of the Association of Architecture Organizations, among other organizations. Herda was also the director and curator of Storefront for Art and Architecture, in New York City, and the director of the 2AES/Center for Critical Architecture in San Francisco.