International Arts & Artists is a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing cross-cultural understanding and exposure to the arts internationally through exhibitions, programs, and services to artists, arts institutions, and the public.

Founded in 1995, International Arts & Artists (IA&A) is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit arts service organization dedicated to promoting cross-cultural understanding through the arts nationally and internationally. IA&A fulfills its mission by providing programs and services to artists, art institutions, and cultural organizations through its four core services: Traveling Exhibitions, Cultural Exchange Programs, the Design Studio, and IA&A at Hillyer, its contemporary arts center in Washington, DC.

IA&A’s Traveling Exhibition Service has produced and toured fine and decorative arts exhibitions nationally and internationally for 28 years, reaching millions of people across all 50 states and 24 countries. It is one of the largest producers of traveling art exhibitions in the US, with 15-25 exhibitions touring at any given time. IA&A has facilitated over 850 exhibition presentations to over 450 museums. Its Traveling Exhibition Service partners with a wide range of lenders to design exhibitions to foster cross-cultural dialogue and understanding beyond geographical divides.

In 2003, hardware-industry pioneer John Hechinger, Sr. donated his collection of nearly 400 works of twentieth-century art to IA&A. Selections from IA&A’s Hechinger Collection are on view in IA&A’s offices and tour nationally through its Traveling Exhibition Service.

In 2004, IA&A received a unique designation from the US Department of State for its Cultural Exchange Programs to sponsor J-1 visas for international interns, trainees, and scholars placed in cultural institutions throughout the US. IA&A’s Cultural Exchange Programs provide over 200 visas annually for cultural organizations such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, and many others. IA&A is the only sponsor that provides J-1 visas specifically for American arts institutions, cultural organizations, and design firms and has supported almost 2,000 exchange visitors from over 95 countries to be placed in over 650 museums, symphonies, dance companies and other cultural organizations in the US.

In order to better serve the public of Washington, DC, and support local artists at all stages of their careers, IA&A opened Hillyer Art Space (now IA&A at Hillyer) in 2006. Hillyer has presented over 330 solo and group exhibitions, featuring almost 1,000 regional artists and more than 200 international artists, and has welcomed over 97,000 visitors since opening its doors. The Washington Post regularly reviews Hillyer as a major presenter of new and otherwise underexposed talent. In addition to engaging the public through innovative and often provocative programs and international representation, Hillyer supports underrepresented artists selected from an annual open call with mentorship, paid honorariums, and programming such as artist talks, panel discussions, and workshops.

In 2014, IA&A purchased and renovated the 1850s-era former livery stable in Dupont Circle that it had occupied as an office/exhibition site for over a decade, providing a permanent home for the organization and Hillyer, its contemporary arts space.

With 25 years of experience and demonstrated excellence, IA&A continues to initiate exhibitions and publications that help museums of varying size and scope achieve their strategic goals, all while supporting local, regional, and international underrepresented artists through Hillyer and facilitating cultural exchange for hundreds of international artists each year. Through these ambitious programs, IA&A is fulfilling its mission of promoting cross-cultural understanding in the arts, which remains of vital importance in today’s world.

Coming from a family of creative artists, scientists and entrepreneurs, David Furchgott was first trained as an arts educator and studio artist, though his career focus for the past 32 years has been on international arts activities and exchange. Furchgott’s first directorship of an organization was in 1970 at age 23, followed by experience as a museum curator, educator, director of a small art school, and a government position developing arts accessibility for broader populations in his home state of South Carolina.

Since 1978, he has worked on an international scale in the arts, catapulted by work with the Spoleto Festival USA, then serving for 16 years as the first executive director of the International Sculpture Center (ISC). At the ISC Furchgott began programs to serve artists that eventually attracted 15,000 members in more than 70 countries, and provided exhibitions and programs across North American and from Asia to Europe. He also began and published Sculpture magazine.

In the same entrepreneurial spirit, Furchgott founded International Arts & Artists (IA&A) in 1995. IA&A now produces fine and decorative arts exhibitions, with an average of 15 to 20 exhibitions on view nationwide at all times and a similar number in development. Under his leadership, IA&A also began and operates an international exchange program for U.S. organizations that hosts between 70 to 130 artists and arts managers annually. Until 2019, IA&A’s Design Studio provided comprehensive design services to artists and arts organizations. Hillyer Art Space, IA&A’s gallery, holds upwards of 30 small, on-site exhibitions annually of emerging and under-exposed, regional and international artists, along with a variety of arts-related public programming.