The Mabel Mercer Foundation was established in 1985 to preserve and advance an endangered part of American musical heritage: the intimate art of Cabaret performance and the Great Songbook of its repertoire. Through sponsorship of live performances and broadcasts, the Foundation endeavors to entertain and educate a public raised on mass-produced pop music, to stem the effects of shrinking music education budgets, and to encourage practitioners in the present-day cabaret field. Named after Mabel Mercer, arguably the supreme cabaret artist of the twentieth century, the Foundation also functions as a central source of information for artists, presenters, promoters, and the general public about Ms. Mercer and the art form she exemplified.