 According to the statutes, its main aim is "to manage and expand the [museum]... and to make it permanently available for research and popular education purposes as a public collection".A special feature of the association compared to almost all other museum associations is that, together with the city of Essen, it is co-owner of the collections of the Folkwang Museum.The association publishes its own periodical for its members, the "Folkwang-Mitteilungsblätter" ("Folkwang newsletters").