First and foremost, the Laurenz Foundation is devoted to the promotion and support of the fine arts. The Laurenz Foundation facilitates the exchange with professionals, researchers and students in art-related fields and organises exhibitions and projects in the area of contemporary art. With this in mind, the purpose of the Foundation has been deliberately broadly defined. However, the primary and most renowned undertaking is the building and operation of Schaulager itself.

The Laurenz Foundation is not a grant funding institution and is devoted largely to initiating and pursuing projects of its own devising.