Scan Design Foundation

by Erik Pihl, Director of Development

In December 2010, Scan Design Foundation made an extraordinary commitment of $3 million to the National Nordic Museum; at that time, it was the largest commitment by a foundation to the Museum. Of that, $2 million was to be usedfor the Museum’s capital campaign for the new Museum and $1 million wasto support Danish and Danish-American programs over the next twenty years. National Nordic Museum Executive Director and CEO Eric Nelson remembers his conversations with Scan Design Foundation President Emeritus, Mark Schleck. “Scan Design Foundation’s support really jumpstarted the capital campaign for the Museum as it is today,” says Nelson. “With a two-decade commitment of support, we have been able to develop excellent Danish programs and have brought exceptional exhibitions to Seattle such as 2019’s On the Edge of the World:Masterworks by Laurits Anderson Ring from SMK the National Gallery of Denmark.”

Established in 2002, the Scan Design Foundation is the legacy of Danish immigrants Inger and Jens Bruun. Both grew up in rural areas of Denmark; Jens on a farm in Jutland and Inger in Andst. After marrying in Denmark, they immigrated first to Canada, then to the US. In 1964, they opened their first Scan|Design Furniture store in Bellevue, featuring high-quality Danish-made modern furniture. Scan|Design Furniture became a thriving business, eventually expanding to eight stores in Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii. Jens and Inger were proud of their Danish heritage and wanted to provide an opportunity for other Danish citizens to learn about America. Beginning in the early 1970s, each year Jens and Inger invited four interns from Denmark to live with them in America and work at Scan|Design Furniture. Over the course of three decades, more than 147 individuals worked as interns with Jens and were fully embraced into the Bruun family.

Sadly, Inger passed away in 1987. Before his own death in 2002, Jens created the Scan Design Foundation to foster and support Danish-American relations as well as further pain research—an area in which he had developed an interest during his later years. According to Mark Schleck, the Foundation “opened a new chapter in the legacy of Jens and Inger Bruun.” Schleck retired in 2020 and was succeeded by Fidelma McGinn as the second president of the Foundation. Since its first grant to the National Nordic Museum in 2004 to today, the Foundation has awarded more than $22 million in grants to myriad organizations. The National Nordic Museum’s relationship with Inger and Jens dates to the Museum’s early days. The Museum’s Dream of America exhibition was brought to Seattle from Denmark in 1985: Jens was a driving force in the project and his Scan|Design Furniture team helped design and install the exhibition. In this and countless other ways, Jens and Inger Bruun’s legacy made a lasting impact on the National Nordic Museum. In recognition, the Museum has named its Nordic American Gallery in the Bruun’s honor, with many thanks to the Scan Design Foundation board and staff for their transformational investment in the Museum and commitment to advancing Danish-American relations.

More information on the Scan Design Foundation can be found at scandesignfoundation.org

Erik Pihl is the National Nordic Museum’s Director of Development. Erik has an extensive background in museum fundraising and external relations. He is active in Seattle’s Nordic community and currently serves as Vice-President of the Norwegian Commercial Club and as an Advisory Board member for the University of Washington’s Department of Scandinavian Studies.