Why We Give
NEW CONTEMPORARY ART INITIATIVE PROMISES BIG IMPACT The David and Dawn Lenhardt Contemporary Art Initiative expands contemporary art at Phoenix Art Museum
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n December, Phoenix Art Museum announced the establishment of the David and Dawn Lenhardt Contemporary Art Initiative, a significant and comprehensive investment in the growth and visibility of contemporary art collecting, education, and exhibition at the Museum. “We are excited to partner with Phoenix Art Museum on an initiative that will significantly impact the contemporary art department and raise the Museum’s profile within Phoenix and the United States,” said David Lenhardt, who served as CEO of PetSmart until 2015 and is a member of the Museum’s Board of Trustees. “We want Phoenix Art Museum to be a top contemporary art destination for collectors and artists.” The first of its kind in the Museum’s nearly 60-year history, the three-part initiative will impact the Museum’s contemporary art collection in a number of areas. The first component of the multifaceted, multiyear gift is the annual Lenhardt Lecture, which will bring an internationally renowned contemporary artist to the Museum each year to expose the community to prominent artists who have made a lasting impact in the art field. Additionally, the lecture will include an artist-led educational program for Valley students. Another core component is the Lenhardt Emerging Artist Acquisition Fund, designed specifically to collect works by next-generation contemporary artists. Working with artists selected in collaboration with Gilbert Vicario, the Selig Family Chief Curator, the Fund will infuse the Museum’s collection with works by promising new contemporary artists. Looking ahead, the Initiative will expand to include a named gallery space in the Ellen and Howard C. Katz Wing for Modern Art. The gallery will feature acquisitions of the Lenhardt Emerging Artist Acquisition Fund, special exhibitions, and significant loans from national and Phoenix collectors, including a rotating series of artworks from the Lenhardt family’s private collection, which includes works by artists such as Jim Hodges, Richard Estes, and Andy Warhol. In its future phases, the Initiative will evolve to includes gifts of contemporary art from the Lenhardt family. “We are grateful to the Lenhardt family for their very generous support of contemporary art at Phoenix Art Museum,” said Amada Cruz, the Sybil Harrington Director and CEO. “This
investment empowers the Museum to strengthen its focus on this key collecting area and has the potential to enable us to attract important contemporary art collections to Phoenix in the future.” The inaugural Lenhardt Lecture, on April 24 in Whiteman Hall, will feature prominent American artist Jim Hodges. Known for using a range of materials in his work, Hodges creates art that ranges in scale from small installations to oversized, multi-ton sculptures and transforms everyday objects into evocative sites that merge the personal, political, and universal. His works evoke such themes as identity, love, mortality, and loss and have been the subject of exhibitions at museums around the world, including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Washington, D.C.), the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN), and Centro Gallego de Arte Contemporáneo (Spain). WHY WE GIVE
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