Ruth Foundation will be a force in arts philanthropy
Funded by a bequest from the late Ruth DeYoung Kohler II, the new Milwaukee-based Ruth Foundation for the Arts is poised to become a major force in American arts philanthropy.
The foundation, which has launched with an endowment of $440 million, plans to ramp up to annual giving of $17 million or more, it said in a statement released Thursday.
That annual amount would put the Ruth Foundation at the top of arts giving, Joel Wachs, the president of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, told The New York Times.
DeYoung Kohler, who died in 2020, was director of Sheboygan’s John Michael Kohler Arts Center from 1972 to 2016.
Under her leadership, the JMKAC was recognized internationally as a leader in studying and preserving artist-built environments, such as the late Mary L. Nohl’s home in Fox Point, as well as self-taught and vernacular artists.
Her passion projects included the Art Preserve in Sheboygan, which opened in 2021, a center for study and conservation of more than 25,000 pieces from art environments by 38 national and international artists.
She also was a major shareholder in privately held Kohler Co., which John Michael Kohler founded in 1873.
Karen Patterson, a former senior curator at JMKAC, is the new foundation’s executive director.
Under the leadership of Patterson and program director Kim Nguyen, the foundation “will seek to explore new possibilities in arts philanthropy that safeguard creativity and take a people-centric approach.”
In a statement, the foundation announced an initial round of giving totaling $1.25 million, with grants of $10,000 to $50,000 to 78 nonprofit arts organizations around the country, including Arts@Large and the Milwaukee Film Festival in Milwaukee.
For the initial round of grants, Ruth Foundation called on a group of nearly 50 artists around the country, asking them to nominate worthy organizations.
The grant process will continue to be invitation based, the foundation said.
In addition to making grants, the foundation’s plans include collaborating with other entities on a visiting artists program for art schools, a fellowship program for artists, and research grants for cultural workers.