PARRISH ART MUSEUM RECEIVES $500,000
FOR THE NEW DOROTHY LICHTENSTEIN ARTSREACH FUND,
ESTABLISHED BY AGNES GUND,
TO ENGAGE THE ARTIST’S VOICE TO ADDRESS ISSUES OF SOCIAL INJUSTICE

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Parrish Life Trustee Dorothy Lichtenstein gifts

an additional $100,000 to the Fund,

which enables the Parrish to further collaborate with its communities

on programs rooted in the power of art to effect social change.

Dorothy Lichtenstein, Agnes Gund, and Terrie Sultan at Parrish Art Museum’s Midsummer Party July 2017. (Photo by Carl Timpone/BFA.com, Courtesy of the Parrish Art Museum).

Terrie Sultan, Director of the Parrish Art Museum, announced that the Museum was the recipient of a $500,000 gift by Agnes Gund to create a new initiative: the Dorothy Lichtenstein ArtsReach Fund. In addition, Parrish Life Trustee Dorothy Lichtenstein made a gift of $100,000 to the fund. Sultan made the announcement on July 15 at the Museum’s annual Midsummer Party, this year honoring Gund and artist Clifford Ross.

“This gift is nothing short of transformational for the Museum,” said Sultan. “It will allow us to take a thoroughly unified approach to all our efforts, and make the Parrish the truly comprehensive, collaborative, and inclusive center for cultural engagement that we wish it to be.”

The Dorothy Lichtenstein ArtsReach Fund will recognize that the Parrish serves a year-round community that encompasses the social injustices that pervade our society, addressing this inequity through the artist’s voice. The ArtsReach initiative will, with a renewed sense of urgency, engage in dialogue with local communities, collaborate on focused, meaningful programming both at the museum and beyond, and foster community in the broadest sense to transcend geographic, racial, and socioeconomic barriers, affirming the power of art to transform lives and challenge prevailing narratives. The planning for the overall strategy will be an integrated effort of all departments within the Parrish: Curatorial, Education, Public Programs, Museum Experiences, Membership, and Communications.

“On behalf of all the Parrish trustees, I express my deep appreciation to Agnes Gund for her visionary generosity,” said Frederic M. Seegal, Parrish Art Museum Board Chair. “The establishment of the Dorothy Lichtenstein ArtsReach Fund will provide the Parrish with the wherewithal to make an enormous difference not only to this community, but also throughout the region and the country.”

“I am thrilled to honor my friend Dorothy Lichtenstein and to establish the ArtsReach initiative at the Parrish, an institution I have long admired for supporting and exhibiting many artists who live and work on the East End of Long Island,” said Ms. Gund. “The Museum serves as an important cultural resource for the local community and ArtsReach will enable the Parrish to expand its programs, reach and impact.”

Dorothy Lichtenstein is a life member of the Parrish Board of Trustees, which she joined nearly two decades ago. During that time, she has been instrumental in advancing numerous Parrish initiatives, and was a vital force for the Museum during a period of growth and innovation. Her active involvement with organizations and institutions throughout the region and on the national stage underscores her commitment to arts and culture as a means to enrich society and communities at large.

“I am honored and moved by this wonderful gift from a friend who has always motivated and inspired me,” said Lichtenstein. “I am particularly grateful that Agnes Gund has chosen to support an initiative that will enable the Parrish, a museum and program I have loved for many years, to have even greater impact on the injustices of our world. To that end, I’m making my own contribution to the Fund, to encourage others to recognize this important initiative.”

Agnes Gund is president emerita of the Museum of Modern Art and chair of its International Council. She is also chair of MoMA PS1. Ms. Gund joined the MoMA Board in 1976 and served as its president from 1991 until 2002. She is the founder and board chair of Studio in a School, a non-profit organization she established in 1977 in response to budget cuts that virtually eliminated arts classes from New York City public schools. She is also co-founder of the Center for Curatorial Leadership. A philanthropist and collector of modern and contemporary art, Ms. Gund currently serves on the boards of the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies, the Morgan Museum and Library, and Chess in the Schools, among others.

A civic leader and staunch supporter of education, women’s issues and environmental concerns, among other causes, Ms. Gund currently serves on the Mayor’s Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission of New York City, which she previously chaired. She earned a B.A. in History from Connecticut College and a M.A. in Art History from Harvard University, and is the recipient of numerous honorary doctorates. In 1997, Ms. Gund received the National Medal of the Arts from President Clinton, and in 2016, she was elected Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Arts.

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Inspired by the natural setting and artistic life of Long Island’s East End, the Parrish Art Museum illuminates the creative process and how art and artists transform our experiences and understanding of the world and how we live in it. The Museum fosters connections among individuals, art, and artists through care and interpretation of the collection, presentation of exhibitions, publications, educational initiatives, programs, and artists-in residence. The Parrish is a center for cultural engagement, an inspiration and destination for the region, the nation, and the world.

www.parrishart.org

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