Wharton Esherick Museum Receives a Surprise Gift of $10 Million
December 13, 2020 16:47
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Cover of Wharton Esherick: The Journey of a Creative Mind by Mansfield Bascom.
The Wharton Esherick Museum in Malvern, Penn., received an unexpected endowment gift of $10 million. The museum made the public announcement on Friday, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. The news of the gift was shared earlier with the museum s co-founder shortly before he passed away this fall.
The surprise gift came from Arkansas-based Windgate Foundation, and represents a windfall for a small institution with a 2020 budget that was $424,000, before the crippling impacts of covid-19.
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Julie Siglin looks at the sculptures displayed in Wharton Esherick s home studio. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
The Wharton Esherick Museum, tucked into the woods of Valley Forge Mountain outside Malvern, Pennsylvania, has received a $10 million endowment gift from the Windgate Foundation.
The artist house and studio museum of the seminal woodworker of the American Studio Craft Movement normally operates on an annual budget of $400,000. This gift is 25 times that amount.
“This is completely transformational,” said executive director Julie Siglin. “It’s an endowment. We will be able to draw 4% [annually,] which is our existing budget.”
Julie Siglin, executive director of the Wharton Esherick Museum stands at the entrance to the artist’s home studio. (Emma Lee/WHYY)