The tradition of private benefaction goes to the heart of Princeton University’s excellence: succeeding generations have given loyally to the University in ways that have enabled it to attain and sustain a rank as one of the world’s great institutions of higher learning. This is no less true of the tradition of individual giving to the Princeton University Art Museum, which, while fortunate in receiving support for its core operating expenses from Princeton University in the form of a substantial annual allocation, relies enormously on external sources for the bulk of its programmatic needs. Chief among these funding sources are the many individual benefactors whose generosity of spirit and philanthropic commitment have transformed the Museum’s collections and programs. Such support has come through both endowment and term giving, with many restricted gifts going to help fund specific areas of the Museum’s operations, such as acquisitions, exhibitions, publications, and public educational programs. Many benefactors, including Joseph F. McCrindle, have supported the Museum through lifetime giving and including it in their estate plans, thereby helping to shape the work of the Museum in perpetuity.

Many of the most significant gifts over time have brought both financial support and gifts of art to the collections, often from individuals who have enjoyed a long personal relationship with the Museum through their lifetimes. Setting the bar in this area was the establishment of the Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund, by bequest, in 1973. It is the Museum’s most robust endowed fund for the purchase of works of art and has made possible the purchase of nearly five hundred important works of art spanning many time periods, cultures, and media. It is no overstatement to observe that the McCormick Fund has been transformative for the Museum, allowing it to become proactive in building its collections in ways that had not been possible in previous decades and placing it among the upper echelon of all American museums.

Another notable gift of this kind was the support of Peter Jay Sharp, Class of 1952, a longtime member of the Museum’s Advisory Council. Through the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, he made possible the purchase of numerous acquisitions for the collections during his lifetime. To honor his memory and service, the foundation created the first endowed curatorship at the Art Museum, the Peter Jay Sharp, Class of 1952, Curator and Lecturer in the Art of the Ancient Americas—a position now held by the distinguished young art historian Bryan R. Just. A second endowed fund from the Sharp Foundation provides important program support for the Department of the Art of the Ancient Americas. Together, Peter Jay Sharp’s lifetime giving and the support of the foundation he established continue to make possible the work of one of the Museum’s most important curatorial departments.

Similarly, the Museum enjoyed a deep relationship with longtime Advisory Council member Kathleen Sherrerd and her husband, John J. F. Sherrerd, Class of 1952, during their lifetimes, benefiting from their service and their financial support— a relationship that continues today through the support of their children. The Kathleen Compton Sherrerd Fund for Acquisitions in American Art, established with a major gift in 1988, was the Museum’s first endowed fund for the purchase of works of American art, Mrs. Sherrerd’s special passion. The Kathleen C. Sherrerd Program Fund for American Art is an endowed fund established through a bequest from the donor in support of activities in American art, including research, exhibitions, publications, and educational programs. The impact of these funds on the study of American art at Princeton is palpable, enabling the Museum to undertake new scholarship and research, develop programming, present exhibitions and scholarly publications, and collaborate with the University’s distinguished faculty to create a formidable voice for the study of American art.

A number of recent gifts continue this tradition of giving. Sueyun and Gene Locks, Class of 1959, made a generous term gift to fund the Locks Curatorial Fellow in Contemporary Art, a gift that allowed the Museum to launch its Department of Contemporary Art in 2007 and that served as bridge funding prior to the fulfillment of an endowed curatorial position made possible by Preston Haskell, Class of 1960, a current member of the Museum’s Advisory Council and a stalwart advocate for the Museum and the arts at Princeton. With that endowment now completed, the Museum is currently seeking its first curator of modern and contemporary art, a search that we hope to complete by summer. Anthony and Shelly (Belfer) Malkin, Class of 1986, established an expendable fund for acquisitions in contemporary art, and Philip “Flip” Maritz, Class of 1983, endowed a fund for photographic acquisitions while also serving as a major donor and leadership volunteer in the ongoing effort to endow the Museum’s curatorship of photography in honor of former curator Peter C. Bunnell. These efforts have allowed the Museum to become active in the field of modern and contemporary art as never before.

These remarkable benefactors, together with the generosity of many others, have helped to build collections worthy of Princeton University and are securing the Museum’s vitality for the future.

James Christen Steward Director