Art Gallery at Holy Cross Receives $1 Million Gift and Challenge from Cantor Foundation

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation has made an unprecedented $1 million commitment to the art gallery at the College of the Holy Cross. The College will raise an additional $600,000 in matching funds in connection with this gift.

The Cantor Foundation gift will be the largest ever received by the College’s art gallery which was established by and named for the Cantors in 1983. Loyal benefactors to the College’s fine arts collection, Iris Cantor and her husband donated 53 works of art, ranging from bronze sculptures by the French artist Auguste Rodin to 18th century Italian mosaics.

“Every aspect of the Cantor Gallery’s exhibition and educational program will benefit from this exceptionally generous gift,” said gallery director Roger Hankins. “Since the gallery’s founding, the Cantors have championed our collection and programming. Now, again with their considerable and generous support, we’re moving to another stage. These funds will provide dedicated resources to build on the success we have achieved over the past two decades.”

Said Iris Cantor: “The College of the Holy Cross has been dear to our hearts for many years. The College has shown a great commitment to the teaching and preservation of fine arts, and it is an honor for me to support their wonderful work.”

“We are honored by our longstanding relationship with the Cantor Foundation,” said Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J., president of the College. “This latest gift is a recognition of the exceptional work Roger Hankins and others have done to build the reputation of the Cantor Gallery and the quality of its exhibitions and related activities, and will help us continue to increase the effectiveness of the gallery as an educational resource to the College and the wider community.”

Prominently located at the main entrance of O’Kane Hall, the Cantor Gallery operates both as a venue for a changing series of historical and contemporary public exhibitions, as well as a vital resource for Holy Cross faculty and students, linking exhibitions to the broader liberal arts curriculum.

Hankins said the funds will double the gallery’s endowment, enabling the College to establish a new administrative framework and hire additional staff. With such resources, the gallery will improve all aspects of its program — from the quality and reach of its exhibitions to the care and conservation of a collection consisting of more than 400 historical and contemporary objects.

Specifically, the gallery will be able to undertake new curatorial projects, including scholarly publications and multimedia programs, he said. The funds will also support its expanded program of exhibitions, which now includes the summer months when the College is not in session.

“The Cantor Art Gallery has served as a gathering place for students, faculty, and staff as well for artists and community members,” said Hankins. “One important aspect of what we do at the gallery is to develop exhibitions that reflect academic scholarship and that focus on visual culture from a broad cultural context.”

The current exhibition at the Cantor Art Gallery is a prime example of this collaboration with faculty and integration with liberal arts teaching. The Spiritual Landscapes of Adrienne Farb 1980 - 2006 (on exhibit through Dec. 16) consists of 29 abstract paintings. One of the exhibition’s curators is Joanna E. Ziegler, professor of visual arts at Holy Cross. In addition to a symposium on abstract art moderated by both Ziegler and associate professor of philosophy Christopher A. Dustin which attracted scholars and critics from across the country, five Holy Cross professors from various disciplines will host an interdisciplinary discussion on the exhibit on Nov. 14.

Announcement of the Cantor Foundation gift comes on the heels of the completion of the College’s successful Lift High the Cross campaign, which raised a record $216.3 million.

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The Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation (www.cantorfoundation.org) was established in 1978 to promote and encourage the recognition and appreciation of excellence in the arts; to enhance cultural life internationally through the support of art exhibitions, scholarship, and the endowment of galleries at major museums; and to support biomedical research and healthcare for women.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Ryder, Director of Public Affairs 508-793-2419 eryder@holycross.edu