The Girard Legacy Endowment Fund was established in honor of the Girard Wing’s 40th Anniversary. Its purpose is to build capacity to enhance the visitor experience in the Multiple Visions: A Common Bond exhibition, as well as steward and care for the Girard Foundation Collection and Archives.
Donors who include the Girard Legacy Endowment Fund in their estate plans will be recognized as a member of the MNMF Legacy Society.
To notify us of a bequest intention and help us meet the Girard Legacy Endowment Fund Challenge, download the form here.
“Seeing Multiple Visions for the first time changed my life. You look, you see things differently. Perspectives change and shift, and a new understanding of the world emerges”
—Connie Thrasher Jaquith, Legacy Donor and Girard Legacy Campaign Co-Chair
In December 2022, the Museum of International Folk Art celebrated the 40-year anniversary of the popular installation in the museum’s Girard Wing, Multiple Visions: A Common Bond.
This occasion marks a perfect time to look backward and forward at the legacy of Alexander Girard and Multiple Visions, and to ensure the continued impact of this permanent exhibition on generations of museum visitors to come.
With a goal of $5 million, the Girard Legacy Endowment Fund will create a permanent source of financial support for the Girard Foundation Collection and Archive and the Multiple Visions exhibition.
This endowment is the final phase in a series of fundraising projects that led up to Girard’s 40th anniversary year. Since 2018, these have resulted in the museum hosting the retrospective Alexander Girard: A Designer’s Universe from Germany’s Vitra Design Museum; a scholarly symposium on Girard’s influence in design and collecting; work on a forthcoming anthology of writings on Girard as a 20th-century icon; and the intensive stewardship, care and conservation of objects and displays in the Multiple Visions installation.
To see the impact of various fundraising projects and the museum’s accomplishments since 2018, click here.
The success of these projects signaled deep interest in Girard’s life in art and design, and especially, in his pioneering role in the history of the museum. The initiatives also led to the realization that, without an endowment to provide for the needs of the future, this important work to honor and protect Girard’s contributions for future generations remains unfinished.
Meet the Moment/ Secure the Future
The Girard Legacy Endowment Fund is your opportunity to preserve and enhance Alexander Girard’s life-changing gifts of art, imagination and scholarship.
This important endowment initiative meets the moment of the 40th anniversary of Multiple Visions, highlighting past accomplishments and securing its future.
Our $5 million goal includes $1.5 million in cash to be used for immediate impact and an additional $3.5 million in planned gifts. By contributing cash, or naming the museum in your will or estate plan, you will connect more visitors from around the world to the artistic legacy of Girard.
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