The Terra Foundation Continues Mission to Support American Art
WDCB's Gary Zidek looks back at the origins of the Chicago-based Terra Foundation For American Art.
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"Ultimately after a lot of conversations, we did a full, rigorous plan of both possibilities. The board all agreed that we would close the museum, and still have a very robust program in Chicago, but also expand Dan Terra's idea of reaching audiences outside America, and go around the world to do that." - Elizabeth Glassman, president & CEO of the Terra Foundation talking about the cross-roads the organization faced after the passing of Dan Terra.
Elizabeth Glassman, president/CEO of the Terra Foundation
The Terra Foundation's impact on the art world can be seen and felt all over the world today. This year, the organization is spearheading a yearlong initiative known as ART DESIGN CHICAGO. The programs supported by Terra Foundation today are the legacy of it's namesake ...
Dan Terra was a successful businessman with a passion for American art. That passion eventually led him to open a museum in Evanston filled with art from his own collection.
Dan Terra
The museum moved to Chicago in 1987, and then closed after his passing. But Terra's passion for supporting American art lives through the Terra Foundation.
Daniel Terra standing alongside Samuel F. B. Morse’s painting Gallery of the Louvre
In 1982, Daniel Terra purchased Samuel F. B. Morse’s painting Gallery of the Louvre for $3.25 million, a record price at the time for a work by an American artist.
Today that painting resides in a secret vault in Chicago ...
Terra Foundation curator PJ Brownlee standing next to Samuel F. B. Morse’s painting Gallery of the Louvre inside Terra Foundation art vault.
Gary visited the top secret vault and got a tour of the Terra collection from curator PJ Brownlee.
All the works in the collection are stored on metal racks that pull out for easy viewing.
Archibald Motley, Between Acts, 1935
Terra's art collection of paintings, prints and sculptures live in the Chicago vault, but are also loaned out to museums all over the world.
The Terra Foundation has made 2018 the year of ART DESIGN CHICAGO.
Jenny Siegenthaler is the Terra Foundation's program director of education, grants and initiatives. She says the goal of ART DESIGN CHICAGO was to support projects that celebrated the diversity of the city.
Jenny Siegenthaler, Terra Foundation program director, education, grants & initiatives
