Influential Women of the CMA: Benefactors

Main pages:

Individual women:

One of the main ways women have made an impact on the legacy of the museum is by their financial contributions. Either through monetary or artistic donations, these women have cemented their name into the museum in one way or another. However, it is often hard to find the names of these women on the surface level. This is often because of how they were donating. Many would donate together with their spouse, as a memorial fund, or be a part of a prominent family. Rather than having their specific name memorialized, their name would not be the most prominent. This, however, doesn't mean they didn't exist. You can still find these traces of different women primarily through named spaces, the credit line in Collection Online, and other endowments or trust not related to art purchasing.

Like mentioned on other pages, it is important to address the lack of diversity and what may be the cause of that. With this section, not only does the overarching issue of women of color not being represented, but this section is very clearly exclusionary to poor women. Since this is specifically about women who had the means to donate, historically financially well off and wealthy women have been white.

On this landing page, you will find resources relating to female benefactors. Unfortunately, there has not been a lot of literature produced on female financial benefactors or donors to museums, but these help give a more generalized overview.