Members of the Quadracci family have pledged $10 million to create an endowment for the long-term care of the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion, ARTnews reports.
Members of the Quadracci family have pledged $10 million to establish the Quadracci Pavilion Preservation Endowment Fund at the Milwaukee Art Museum, ARTnews reports. The fund will support the long-term care and maintenance of the pavilion, which was named after Betty and Harry Quadracci, who gave $10 million in the 1990s to build it. Opened in 2001, it was the first building in the United States by the Spanish Swiss architect Santiago Calatrava.
The pavilion is known for its sweeping wings, called the Burke Brise Soleil, which look out over Lake Michigan and form a prominent part of Milwaukee's skyline. The new gift comes from the couple's four children: Joel Quadracci, chairman and CEO of the family company Quad; Kathryn Quadracci; Elizabeth Quadracci Harned; and H. Richard Quadracci, who died this past summer. According to the museum's announcement, the endowment will provide annual income for the long-term care of the building's defining architectural features. ARTnews notes there do not appear to be any immediate structural problems; the fund is part of a yearlong celebration of the pavilion's 25th anniversary that began in August.
Joel Quadracci, also a museum trustee, said in a statement that building the pavilion was the first step and that caring for it is the commitment that makes it last. The gift is the first major donation secured by museum director Kim Sajet, the former director of the National Portrait Gallery, who joined the Milwaukee Art Museum just over a year ago. Sajet said the family's generosity carries the spirit of civic leadership forward. The details reported here come from the museum's release as covered by ARTnews.
