VANCOUVER, BC.- The Gordon and Marion Smith Foundation for Young Artists announced today $1 million in new funding through two monumental private gifts: a commitment of $500,000 from the Estate of artist Ann Kipling and a matching $500,000 donation made by the Audain Foundation. A landmark moment for the Gordon Smith Foundation, this combined gift represents an important step toward realizing the organization’s $5 million endowment fund goal, having now reached $4.3 million.
“For young people,” explained Meredith Preuss, Executive Director of the Smith Foundation, “exposure to the visual arts plays a vital role in creative and academic development, providing an outlet for emotional expression and a pathway to becoming critically engaged citizens. The impact of these major gifts from the Ann Kipling Estate and the Audain Foundation will be felt far beyond our community, and for generations to come.”
Achieving the $5 million endowment target will be a significant milestone in ensuring organizational sustainability in perpetuity, including the art education program, Artists for Kids, and the Gordon Smith Gallery where education, exhibitions, and hands-on art making come together. "Current major forces, both in education and in our society, tend to ignore the value and contribution of art,” implored the late Gordon Smith during his early development of the Artists for Kids program, founded in 1989. “We must, more than ever, support and encourage the arts in everyday life.”
Smith’s sentiment holds true today, with public funding for the arts being widely reduced or halted across the nation. As both an artist and an educator, Smith lived true to his words, and built, alongside his wife Marion, a lifelong reputation for unwavering generosity. Directly influenced by his ethos was Ann Kipling, distinguished Canadian artist and dear friend of Gordon Smith. The $500,000 gift by Ann Kipling’s Estate is not only a reflection of their enduring friendship, but also the power of Smith’s legacy in encouraging philanthropic support for the visual arts.
The gift announcement was made ahead of a public talk by celebrated philanthropist, collector, and champion of the arts, Michael Audain. Another longtime friend of Gordon Smith, Audain has been instrumental in realizing Smith’s visionary thinking for decades, not only through the Audain Foundation, but also through personal support. In the early imagining of Artists for Kids, Audain is said to have opened his chequebook and written a personal cheque to the founders of the Gordon and Marion Smith Foundation for $10,000 of seed funding. Since then, the Audain Foundation has played a critical role in the ongoing growth of the Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art, having provided $2 million for the initial construction of the building in 2012.
“It is an honour to continue supporting the life’s work of brilliant artist, educator, and philanthropist, Gordon Smith,” said Michael Audain, Chairman of the Audain Foundation. “The Audain Foundation recognizes the importance of ensuring the long-term viability of non-profit arts organizations like the Gordon Smith Gallery. Matching the gift of the late and great artist Ann Kipling, the very first recipient of the Audain Prize over 20 years ago, makes this contribution all the more memorable.”
