In the Arts: Fund Lists Most Generous Celebrities
January 13, 2012 | Read Time: 1 minute
A $10.6-million donation from actress Jami Gertz and her husband, Los Angeles investor Anthony Ressler, to their foundation put the couple at No. 1 on the Giving Back Fund’s latest list of the most generous celebrities, writes Forbes.
The Giving Back roster ranks the largest donations made by celebrities in 2010, based on public records and interviews with star-affiliated charities and people in the entertainment industry. The largest grant from the Ressler Gertz Foundation, $1.7-million, benefited the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Musician and entertainment executive Herb Albert ranked second with a $9.1-million contribution to his eponymous, arts-focused foundation, followed actor Mel Gibson, who gave $6.9-million to his faith-oriented A.P. Reilly Foundation.
Charity officials interviewed by Forbes for the article offered differing views on the efficacy of celebrity associations. Listen to a Chronicle of Philanthropy podcast on how stars use their fame to support causes.
In other arts news, the Metropolitan Museum of Art reported record attendance of 5.6 million for the 2010-11 season while the Museum of Modern Art saw admissions drop 11 percent to 2.8 million, writes Bloomberg.
Blockbuster shows were a factor in both trends, with the Met drawing huge crowds for its Alexander McQueen fashion exhibition while MoMA experiencing a drop-off from its spring 2010 shows on filmmaker Tim Burton and performance artist Marina Abramovic.
Both museums reported positive financial numbers, with the Met showing a $1.3-million surplus and MoMa $2.7-million in the black.
