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Art Institute of Chicago Receives Major Donation

The museum will also be gifted $500,000 to fund an upcoming Jasper Johns exhibit.

Meaghan O'Neill -- Interior Design, 10/20/2006 12:00:00 AM

The Renzo Piano-designed Modern Wing addition to the Art Institute of Chicago, scheduled to open in 2009, has recently found a generous benefactor: Kenneth C. Griffin, a trustee of the museum, and his wife, Anne Dias Griffin.

The couple has gifted $19 million to the museum’s Building of the Century campaign, specifically in support of the new 264,000-square-foot wing, which will house the museum's modern, contemporary, and architecture and design collections. The space has also since been named: accordingly, the Kenneth and Anne Griffin Court. The Modern Wing will be composed of two three-story pavilions that flank Griffin Court, a spacious, light-filled area and entrance to the new addition.

The Art Institute has already raised more than $267 million of its $350 million goal, which includes $260 million for the design and construction of the Modern Wing and $90 million for an endowment to support the operating costs of the new building. According to the museum, it is the largest campaign ever undertaken by a cultural organization in Chicago.

The Griffins, who have lent many pieces from their personal collection to the museum on several occasions, have also announced a gift of $500,000 to support the Art Institute's forthcoming exhibition, “Jasper Johns: Gray,” which will open on November 4, 2007. (From Chicago, the exhibition will travel to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.)

"Anne and Ken are distinguished collectors and philanthropists, recalling those 19th-century Chicagoans whose collections formed the foundation of the museum," says Louis B. Susman, chairman of the Building of the Century campaign.

Griffin, 38, is the founder, president, and CEO of Citadel Investment Group, one of the world's largest hedge funds. The group currently manages $12 billion. Anne Griffin is the managing partner and founder of Aragon Global Management.