VMFA, VCU announce record $115 million cash gift

With Champagne flutes held aloft, the leadership of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Virginia Commonwealth University toasted bequests totaling $115 million — the largest cash gift in each organization's history.

In an announcement made Thursday afternoon in the museum's Marble Hall, they said nearly $70 million will go to the VMFA to create a restricted art purchase endowment and to support the museum's recent expansion. VCU's $45 million will go to the university's medical campus for research and prevention of cancer and other degenerative diseases.

The money comes from the trusts of Arthur Graham Glasgow and Margaret Branch Glasgow. The trusts terminated this summer with the death of their son-in-law, Ambrose Congreve, 104, of London.

Of the museum portion, $60 million will be used to create a Glasgow Fund to strengthen the museum's permanent collection.

"What it does is it vaults us into a stratosphere where we now have $8 million a year for acquisitions," said VMFA director Alex Nyerges. "That places us No. 7 among all art museums in America. That's something of a game changer."

VCU President Michael Rao echoed that sentiment. "I think it gives Virginia Commonwealth University a significant boost very rapidly," he said.

VCU is one of 66 cancer centers in the nation — and one of two in Virginia — designated by the National Cancer Institute. Rao said the gift will play a significant role in helping VCU's Massey Cancer Center attain a comprehensive cancer center designation from the NCI.

"These were really forward-thinking people who understood cancer was going to be a real issue in future generations," Rao said of the Glasgows.

The executive committee of VCU's board of visitors met shortly before the announcement to formally accept the money and authorize its investment. "We are thrilled with the gift and the generosity of the family," said Thomas G. Snead Jr., VCU's rector.

Beyond the museum and VCU, $10 million from the trusts will be distributed to 13 nonprofit organizations, most of which are in Richmond. They are: Sheltering Arms Hospital, Richmond Memorial Health Foundation, Jenkins Foundation, Virginia Home, Children's Hospital of Richmond, Virginia Healthcare Foundation, Historic Richmond Foundation, Virginia Historical Society, Second Presbyterian Church of Richmond and St. Paul's Church of Richmond.

Other recipients are Washington and Lee University; Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind.; and the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J.

The Glasgows married in 1901. Mrs. Glasgow's father was prominent in banking and investment circles in Richmond. She was a cousin of novelist James Branch Cabell's and died in 1952.

Mr. Glasgow, of Botetourt County, was the brother of Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Ellen Glasgow. He worked as an engineer in gaslight and power companies, and he was a co-founder of Humphreys & Glasgow, a London engineering firm. He died in 1955.

Both are buried in Hollywood Cemetery.

Former financial gifts from the Glasgows to the museum have helped purchase a number of works, including the Nepalese Ritual Crown, Caligula, Akan Memorial Portrait Head and John Singer Sargent's "The Sketchers."

In honor of the gift, the museum has renamed its Heritage Society — the program in which individuals include the museum in their financial or estate planning — as the Glasgow Society.

When asked how the acquisition money might be used, Nyerges said, "We can either build on strengths … or fill in gaps where we have weaknesses."

Museum member Annie Brown shared some ideas on how to spend the money as she toured the museum's exhibits with friend Margaret Smith.

"I really like contemporary art," said Brown, 23. "I think investing in new artists is good."

The Jackson Ward resident said she also would like to see more works by female and African-American artists, "and just of people who have not been historically represented in these art museums."

VCU, meanwhile, was thinking of investments on several levels.

Dr. Sheldon Retchin, vice president for Health Sciences at VCU and CEO of VCU Health System, said his intention is to have the Glasgow gift matched by community donations.

"When you get something that's this important and transformative, my only lament is I wish I'd known the family," he said. "We get to plan big ideas and visions. Who knows? In 20 years, someone this supports might cure cancer."