Category: Philanthropy

Philanthropist Al Shands creates new arts grant

The Great Meadows Foundation grants will support visual artists in amounts from $500 to $5,000. They’re named for the home Al Shands and and his late wife Mary Norton Shands built in Crestwood; it includes a museum for their extensive collection of contemporary sculpture and art, according to WFPL.

Al ShandsThe couple developed their interest in collecting after Mary was asked to lead the Kentucky Art and Craft Foundation, now the KMAC museum, in the late 1980s, WFPL says. Shands, 87, is a longstanding Speed Art Museum trustee, and a member of the Peggy Guggenheim Museum advisory board in Venice.

An heiress to a broadcasting fortune, Mary died in 2009. The Shands’ collection is to be bequeathed to the Speed museum upon his death. It includes work by notable artists such as Sol LeWitt, Richard Long, Jim Dine and Maya Lin. In a video last year, Shands spoke to The Courier-Journal about the collection.

Photo, left: Shands beside a LeWitt sculpture at Great Meadows; Hyperallergic.

Related: a book examines their art-filled estate.

Video: UPS foundation chief Martinez demos new blood-delivery drone plan

Foundation President Eduardo Martinez briefed reporters on this morning’s announcement that UPS’ charitable arm will explore drone use to deliver life-saving medicines such as blood and vaccines across the world. The UPS Foundation has awarded an $800,000 grant to support the project’s initial launch in Rwanda (press release).

Community Foundation logoThe Community Foundation of Louisville is coordinating the third annual Give Local campaign, which helps local non-profits generate extra fundraising oomph. During last year’s campaign, some $3 million was raised for the 362 nonprofits that participated, representing contributions of 5,200 donors and 8,785 gifts, The Courier-Journal says today. This year’s drive launches with online registration on May 15 at www.givelocallousiville.org.

dd72ef_c0fd1a9b1cd54df5a2778d9922efc6eeAdmission to the KMAC art and craft museum will be free for one year after its June 4 reopening, underwritten by a gift from Delta Dental of Kentucky, the benefits company said today, according to The Courier-Journal. The dental benefits giant didn’t disclose the amount, however.

The Louisville company’s budget was about $166 million in 2014, according to its most recent IRS tax return on GuideStar. It donated a combined $40,000 to four groups that year: Family & Children’s Place of Louisville ($5,000); Kentucky Dental Society of Lexington ($5,000), American Heart Association of Des Moines ($20,000), and the Kentucky State Police in Frankfort ($10,000).

CEO Clifford Maesaka was paid $524,546 in 2014; annual pay for all officers and directors starts on Page 7 of the IRS Form 990 return.