Baltimore Museum of Art receives record $10M gift

The Baltimore Museum of Art will receive a record $10 million gift from philanthropists Amy and Marc Meadows—the largest in the institution’s history—to establish an education endowment in their names.

The Stoneridge Fund of Amy and Marc Meadows, the vehicle through which the donation is being given, will distribute money over time toward the museum’s educational initiatives primarily for Baltimore area K-12 schoolchildren until the full endowment and earned interest is dispersed, the museum announced in a news release.

Those include support for transportation for public school field trips to the BMA, maintaining free admissions for families on Sundays, developing an internship program for teaching apprentices in museum education, and creating future positions for museum educators, among other initiatives to provide free access to students and their caregivers.

According to the Baltimore Museum of Art’s most recently available financial report, for fiscal year 2023, the institution held roughly $174 million in total investments—or endowment funds—as part of $190.9 million in total assets.

The $10 million donation represents about 6% of the museum’s endowment portfolio and more than four times its annual spending on education programs, which totaled $2.6 million that year. With an operating budget of about $23.7 million, the gift marks a significant infusion of funds.

In 2023, nearly 70% of the BMA’s budget supported curatorial and exhibition work, while education accounted for just 11% of total operating expenses. The Amy and Marc Meadows Education Endowment could shift that balance in the coming years by providing sustained funding for education initiatives and access programs.

The Meadows, particularly Amy, have long ties to the museum and the arts. Amy Frenkil Meadows, born and raised in Baltimore, grew up visiting the museum and credited her visits as a child as the foundation of her career as an art consultant and marketing and development consultant for nonprofits.

“The Baltimore Museum of Art has been an integral part of my life since attending afternoon art classes during my elementary school years. My studies and career are an outgrowth of my time at the museum,” Frenkil Meadows, an honorary trustee of the museum, said in a statement.

“I am so pleased that Marc and I will enable children, young adults, and adults the chance to absorb the wonders of the museum as I did.”

Frenkil Meadows left Baltimore for undergraduate studies at the New College of Hofstra University in New York and worked toward an M.A. in art history at the University of Chicago. She later returned to the capital region and was employed at several galleries in Washington, D.C., including Fisher Galleries and Duncan & Duncan Chinese Antiques.

While at Duncan & Duncan, she appraised Asian works for senior staff of President Jimmy Carter’s administration before opening her own contemporary gallery, the Art Connection.

Among her extensive philanthropic activities, she also previously served as a commissioner of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, where she chaired their collections and advancement committees. Through her Stoneridge Fund, she and her husband also helped underwrite Amy Sherald’s portrait of Michelle Obama for the National Portrait Gallery.

Marc Meadows, an art director and professional graphic designer, likewise has his own extensive connections to governmental and nonprofit institutions dedicated to the arts, civic engagement and scholarship, among other initiatives.

“The introduction to art and architecture during my childhood was of critical influence in how I saw the world around me, as well as the friends I made along the way. Learning and experiencing art and culture has tremendous impact on both character and social development,” Marc Meadows said in a statement.

“Amy and I are so pleased that with our gift, both school children and adults alike will be able to enjoy and grow with exposure to the art and treasures of the BMA.”