DETROIT — The Detroit Institute of Arts has been pledged a total of $13 million by New York-based The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Los Angeles-based J. Paul Getty Trust. The pledge will be put toward the DIA’s commitment to raise $100 million as part of a “Grand Bargain” that will help the city of Detroit emerge from bankruptcy, support city pensioners and protect the museum’s art collection for the public.
The $13 million consists of up to $10 million from the Mellon Foundation and $3 million from the J. Paul Getty Trust. Mellon has pledged $5 million immediately, with the full amount contingent on the museum raising sufficient matching funds to meet its $100 million fundraising requirement.
“These are truly extraordinary gifts,” said Graham W. J. Beal, director of the Detroit Institute of Arts. “While these funds will ultimately support city pensioners, the contributions from the Mellon Foundation and the J. Paul Getty Trust demonstrate their deep commitment to the visual arts as a crucial factor in a healthy society. The Mellon Foundation has long supported curatorial and conservation activities at the DIA and we are deeply grateful that the J. Paul Getty Trust chose to join them in helping ensure the future of the museum.”
The Grand Bargain will provide Detroit’s pensioners more than $800 million from local donors, local and national foundations and the State of Michigan over a 20-year period, subject to present value discounts for more rapid donor payments.
Depending on donor preference, funds will be directed to a supporting organization of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan and then disbursed for city pension payments. As part of the grand bargain, the city of Detroit will transfer ownership of the DIA’s collection, building and related assets to the private nonprofit corporation that currently operates the museum, Detroit Institute of Arts Inc.
The Grand Bargain was proposed by the mediators of the city’s bankruptcy and led by Chief Judge Gerald Rosen of the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan and attorney Eugene Driker.
