Two New Endowments in Support of the MMFA's Future

The MMFA Foundation announces two remarkable bequests made by art historians Janet M. Brooke and Bruce Hugh Russell. Each has created an endowment fund based on annual gifts and a substantial planned bequest, in support of the MMFA’s permanent collections. Their commitments to contribute to the museum both today and in the future will help nurture the MMFA’s essential role in the Montreal community as well as nationally and internationally.

Janet M. Brooke, a specialist in collections history and 19th-century French art, has enjoyed a distinguished career as a curator, museum director, and advocate for museums nationally. The Janet M. Brooke Fund will support research on the MMFA’s permanent collection of European art before 1900.

“My curatorial career in European art began here at the museum, and all these years later I remain deeply attached to its permanent collection,” explained Janet M. Brooke. “I know that open-ended, curiosity-driven research is as fundamental to building and enriching the meanings of collections as it is chronically sidelined in today’s funding environment. I hope that my endowment will help reset that balance, by providing sustainable collections research support to the museum’s European art specialists – and career-building contract opportunities to emerging scholars – to pursue this crucial work.”

Bruce Hugh Russell is an author, collector, and independent curator. The Bruce Hugh Russell Fund will support acquisitions of customary works by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas and Oceania.

“As interesting as individual works of art can be, my experience has always been that their power to speak to us compounds when they are seen in dynamic juxtapositions with related objects, added Bruce Hugh Russell. Canada’s museums, including the MMFA, have a wealth of collections, but to a very great extent these have been acquired as donations of objects by collectors. There’s nothing wrong with this, but to balance and build on those gifts, curators need acquisition funds that can be relied upon when opportunities arise for specific acquisitions that will enhance and enrich their dedicated collection areas. My hope is that this fund will help develop representation of Indigenous cultures at the MMFA.”

“Janet M. Brooke and Bruce Hugh Russell are role models for the part that each of us can play in ensuring the sustainability of our institution for the greater good of the community,” said MMFA Director Stéphane Aquin. “We are extremely moved by their gesture, which provides lasting support for activities that concern essential aspects of the Museum's mission.”

“It is with great emotion that I salute the remarkable generosity of these patrons. By making a planned donation, Janet and Bruce are looking beyond themselves and demonstrating, in the most altruistic way, their commitment to the MMFA’s future. When you give to the Museum, a place that transforms people’s lives every day, you’re giving back to the community. I sincerely hope that their selfless gesture will inspire other philanthropists,” added Jo-Anne Duchesne, Director General of the MMFA Foundation.

Planned giving

Planned giving, which includes gifts by will, gifts of life insurance, and gifts of publicly traded securities, is within reach of anyone who wishes to take action to help make art more accessible to as many people as possible.

In addition to maximizing the tax benefits and impact of a philanthropic gesture, planned giving allows you to become part of the history of one of North America’s most important museums.

By making a planned gift, the public can help the MMFA ensure that future generations benefit from its precious artistic heritage.

To learn more about planned giving, visit: https://www.mbam.qc.ca/en/the-foundation/planned-giving/.