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Pope Foundation makes $500k gift to North Carolina Art Museum

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From the John William Pope Foundation and the North Carolina Museum of Art

March 13, 2016

RALEIGH, N.C. — The John William Pope Foundation, named for the founder of the Variety Wholesalers and Roses retail discount chain, has awarded a $500,000 grant to the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh to name one of the museum’s gallery spaces in memory of the late Joyce W. Pope.

The Museum’s Gallery 2, a 2,800-square-foot gallery space that’s hosted exhibitions of work by Edvard Munch and Leonardo da Vinci, will be renamed as the Joyce W. Pope Gallery.

Joyce W. Pope, wife of John William Pope and mother of the Variety Wholesalers CEO, chairman and former state budget director Art Pope, was president of the Pope Foundation from 1986 to 1992. She was also a founding member of the Raleigh Fine Arts Society.

In a news release about the announcement, Art Pope noted that his mother had always been a strong supporter of the arts. “She would be humbled. But I also think she would be delighted to know that many visitors, particularly student visitors, will continue to enjoy fine works of art during their Museum trips in a gallery that bears her name,” he stated.

The first exhibition to be presented in the new Joyce W. Pope Gallery is American Impressionist: Childe Hassam and the Isles of Shoals, which opens March 19.

Money from the unrestricted grant will go toward general operating support for the museum’s exhibitions, concerts, lectures and programming.

 

Categories: In the Headlines, Philanthropy, The Arts