The National Gallery of Art announced recently a $1 million grant from the Edmond J. Safra Foundation to support the Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professorship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA). This generous gift coincides with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's endowment challenge grant to the National Gallery of Art on the occasion of the Gallery's 75th anniversary. Matching funds will permit the professorship to be fully endowed. "We are thrilled to know that this important scholarly program, named for one of the Gallery's closest friends, will now be sustained in perpetuity," said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art. "The Gallery extends its deep gratitude to Lily Safra and the Edmond J. Safra Foundation for this remarkable commitment." "I am thrilled that the Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professorship has become a permanent part of the National Gallery and CASVA, and I wish all of the future Professors success in their work," said Mrs. Lily Safra, Chairwoman of the Edmond J. Safra Foundation. "I know how proud my husband Edmond would be that his name will always be linked with truly exceptional scholarship." The Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professorship was created in 2002 to bring to the National Gallery of Art and CASVA a colleague of international reputation for a period of several months to collaborate in research efforts and forge relationships across the Gallery. This distinguished professorship honors Edmond J. Safra and his generous patronage of the arts and extraordinary contributions to our nation's cultural and intellectual life. Each year the National Gallery of Art invites a scholar of international reputation working in an area in which the Gallery has a significant interest to be part of the community at CASVA in order to inspire a younger generation of scholars, curators, and conservation scientists through a variety of meetings, both formal and informal. Fifteen scholars have held the post since 2002. To learn more about the professorship and profiles of the professors in residence from 2003 to 2014, see the publication The Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professorship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art: Reflections on the First Twelve Years. Edmond J. Safra, one of the 20th century's most accomplished bankers and a devoted philanthropist, established a major philanthropic foundation to ensure that needy individuals and organizations would continue to receive his assistance and encouragement for many years to come. Following his death in 1999 and now under the chairmanship of his wife, Lily, the Edmond J. Safra Foundation draws continuing inspiration from its founder's life and values. Under Mrs. Safra's leadership, the foundation has assisted hundreds of organizations in more than 40 countries around the world, and its work encompasses four areas: education; science and medicine; religion; and humanitarian assistance, culture, and social welfare. CASVA, founded in 1979 and located in the National Gallery's East Building, is a research institute that fosters study of the production, use, and cultural meaning of art, artifacts, architecture, urbanism, photography, and film worldwide from prehistoric times to the present. For more information visit:
http://www.nga.gov or http://www.edmondjsafra.org