Ruth Foundation for the Arts

The Ruth Foundation for the Arts was established in 2022 and announced its first grants. Funded by a $440 million bequest from Ruth DeYoung Kohler II, the foundation immediately enters the highest echelons of arts philanthropy. The foundation, based in Milwaukee, is planning to give away between $17 to $20 million a year. About half of the foundation’s grantees are ones to which Kohler gave quietly during her lifetime, through the R.D.K. Foundation, a predecessor to the Ruth Foundation; and the other half were nominated by a group of nearly 50 artists. Since none of the organizations receiving money applied for grants, the money came as a surprise to many of them.