COURTESY THE WORCESTER ART MUSEUM
The Worcester Art Museum announced today that it has obtained a gift of $4 million to endow its director position, which is currently held by Matthias Waschek. The gift, which the museum is touting as the largest award for a staff position in WAM history, came from the Myles & C. Jean McDonough Foundation, on behalf of Jean McDonough. The position will now be named the C. Jean and Myles McDonough Director.
Jean McDonough, a longstanding supporter of WAM, said in a news release that she gave the donation in recognition of the museum’s cultural impact on Worcester and the broader region, as well as its recent efforts to diversify and expand its audience. The gift is part of a series of awards from the Foundation to other cultural institutions in the central Massachusetts that together total about $15.3 million.
“Jean’s gift continues an outstanding tradition of local philanthropy that has made the Worcester Art Museum what it is today: a collection of masterpieces one would not expect in a city of our size,” Waschek told ARTnews in an email. “Her endowment of my position is also strategic, as it allows the institution to continue to attract the right talent. I am proud to serve in a museum that has support of that kind.”