Penn's ICA receives $4.5 million to endow curators' positions

The Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania has received a pair of donations totaling $4.5 million that will endow two key curatorial positions, the institute announced Wednesday.

Daniel and Brett Sundheim have given ICA $3 million — $2.5 million to endow the position of chief curator, $500,000 for a new fund focused on community engagement.

Also, Andrea B. Laporte has donated $1.5 million to endow ICA's associate curator position.

ICA will now have four positions endowed, including the museum's director and all three of its senior curatorial positions.

Amy Sadao, ICA director, called the donations "visionary" gifts that would secure long-term support for the institute's curators.

Sadao said that Laporte, ICA board chair, "has played an invaluable role in the continued growth of ICA and the university." The Sundheims, she said, "are true advocates for contemporary art."

Daniel Sundheim had been on ICA's board since 2012. Brett Sundheim recently joined the board in place of her husband. Their donation endows the chief curatorial position, currently occupied by Anthony Elms, who joined ICA in 2011.

A portion of the Sundheim donation is also dedicated to endowing a new marketing and outreach fund ensuring ICA's programs are made accessible to audiences on campus, in Philadelphia, and in the broader international art world. The fund will fulfill a long-range ICA goal to secure a dependable source of support for promoting its free year-round exhibitions.

Laporte has served as a board member for Penn Nursing since 2001, assuming the role of board chair in 2016. She has been a Penn trustee (now a trustee emerita) since 2010. She joined ICA's board in 2010 and immediately took on the role of board chair, where she remained in place for six years.

Laporte's recent gift of $1.5 million endows ICA's associate curator position, currently occupied by Kate Kraczon, who has been at ICA for more than 10 years.