Gilbert and Ann Maurer

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Hearst Corporation

FUNDING AREAS: Arts & Culture

OVERVIEW: Gilbert Maurer, his wife Ann, and family move their philanthropy through the Maurer Family Foundation, which aims to provide financial assistance to those organizations and institutions whose goal is to enrich their communities and the lives of their patrons through programs of cultural value.

BACKGROUND: Gilbert Maurer graduated from St. Lawrence University and Harvard Business School. He spent 19 years with Cowles Communications. In 1973, he joined Hearst Magazines, was named a vice president in 1985, and later president and COO. He is currently a director of Hearst.

ISSUES:

ARTS & CULTURE: The Maurer Family Foundation aims to provide financial assistance to those organizations and institutions whose goal is to enrich their communities and the lives of their patrons through programs of cultural value. The foundation’s grantmaking touches fine art, experimental art, applied and decorative art, film, television, music, literature, poetry, architecture, theater, dance, opera, and folk traditions. Grants focus on programs designed to broaden the arts and on programs directed toward raising artistic standards. Most grants are of modest size. Grantees have included Academy of American Poets, Asheville Art Museum, Bard College, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, Los Angeles Opera, Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra, and Vineyard Theatre.

LOOKING FORWARD: Expect the family’s giving to stay laser-focused on the arts.

LINK: Maurer Family Foundation