The New York art scene is known for a variety of things but racial and social justice don’t necessarily come to mind when thinking about its collectors and patrons. However, Agnes Gund is intent on changing that—one expensive art piece at a time. In January, amid many rumors, she sold her 1962 piece entitled “Masterpiece” by Roy Lichtenstein for $165 million—one of the highest known prices ever paid for a piece of art.
Ms. Gund is confirming that sale now, revealing that she parted with the painting (for what was actually $165 million, including fees) for a specific purpose: to create a fund that supports criminal justice reform and seeks to reduce mass incarceration in the United States.
This new Art for Justice Fund — to be announced Monday at the Museum of Modern Art, where Ms. Gund is president emerita — will start with $100 million of the proceeds from the Lichtenstein (which was sold to the collector Steven A. Cohen through Acquavella Gallery).
In addition to her own donation, Gund has challenged her fellow art collectors to donate as well, with the goal of raising $100 million in the next five years. The Art for Justice Fund will partner with organizations that are already doing important work on behalf of ending mass incarceration to fund education, training and, of course, art-related programs.
The fund will make grants to organizations and leaders who already have a track record in criminal justice reform — like the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Ala. — that seek to safely reduce jail and prison populations across the country and to strengthen education and employment opportunities for former inmates. The fund will also support art-related programs on mass incarceration.
Gund says this is a personal issue for her since she has several black grandchildren. While that definitely makes her more sensitive to this issue, it most certainly should not be the only reason she (or anyone else) should care about this. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world and blacks are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system. That should concern us all.
One thing the fund seems to emphasize is the experiences of boys and men. Gund cites the killing of Trayvon Martin as a moment that hit home for her and a reminder of the societal barriers faced by blacks and people of color.
“Right now in the United States, we have the highest rate of incarceration,” [Bryan Stevenson, the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative said]. “The Bureau of Justice is projecting that one in three black male babies is expected to go to jail or prison. We have incredibly high levels of poverty. There’s despair in many communities.”
Yes, and ... hopefully they know that not all blacks and people of color are men. As they go about this important work, it’s critical that they have an intersectional approach and remember that this is an issue that not only impacts black men, but also impacts black women, families, communities, and society as a whole. In fact, the numbers are also bleak for women of color in prison. And most of the women in prison are mothers of young children. So it’s worth asking, what happens to children and families when they are in prison? It’s damaging when men are incarcerated and away from their children. And when women are incarcerated and away from their children, it’s devastating.
Some fast facts about women of color in prison:
- Since 1980 the number of women in prison has increased at nearly double the rate for men. The number of people in women’s prisons rose almost twice as fast (4.8%) as the growth of the number of men imprisoned (2.7%).
- 30% of women prisoners are African American and 16% are Latinas. Black women are incarcerated at 4 times the rate of white women.
- In 1997, Latinas (44%) and African American women (39%) were more likely to be incarcerated for a drug offense than white women (23%).
- In 1997, 65% of women in state prisons were parents of minor children, compared to 55% of men. Two-thirds of mothers incarcerated in state prison lived with their children prior to their arrest.
This fund is an excellent start and a critical step to engaging a set of stakeholders who have been on the sidelines for far too long when it comes to addressing pressing social issues. And as they launch, it’s imperative that Agnes Gund, the advisory board, and the organizations they partner with understand the full diversity of the problem of mass incarceration in order to develop innovative and strategic solutions to address it.