Fresh From ‘Poetry’ Gift, Ruth Lilly Donates $120 Million to Arts Group

Billionaire arts patron Ruth Lilly, who gave about $100 million to Poetry magazine, is exceeding that with a gift to Americans for the Arts.

The donation from Lilly, the last great-grandchild of pharmaceutical magnate Eli Lilly, will amount to more than $120 million over 30 years.

Robert Lynch, chief executive and president of Americans for the Arts, said he knew for more than a decade that Lilly planned a large gift to help his organization promote and strengthen art and art education throughout the U.S. He said he had no idea how large the gift would be.

The heiress had supported the group for 25 years with annual gifts of about $10,000 to $20,000. A couple of times, she gave more for larger projects.

“This is quite an extraordinary ... leap,” Lynch said. “We were awed and grateful.”

He said the organization has an annual budget of $8 million and an endowment of less than $1 million. The largest previous grant was approximately $6 million over several years.

The first part of Lilly’s gift, which is tied in with Eli Lilly stock, will appear in early 2003. A large portion probably will be placed in an endowment to collect interest over the years, Lynch said. “We want to set up something that will last forever and will benefit all Americans forever,” he said.

The organization has been soliciting suggestions about how best to use the money. Part of it will go to furthering current arts and education research and to “help local people help themselves” bring art to their communities, Lynch said.

Lilly, 87, has in the past promoted local access to the arts through her giving. “We have been the national organization for that,” Lynch said. “So I’m pretty sure that’s why she found us to be interesting.”

Poetry magazine, which had rejected Lilly’s submitted poems for years, announced its gift last month.