World Art Day is coming up on the 15th of April and is an international celebration of the fine arts to promote awareness of creativity worldwide. To show our support, we’re diving into our database and looking at some philanthropists who are supporting the arts in the UK.
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Dame Vivien Duffield
Vivien Duffield is the daughter of esteemed businessman and philanthropist Sir Charles Clore. Following her father’s passing in 1979, she assumed the Chairmanship of the Clore Foundation and later established the Vivien Duffield Foundation. In 2000, she merged both foundations to create the Clore Duffield Foundation.
She has made significant contributions to the arts in her positions as Director of the Southbank Centre board, Governor of the Royal Ballet and board member of the Royal Opera House. She also donated £1M to the redevelopment of the iconic London Coliseum.
Sir Leonard Blavatnik
Len Blavatnik, a titan in business and philanthropy, owns a majority stake in the Warner Music Group. In 1986, Blavatnik founded the holding company Access Industries Holdings. The business controls 21% of LyondellBasell, the world’s premier polypropylene producer.
The Blavatnik Family Foundation supports a myriad of cultural organisations, including the British Museum, Tate Modern, Royal Opera House, National Portrait Gallery, the Courtauld, and the Museum of Modern Art.
Dame Janet Frances de Botton
Janet Frances de Bottom is a visionary philanthropist and art connoisseur. As the granddaughter of Sir Isaac Wolfson, she inherited the legacy of The Wolfson Foundation, set up to give away his fortune.
In 2010, De Botton became the Chairman of The Wolfson Foundation following a unanimous vote by the Trustees. The foundation awards grants to support and promote excellence in education, science and medicine, heritage, humanities and the arts and health and disability.
De Botton was previously a Trustee of Tate and Chairman of the Council of Tate Modern.
Sir Lloyd Marshall Dorfman
Llyod Dorfam is an industrious entrepreneur and philanthropist with a passion for the arts.
He founded Travelex in 1976 and grew it to acquire Thomas Cook’s Global & Financial Services business in 2001, making it the world’s largest non-bank foreign exchange business.
Dorfman is a trustee of the Royal Opera House and a former board member of the Royal National Theatre. In 2013, he donated £10 million towards the National Theatre Future redevelopment project.
Dame Vera Stephanie Shirley
Dame Vera Stephanie Shirley, fondly known as Steve Shirley, is a trailblazer in the world of technology and philanthropy. Leading the team that programmed Concorde’s black box flight recorder.
Shirley started her career building computers and writing code. In 1959, she founded the software company Freelance Programmers. After experiencing sexism in the workplace, she adopted the name Steve and employed women only until the Sex Discrimination Act in 1975.
Shirley is a patron of Paintings in Hospitals and, in 2012, gifted them with a collection of paintings suitable for people with autism. Since her retirement in 1993, Shirley has donated over £70 million to charity, with a special fondness for causes supporting IT and people living with autism.
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