Gordon and Marion Smith Foundation receives $1 million in private funding through Ann Kipling estate and Audain Foundation
Long-term sustainability in sight for Artists for Kids and Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art, as endowment fund now sits at $4.3 million
One of the Gordon and Marion Smith Foundation’s public programs at its North Shore gallery.
THE GORDON AND Marion Smith Foundation for Young Artists has announced a new $1 million in funding through two private gifts. The estate of artist Ann Kipling has just donated $500,000, matched by a $500,000 donation from the Audain Foundation.
The private donations come at a time of arts-funding restraint at government levels, and mark a big step toward the North Shore gallery’s $5 million endowment-fund goal, which now sits at $4.3 million.
The Victoria-born Kipling, who died in 2023, was a respected Canadian artist who created impressionistic portraits and landscapes on paper. She was a close friend of iconic late artist Gordon Smith, who passed away in 2020.
The endowment fund is aimed at securing the organization’s long-term sustainability, including its art education program, Artists for Kids, and at running the Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art, a site for education, exhibitions, and hands-on art making. “Current major forces, both in education and in our society, tend to ignore the value and contribution of art,” Smith said during his early development of Artists for Kids, founded in 1989. “We must, more than ever, support and encourage the arts in everyday life.”
Left to right: Ann Kipling (photo by Lincoln Clarkes, courtesy of Lincoln Clarkes) and Michael Audain.
“For young people, exposure to the visual arts plays a vital role in creative and academic development, providing an outlet for emotional expression and a pathway to becoming critically engaged citizens,” explained Meredith Preuss, executive director of the Smith Foundation, in a press statement tonight. “The impact of these major gifts from the Ann Kipling Estate and the Audain Foundation will be felt far beyond our community, and for generations to come.”
The Audain Foundation has long played a critical role in the growth of the Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art, having provided $2 million for the initial construction of the building in 2012.
“It is an honour to continue supporting the life’s work of brilliant artist, educator, and philanthropist, Gordon Smith,” Michael Audain, chair of the Audain Foundation, said in a statement tonight. “The Audain Foundation recognizes the importance of ensuring the long-term viability of non-profit arts organizations like the Gordon Smith Gallery. Matching the gift of the late and great artist Ann Kipling, the very first recipient of the Audain Prize over 20 years ago, makes this contribution all the more memorable.” 
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