The Putney School has received a $200,000 gift from alumna and trustee emerita Kate Ganz Belin ’62 to establish the Kate Ganz ’62 Visual Arts Endowment, a permanent fund supporting the school’s visual arts faculty and program.

The endowment will provide flexible, ongoing support for Putney’s visual arts program. Its annual income may be used for art supplies and equipment, faculty professional development, visiting artists, exhibitions, and new learning opportunities for students. The fund is designed to evolve with the program, giving future art department leaders the freedom to direct resources where they will have the greatest impact.

For Ms. Ganz, the gift reflects the connection between her Putney education and the life she built as an art historian, scholar, gallery owner, art dealer, and collector.

“I arrived at Putney in the autumn of 1959. When I graduated in June 1962, everything about me had changed.” She recalled that a sophomore art history project “blossomed into my career as an art historian and, later, a gallery owner and art dealer. This endowment is my way of making sure that future students at Putney have that same opportunity for discovery.”

Kate Ganz earned an advanced degree in art history from Columbia University and established galleries in London and New York. Her career has encompassed scholarship, curating, collecting, and dealing in works ranging from Old Master drawings to modern and contemporary art. She helped curate and co-write The Drawings of Annibale Carracci, a major exhibition presented at the National Gallery of Art in Washington in 1999 and has remained active in the scholarly and museum worlds. Between 2010 and 2014 Ms. Ganz was one of the chief authors of Jasper Johns Drawing, a six volume catalogue raisonné of work by the artist. 

Kate Ganz’s influence at Putney extends well beyond her years as a student. She served on the Board of Trustees from 1994 to 2004 and was a driving force behind the creation of the Michael S. Currier Center for the Arts, helping shape the vision for the building and leading the selection of its architect. The center continues to serve as the heart of Putney’s visual and performing arts programs.

Head of School Daniel O’Brien said the gift extends to future students the same conviction that shaped Ganz’s own path. “Kate understands, from both personal and professional experience, how a serious encounter with art can shape a young person’s life,” O’Brien said. “This extraordinary gift honors Putney’s long commitment to the arts while giving our faculty the resources and freedom to keep that commitment alive for generations.”

The gift is part of Sing It Forward, a campaign designed to strengthen Putney for the next century. Additional contributions to the Kate Ganz ’62 Visual Arts Endowment may be made at any time.