donald fisher

Gap Founders Art Collection Finds A Home At Last

Gap founders Donald and Doris Fisher have finally found a home for their art collection. The pair spent years trying to build their own museum in San Francisco's Presidio but dropped those plans after facing major opposition from residents and city officials. Instead the large collection of contemporary art will have a home at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

It's a huge get for the museum, the collection is a 1,100-piece assortment of works by 185 contemporary artists with many fine pieces from Alexander Calder, Roy Lichtenstein, Chuck Close and Andy Warhol and could be worth nearly $1 billion. Donald Fisher released a written statement that said in part: "San Francisco is where we raised our family and opened our first Gap store, and we want to give back to the city we love by sharing the art that means so much to us."

The museum is already in the planning phase for a major expansion and the Fisher Collection will be on display in a new wing. Works from the collection will be shown with the museum's existing holdings in modern and contemporary art. The works will go into an art trust and the pieces will be on loan to the museum for 25 years. The first peek at the art will come next summer when some of the works are shown as part of the museum's 75th anniversary celebration.

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Tags: art, contemporary art, ContemporaryArt, don fisher, donald fisher, DonaldFisher, DonFisher, gap, modern art, ModernArt, san francisco, SanFrancisco, sf moma, SfMoma

Gap Founder Drops Plans For Presidio Museum

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art, Wealth

Looks like Gap founder Donald Fisher will be taking his art elsewhere. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Fisher and his family have scrapped plans to build a contemporary art museum at the Main Post of San Francisco's Presidio. Earlier Fisher had scaled back the plans for his museum in San Francisco's Presidio to appease those who found the museum's first planned design a bit overwhelming. Fisher originally unveiled his plans for a contemporary art museum at the end of 2007. The Fishers had hoped to convince critics, San Franciscans, and regulatory bodies such as the National Park Service that the museum would be beneficial for the park.

Donald Fisher released a statement that said he and his wife would be taking some time to consider the future of their collection and other possible locations for the museum including some inside the Presidio, just not on the site of the former bowling alley that they had originally planned on. The statement also said that the decision was made "with disappointment and sadness." The Chronicle reports that an outside survey of possible impacts of various Main Post Presidio projects found that the scale of the museum, even with the newer more modest revision, was "inconsistent with the overall historical character of its setting."

In addition to the museum the Fishers had promised a $10 million gift to go toward turning the Main Post's parking lot into landscaped grounds but it's not known if that offer is separate from the museum gift. The comments on the Chronicle article are spirited, some are expressing relief that Fisher's plans won't come to fruition while others are disappointed that a museum which would have displayed a large contemporary art collection to the public may end up elsewhere. Given the hard times facing museums everywhere lately, it seems like it might be a better idea to endow a wing of an existing museum rather than create a new one out of whole cloth.

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Tags: donald fisher, DonaldFisher, museum, presidio, san francisco, SanFrancisco

Gap Founder Donald Fisher Revises Museum Plans

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

Gap founder Donald Fisher has scaled back the plans for his museum in San Francisco's Presidio to appease those who found the museum's first planned design a bit overwhelming. Fisher unveiled his plans for a contemporary art museum at the end of 2007. The large modern white box composed of white masonry interspersed with glass to allow people outside to view some of the art within didn't sit well with locals. The new design is a bit more restrained and in keeping with its surroundings. It has a low pavilion with a landscaped roof and, blends in with rather than dominates the historic park and its brick barracks buildings. The new design by WRNS Studio is now shorter than the rooflines of the barracks and is 24,000 square feet smaller.

The Fishers are hoping to convince critics, San Franciscans, and regulatory bodies such as the National Park Service that the museum can be beneficial for the park. The museum is just part of the Presidio Trust's plan for the Main Post, which will also be home to an expanded theater and a hotel. Public presentations for the Main Post and museum proposal will be held in April and more information can be found at the Presidio website.

Judging by the stream of comments on the article on SF Gate about this museum it appears that many citizens feel very strongly about whether Donald and Doris Fisher should be allowed to build any structure in the Presidio. Some see it as an ego move and think the city would be better served if the Fishers would donate their substantial contemporary art collection to an existing local museum such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

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Tags: art, donald fisher, DonaldFisher, gap museum, GapMuseum, museum, san francisco, SanFrancisco

If You Use Donald Fisher's Jet You Better Pay Up

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth

Gap co-founder and art philanthropist Donald Fisher would like his money now please. He has sued a private jet charter company, JetDirect Aviation, Inc. for $376,770 he says the company owes him in jet rental fees. Fisher rents out his Bombardier BD-700-1A10 Global Express jet for $8,000 an hour when he isn't using it. The lawsuit contends that the company hasn't been paying the rent after the deal was signed a year ago.

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Tags: donald fisher, DonaldFisher, gap, private jet, PrivateJet

Gap Founder Plans San Francisco Museum

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Celebrity Shopping, Art

If you've created one of the most successful clothing companies in the world what do you do for a follow-up project? How about giving your hometown a huge art museum. Donald Fisher, the founder of the Gap has revealed the plans for the contemporary art museum he wants to build in San Francisco's Presidio. Fisher's ambitious plan calls for a two-story, 100,000-square-foot modern structure on the crest of the Parade Ground of the former military base that in 1994 became a national park. The design is composed of white masonry interspersed with glass that will allow people outside to view some of the art within. Fisher is one of the top collectors of contemporary art and the museum would house his collection.

As the San Francisco Chronicle reports, this is not the only proposal for the Presidio. A rival museum plans comes from the Presidio Historical Association which has proposed a 48,000-square-foot "History Center of the Golden Gate." Their building idea is quite different, a more traditional structure that will explore the culture of the American West. The Presidio Historical Association asserts that their structure fits the surroundings and is the proper choice for the already historic Presidio whereas a contemporary art museum could go anywhere.

Fisher's proposal also would add exhibit space on the Parade Ground, and restore one of the neighboring structures to offer educational space, a bookstore, art studios and office space for the main museum. Fisher really wants this spot, he has also offered to give an additional $10 million toward helping to landscape the area. The Presidio Trust directors are expected to choose one of the proposal at the start of next year.

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Tags: donald fisher, gap, museum, presidio, san francisco, SanFrancisco