Premiere Collector Panel: Füsun Eczacıbaşı and Marguerite Hoffman
‣ Füsun Eczacıbaşı, co-founder and chair of the Board SAHA, Istanbul
‣ Marguerite Hoffman, private investor, civic volunteer and philanthropist, Dallas
‣ Moderator: Jane Morris, editor-at-large, The Art Newspaper and Cultureshock, London
Establishing a major collection or foundation can help to foster a local art scene. This panel brings together two major patrons – from Istanbul and Dallas – respectively, to explore their evolution as both collectors and supporters. What are they most passionate about? What has motivated their choices? What vision do they have for supporting artists, projects, and organizations?
‣ Füsun Eczacıbaşı graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts as an Architect (MSc). She is actively involved in many NGOs focusing on human rights, nature preservation, and education.
She is co-founder and chairperson of the SAHA Association, committed to supporting contemporary art from Turkey, a member of the Art Basel Global Patrons Council, International Friends of Documenta, Friends of Castello di Rivoli, Tate International Council Advisory Board, and Pompidou International Council. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees and the co-chair of the International Leadership Council of the New Museum NYC.
‣ Marguerite Hoffman is a private investor and an active non-profit volunteer. She currently sits on the boards of the Trinity Park Conservancy, the Trinity Park Conservancy Development Corporation, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and ChipCare, a medical device company based in Toronto. She has chaired the following organizations: the Dallas Museum of Art, the Child Care Group, Planned Parenthood of Northeast Texas and Public Radio International and is a member of Women Moving Millions and the UTSW President’s Advisory Council. She is an investor in multiple sectors of public and private markets with a focus on technology and biotech companies.
Hoffman has received the TACA Silver Cup Award for outstanding leadership in the arts, the ArtTable Distinguished Service to the Visual Arts Award, Planned Parenthood’s Gertrude Shelburne Humanitarian Award, and was cited by Business Week magazine as one of the top 50 philanthropists in the nation.
‘Amor Mundi: The Collection of Marguerite Steed Hoffman’ was published by Ridinghouse in 2022.
‣ Jane Morris is editor-at-large of The Art Newspaper and at Cultureshock, and has contributed to titles including the Economist, Guardian, Monocle and Apollo on art and culture. She was the editor of The Art Newspaper for almost a decade. She was previously head of publications at the Museums Association, a judge of the European Museum of the Year Award and an editorial board member of Tate Etc, the Tate’s magazine. She has contributed to Radio 3, Radio 4 and Monocle 24 radio. She studied fine art at Central St Martin’s College of Art and Design, film at the University of Westminster and journalism at City University, London.
© Portrait of Füsun Eczacıbaşı and Marguerite Hoffman / Photo. Pierluigi Di and David Needleman