Smart Museum of Art University of Chicago

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• Shapiro Award Dinner

The Joseph R. Shapiro Award

Honoring Ruth Horwich

On April 23, 2013, over 380 guests honored Ruth Horwich at the ninth Joseph R. Shapiro Award Dinner.

In the 1950s, Ruth and her late husband Leonard began studying and collecting art. They assembled one of the finest collections of art in Chicago, legendary for its “forest of Calders” and for its extraordinary diversity and deeply personal character. Highlighted by masterful Surrealist works, the one-of-a-kind collection also includes classic pieces by the Chicago Imagists, abstract painting and sculpture, and ethnographic and self-taught art.

In addition to collecting, Ruth has been a vital supporter of art and artists in Chicago for more than half a century. She was a founding member and is currently a life trustee of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, served on the twentieth century painting and sculpture acquisitions committee at the Art Institute of Chicago, and after decades of service remains the honorary chair of the Hyde Park Art Center’s board of directors. In addition, Ruth has been involved in supporting numerous institutions at the University of Chicago including the Renaissance Society, Court Theatre, and the Smart Museum of Art.

Interview with the honoree

Photos from the evening

About the award

The Joseph R. Shapiro Award honors the vision and connoisseurship of this city’s most distinguished collectors of art. The award is named in memory of philanthropist and "dean of Chicago collectors" Joseph R. Shapiro (1904–1996), who was an alumnus of the University of Chicago, a life trustee of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the founding president of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

Proceeds from the award dinner support the full range of the Smart Museum's educational and cultural mission and help ensure that the Museum is always free and open to all.

To learn more about this event call 773.702.2368 or e-mail ShapiroAward@uchicago.edu.

Top: Ruth Horwich at her home in Chicago. Photo by Robert Kozloff.