Arlene Schnitzer

Arlene Schnitzer (née Director; January 10, 1929 – April 4, 2020) was an American arts patron and philanthropist. She was the founder and director of the Fountain Gallery, established in Portland to showcase artists in the Pacific Northwest. She is the namesake of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, a performing arts center in Portland, Oregon.

Life and career Schnitzer was born to Simon and Helen (Holtzman) Director in Salem, Oregon, on January 10, 1929. Her parents were Jewish emigrants, her father from Chartoriysk, Russia, and her mother from Warsaw, Poland. She lived in Salem until age two, when her parents moved to Portland, Oregon. The family first lived in the Grant Park neighborhood. Schnitzer attended Fernwood Grammar School.

Philanthropy Between 1993 and 2011, Arlene and Howard donated more than $80 million, helping to establish institutions such as the Harold Schnitzer Diabetes Health Center (2007) at the Oregon Health & Science University and expand the Portland Art Museum. Expansions for the Portland Art Museum included the Center for Northwest Art and curatorial and awards program; their private collection of pre-Han and Han ceramics led to the creation of the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Collection of Early Chinese Art and the endowed position, Curator of Asian Art. Harold Schnitzer died in 2011; he and Arlene were married for 62 years.

Harold and Arlene also funded Jewish studies programs at the University of Oregon and Portland State University. They established Fountain in Portland to showcase artists in the Pacific Northwest. The Fountain has been called Portland's "first serious" art gallery.

Legacy

Schnitzer is the namesake of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, a performing arts center located in downtown Portland. The Portland Art Museum created an honor called the Arlene Schnitzer Prize, which recognizes young artists whose work exhibit "great promise". In 2012, the exhibition "Provenance: In Honor of Arlene Schnitzer" featuring works by Pacific Northwest artists opened at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art; the works were selected from the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Art Collection and were displayed at the museum's Schnitzer Gallery of American Art.