A major philanthropic donation valued at $325 million will help establish a new art museum at Seattle University, marking the largest art donation ever made to a U.S. university. The generous benefactor, Richard Hedreen, a philanthropist and hotel and real estate developer, is gifting over 200 artworks from his and his late wife Elizabeth "Betty" Ann Petri Hedreen’s collection. Spanning five centuries, the collection includes pieces from renowned artists like Titian, Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Willem de Kooning, Andy Warhol, Cecily Brown, Rashid Johnson, and Amy Sherald, with an estimated worth of around $300 million. Additionally, Hedreen is contributing $25 million in seed funding to help establish the Seattle University Museum of Art, which will house these works as the cornerstone of its collection.
Though Richard Hedreen attended the University of Washington, his wife Betty was a student at Seattle University when they met. Together, they have been steadfast supporters of the institution for decades. The Hedreens were the primary donors for a chapel designed by architect Steven Holl, inaugurated in 1997, and also led fundraising efforts for the Lee Center for the Arts, where a gallery is named in their honor. They had previously donated numerous works of art to the university, including notable outdoor sculptures by James Rosati and Joel Shapiro. Betty Hedreen passed away in 2022.
Richard Hedreen shared that both he and his late wife viewed their collection as “custodianship” of the works, intending to preserve them for a greater purpose. He emphasized that the Jesuit focus on the arts and humanities at Seattle University aligns with their vision of using art to enrich education and connect to the Seattle arts community. Hedreen’s ultimate goal is to keep the collection intact within the new museum, creating a lasting impact on students and faculty.
The collection spans a diverse range of historic and modern works. It includes masterpieces by artists like Giovanni Toscani, Jacopo Carruci Pontormo, Thomas Gainsborough, and Gustave Courbet. Additionally, the collection is rich in post-war American art, featuring works by Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Warhol, De Kooning, and Robert Indiana. It also includes in-depth collections from Lucian Freud (with etchings spanning three decades) and Cecily Brown (with six paintings), along with iconic 20th-century photography from figures like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Irving Penn, and Berenice Abbott. Contemporary artists such as Rashid Johnson, Amy Sherald, Vik Muniz, and Anna Weyant are also represented in the gift.
Seattle University’s president, Eduardo Peñalver, expressed his gratitude for the donation, stating that the museum would serve as a world-class teaching resource, providing students with access to centuries of art history. The new museum, Peñalver added, will also help strengthen the university’s connection to the surrounding community and increase access to the arts, particularly for underserved groups.
Founded in 1891, Seattle University is a private Jesuit Catholic institution with over 7,000 students. The Seattle University Museum of Art is expected to take between three to five years to develop, according to university officials.
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