The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College announced the donation of two major art collections and supporting endowments from Colorado Springs philanthropists Kathy Loo and Jim Raughton on July 10, 2018.
Birger Sandzen. St. Mary’s Glacier, 1923. The Katherine and Dusty Loo Colorado Collection
Kathy Loo reaffirmed her late husband Dusty Loo’s 1993 pledge to donate his collection of Colorado and area landscapes, the DUsty and Katherine Loo collection, at the Palace of Fine Arts museum.
In addition, Jim Raughton made a promised gift from his collection, the Dr. Jim Raughton Broadmoor Academy of Art Collectionat the Palace of Fine Arts.
“Kathy Loo and Jim Raughton are essential partners in defining our vision for CAF, and their donations are helping us take an important step toward achieving those goals,” said Colorado College President Jill Tiefenthaler.
the Dusty and Katherine Loo collectionassembled by Dusty Loo, includes 67 significant paintings by artists Charles Partridge Adams, Albert Bierstadt, Charles Bunnell, Thomas Moran, Boardman Robinson and Birger Sandzen, among others.
“This collection is about Colorado – its history, its place as a promoter of the fine arts,” Dusty Loo said in 1993.
Kathy Loo also pledged endowment funds that will be held at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center Foundation, a support foundation for CAF governed by an independent community board.
“I am honored to play a part in preserving this historic collection that Dusty and many others cared about so much, and to contribute more to the Center for Fine Arts that I love so much,” she said. .
Raughton’s gift, the Dr. Jim Raughton Broadmoor Academy of Art Collection, includes works by artists who were central to the Broadmoor Art Academy. These works will add to the depth and breadth of the Fine Arts Center’s art collection, dating back to its founding as Broadmoor Art Academy in 1919.
“The Broadmoor Art Academy is an important part of Colorado Springs’ history and our role as a regional and national leader in the arts,” Raughton said. “I am delighted to preserve and celebrate the importance of this era of the Palace of Fine Arts.”
Raughton also pledged a large endowment gift to the foundation for these purposes.
“These generous donations from Kathy and Jim will advance our contribution to American art and ensure that there are the necessary resources to properly care for the gifts of these collections,” said CAF Director Erin Hannan.