Catherine
G. Murphy, St. Catherine's alumna and benefactor of the college's
Catherine G. Murphy Gallery is responsible for a meaningful
cultural legacy for the college and the entire Twin Cities
community.
Catherine
G. Murphy attended the College of St. Catherine in the late
1920s, studying French and art and earning an Associate of
Arts degree. Murphy worked for 25 years for the St. Paul Board
of Realtors before retiring in 1961, and served as Class of
1930 representative for many years.
In
1978, Murphy's aunt, whom she had taken care of for several
years, remembered Murphy in her will with a large sum of money.
In a 1979 interview with St. Catherine's staff, Murphy explained
why she made such a generous commitment to the college. "I'm
very proud of the fact that I went to a good private school
– When I decided to make a donation to the college, I
told Rita [Gillach Otte '49, former director of planned giving]
and Peter [Lupori, professor emeritus of art], 'Instead of
the usual scholarship contribution, I prefer to do something
for the Art Department.' The college came up with a plan to
endow the galleries, which sounded perfect."
With
Otte's help, Murphy created a charitable remainder unitrust
in 1979, designating the art gallery as the beneficiary. She
also committed to providing $10,000 in annual support of the
gallery. That same year, the gallery was named in her honor
at a gala celebration. Since then, Murphy's original gift
of $500,000 in appreciated stocks has grown to an endowment
of over $1 million, the interest from which will provide ongoing
support for the gallery.
"Catherine's
initial endowment commitment and her annual support provided
leverage to build the gallery into the much sought-after exhibition
space that it is today," explains Gallery Director Kathleen
M. Daniels '73.
Each
spring, the gallery hosts a juried exhibition of all senior
art majors. These exhibitions were always a favorite of Murphy,
because, as she commented in 1979, "I like to see how
the students' perception of art has changed."
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