Arlene Schnitzer was an American arts patron and philanthropist.
14 Facts About Arlene Schnitzer
1.
2.
Arlene Schnitzer was the founder and director of the Fountain Gallery, established in Portland to showcase artists in the Pacific Northwest.
3.
Arlene Schnitzer is the namesake of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, a performing arts center in Portland, Oregon.
4.
Arlene Schnitzer's parents were Jewish emigrants, her father from Chartoriysk, Russia, and her mother from Warsaw, Poland.
5.
Arlene Schnitzer lived in Salem until age two, when her parents moved to Portland, Oregon.
6.
Arlene Schnitzer recalled "[growing] up in a retail business"; her parents were the owners of Jennings Furniture Company, a large furniture store.
7.
In 1949, Arlene met and married Harold Schnitzer, who worked at Schnitzer Steel Industries before founding Harsch Investment Properties in 1950.
8.
Harold and Arlene Schnitzer funded Jewish studies programs at the University of Oregon and Portland State University.
9.
In 2007, Arlene Schnitzer contributed $5,000 to the Portland Art Center.
10.
Harold Schnitzer died in 2011; he and Arlene were married for 62 years.
11.
In 2013, in memory of her husband, Arlene Schnitzer donated $2.3 million to Portland State University for the construction of a three-story glass tower at Lincoln Hall.
12.
Arlene Schnitzer herself died on April 4,2020, at the age of 91.
13.
Arlene Schnitzer founded and directed the Fountain Gallery, together with her mother Helen Director, and a friend Edna Brigham.
14.
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.