Arts Philanthropist & Community Leader Interview: 15 Questions with Fred Bidwell
After over three decades in advertising and marketing, Fred Bidwell retired – and immediately started his next career. In 2011, he and his wife Laura established the Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell Foundation to support artists and arts institutions through sponsoring exhibitions, programs and individual projects that encourage creativity and innovation. Based in Ohio, the Bidwell Foundation’s primary current project is Transformer Station, a museum and contemporary art exhibition space in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood.
Further bolstering Cleveland’s arts and cultural community, Bidwell founded the FRONT Exhibition Company. The Company organizes FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art, a large-scale, multi-venue, citywide program of contemporary art that takes place every three years. FRONT provides a setting for local, national and international artists to create and present socially and politically engaged work across Cleveland.
We spoke with Bidwell about building communities through the arts and what he hopes the inaugural Arts Funders Forum will achieve.
Fred Bidwell. Image © Kathryn Dike
Tell us about what you do.
I was the CEO of a marketing agency for many years. After selling the firm, I retired to begin a new career as an arts advocate and non-profit entrepreneur.
What is your role in the cultural sector?
Along with my wife, Laura, I am the director of Transformer Station, a private museum exhibition space we opened in 2013 in Cleveland, Ohio. Transformer Station was the first project of the Bidwell Foundation, our family foundation. In 2016, I founded the second project of the Bidwell Foundation, FRONT Exhibition Company, a new non-profit that organizes FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art. The first edition of the FRONT Triennial was held last summer, and we are working hard on FRONT 2021. Additionally, I serve on a number of arts and culture-related boards and committees, including the Board of the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Visiting Committee of the Allen Memorial Art Museum.
In your view, what impact do the arts have on society?
The arts have a powerful and often underestimated impact on communities, not just as a cultural amenity, but also as a catalyst for economic growth and social and political change.
Why do you support Arts Funders Forum? What do you hope it will achieve?
I hope that Arts Funders Forum can provoke more philanthropic support for the arts by inspiring more philanthropists to leverage their interest in the arts for civic change.
How did you get involved with arts philanthropy?
My wife, Laura and I were first engaged in a meaningful way by the Akron Art Museum, one of the nation’s best mid-sized museums with a contemporary art focus. It’s a real gem.
What inspired your first gift?
Our first major gift (the kind that you have to think long and hard about) was to the capital campaign to expand the Akron Art Museum. It was a great project that we are still very proud of.
What specific arts and cultural causes have you been most passionate about?
We are museum nerds and collectors of contemporary art, mainly photography-based. But beyond our personal interests, I believe that arts of all kinds inspire creativity and innovation. Every role in society depends on creative thinking. Unfortunately, we tend to relegate creative thinking to the arts and that is a big mistake.
How can the cultural sector best communicate its importance to society at large?
It’s all about relevance… the history of art and the arts of today have lessons for all of us in every aspect of society. We need the arts now more than ever to help us better understand and communicate with each other.
How do you see partnerships shaping the cultural sector today?
I believe that corporations should be exploring stronger and more creative partnerships with cultural institutions. We need each other for relevance and responsibility.
Can you provide us with an example of how the arts have helped boost a local economy?
Our project to build Transformer Station in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood, was one of the catalysts that transformed Ohio City into the city’s fastest-growing neighborhood. We have fallen in love with the neighborhood and moved there two years ago. The success of that project inspired the first FRONT International as an engine for cultural tourism. Our first edition, in 2018, had a $31 million dollar impact on the region.
What do you hope to achieve with your giving?
I think that arts and culture does change the world, but I have enough humility to understand that change is slow and often difficult to measure. Perhaps the best thing that can come of our giving is to inspire others to give as well.
What do you believe the role of private giving is in the 21st century?
Individuals can be more creative and nimbler than institutions. I think most of the innovation in philanthropy will come from entrepreneurs who turn their attention to making our world a better place.
Do you believe there has been a generational change of how donors approach giving?
I hope that the new generations of philanthropists will stay involved and engaged with their giving, shaping the initiatives that they fund rather than passively writing a check.
How can we engage the next generation of young donors?
It’s important for people to know that effective philanthropy is only partially about the amount of cash, it’s also about the size of the ideas and the energy of individuals. That’s where young people have the advantage.
What legacy do you hope to leave?
Not sure that a personal legacy is important to me and Laura. Our collection will go to museums someday. I hope that every once in a while, someone in the future will be as inspired by the artist’s work as we were.