Museum of Modern Art

New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) opened in 1929 through the efforts of three women, including Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, mother of the five founding RBF trustees. It has been a significant interest of the Rockefeller family ever since. Nelson Rockefeller served as president beginning in 1939, and several other family members have been trustees. In 1947, the Fund began its own relationship with a gift of $25,000 to the building and program fund. In 1948, the Fund underwrote a five-year International Circulating Exhibitions Program to stimulate understanding among nations through awareness of creative accomplishments. Its success prompted the establishment of the permanent International Council at the Museum of Modern Art, to which the Fund contributed throughout the 1950s. In the 1960s, the Fund gave $1 million for the continuation of international programs and $4 million in matching funds for the 30^th Anniversary Building and Endowment Drive. In the 1970s, the Fund fostered the development of MoMA’s plan to raise funds by selling its air rights to build condominiums above the Museum.