ArtsWave

ArtsWave

ArtsWave was founded in 1927 as the Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts by Charles Phelps Taft and Anna Sinton Taft, the brother and sister-in-law of President William Howard Taft. The Taft family's industrial and publishing fortune, built through the Cincinnati Times-Star and real estate, funded the initial endowment alongside their private art collection, which now forms the basis of the Taft Museum of Art. The organization rebranded in 2012 to ArtsWave, reflecting its expansion from managing a single endowment to orchestrating the largest community arts fundraising campaign in the United States. The endowment's investment strategy spans early-stage venture, growth equity, buyout, distressed debt, special situations, and fund-of-funds commitments — a diversified portfolio that channels returns into operating grants for over 100 arts groups, including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Ballet, and the Contemporary Arts Center. The geographic footprint concentrates on Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, with all grantees serving the Greater Cincinnati tri-state region. ArtsWave's capital allocators invest the permanent pool alongside the proceeds of an annual community campaign that raised $12.1M in 2023 (per the firm's official communications). The dual structure — investment returns plus annual community fundraising — creates a funding base unusual among local arts endowments. The organization's governance draws on Cincinnati's corporate leadership. Procter & Gamble CEO Jon Moeller and retired P&G executive Lisa Sauer co-chaired the 2024 campaign. altafiber CEO Leigh Fox serves as board chair, and Kroger leadership maintains board representation, connecting ArtsWave's investment and grantmaking operations to the city's largest employers. The endowment also anchors several affiliated philanthropic funds, including the ArtsWave 100 Endowment and the Rosa F. and Samuel B. Sachs Fund. In May 2024, Alecia Kintner led the completion of a community-wide strategic planning initiative designed to reshape arts funding distribution models across the region (per the firm, May 2024). ArtsWave's structural differentiator is the pairing of a professionally managed investment endowment with an active annual workplace-giving campaign that engages over 300 corporate partners. Most community foundations split these functions between separate vehicles or outsource investment management entirely. ArtsWave runs both in-house, making it the only organization of its kind operating at a nine-figure scale. The Taft Museum of Art operates as a legally separate entity under a supporting organization structure, insulating the endowment corpus from museum operations while preserving the family's collection as a public asset.