# Chipstone Foundation

Chipstone Foundation is an Endowment / Foundation based in Milwaukee, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation
- **Headquarters:** Milwaukee, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Milwaukee, WI, United States
- **Founded:** 1960
- **Assets under management:** $89M (Altss estimate)
- **Website:** www.chipstone.org
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-chipstone-foundation

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Created in 1960 in Fox Point, Wisconsin, the Chipstone Foundation draws its endowment from the estate of Stanley and Polly Stone, who built a collection concentrated in early American furniture, British pottery, and American historical prints and maps. The foundation is governed by a board that includes Vice Chairman Ted D. Kellner, founder of Fiduciary Management Inc. The foundation's investment portfolio is spread across hedge funds, private equity, and real estate, with a geographic focus on North America. Capital is deployed through buyout, distressed debt, venture capital (from seed to late stage), mezzanine, and special-situations structures. While specific portfolio holdings are not publicly disclosed, the foundation's long-standing operational partnerships provide evidence of its active posture: since 1999 it has maintained dedicated galleries for its collection at the Milwaukee Art Museum, and it funds the Stanley and Polly Stone Professor of American Decorative Arts at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Beyond its Milwaukee base, Chipstone collaborates on research and exhibitions with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and on international decorative arts projects and artist residencies with London's Victoria & Albert Museum. The foundation's physical footprint includes the original Stone mansion in Fox Point and an office in Milwaukee's War Memorial Building. Executive Director Jonathan Prown, formerly affiliated with Colonial Williamsburg, guides the foundation's scholarly and curatorial direction. The foundation merges a family office's capital structure with the mission of an operating museum, creating a hybrid where an investment portfolio directly fuels object-based teaching and public gallery installations — a model distinct from most decorative arts trusts or university collections.

## Sectors

- Luxury

## People

- Ted D. Kellner — Vice Chairman

## Questions

### How is the Chipstone Foundation related to the Milwaukee Art Museum?

Since 1999, Chipstone has maintained a partnership with the Milwaukee Art Museum, housing its core collection of early American furniture and decorative arts in dedicated galleries on the museum's lower level. This arrangement transforms a private family collection into a public teaching and exhibition resource while Chipstone retains ownership of the objects.

### Does the Chipstone Foundation make direct investments or commit to funds?

The foundation's strategy spans direct and fund commitments. Its recorded investment types include buyout, distressed debt, venture capital across stages from seed to late, mezzanine, special situations, hedge funds, private equity, and real estate. The specific mix of direct versus fund commitments is not publicly detailed.

### What is the foundation's relationship with the University of Wisconsin–Madison?

Chipstone funds the Stanley and Polly Stone Professor of American Decorative Arts, an endowed chair at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The foundation also collaborates on academic programs, making it a significant funder of decorative arts scholarship within the University of Wisconsin system.

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Last updated: 2026-08-11T02:43:31.692Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/chipstone-foundation

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