Adrienne Arsht Pledges $1 Million in Support of the MET MUSEUM PRESENTS Series

Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, announced today that Adrienne Arsht has pledged $1 million in support of theMet Museum Presents series of performances and talk, now in its second season. The grant will fund the next three seasons of the series, in 2014-2015, 2015-2016, and 2016-2017.

"For years, Adrienne Arsht has been a philanthropic force in the performing arts," said Mr. Campbell, "and her generous grant to the Metropolitan Museum signals her confidence in the bold direction that our Concerts & Lectures General Manager Limor Tomer has embraced over the past two years. Adrienne's support will encourage the growth of this ground-breaking programming as Limor mines our collections, collaborates with our curators, and takes creative risks to bring a fresh perspective to the Museum. We are grateful to Adrienne for her vision and generosity in making this possible."

Limor Tomer added, "Adrienne's contribution over the next three seasons will help establish the Met as a vibrant, relevant, and essential venue for conversation and performance. Gifts like this are a real catalyst, and I am honored and thrilled to have the support of such an important advocate for the arts."

Met Museum Presents comprises approximately 100 events annually, and takes its inspiration from the Metropolitan Museum's encyclopedic collection, exhibitions, and unparalleled gallery spaces, with events featuring some of the world's most esteemed performers, scholars, and thinkers. The wide-ranging series of performances and talks explores contemporary issues and innovations through the lens of the Museum, and creates a platform for curators, thought leaders, and artists to come together and explore the Met as a generative force.

The programming for the 2014-2015 season can be found on the Museum's website here.

In 2013, Adrienne Arsht also supported the Metropolitan Museum's first TEDxMet conference, which is available online here. Some TEDxMet talks are also available on the TED website atwww.ted.com, including author Andrew Solomon's "Depression, the secret we share," which has already been viewed more than 2.1 million times online, and "How I learned to stop worrying and love 'useless' art" by Luke Syson, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Curator in Charge of European Paintings and Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum.