Agnes “Aggie” Gund, an influential philanthropist who saw the arts as a powerful way to combat social injustice and education inequity, died yesterday evening, September 19, at the age of 87 in her home in Manhattan. Her daughter, Catherine Gund, confirmed her death to the New York Times. A staunch social justice advocate and major art collector, Gund was known for her philanthropic endeavors that bolstered underrepresented artists and underserved communities. This work was keenly felt in New York City, where she founded the arts education nonprofit Studio in a School nearly five decades ago in response to dramatic budget cuts that basically eliminated art classes in the public school system at the time.“I have always believed that every student has a fundamental right to quality art education,” Gund told Hyperallergic earlier this year, during a student exhibition organized by the Studio Institute, an affiliate of Studio in a School.Gund also gained attention for her efforts to end mass incarceration in the United States, evidenced through the Art for Justice Fund (A4J) — a six-year initiative aimed at redressing socioeconomic inequalities in the criminal justice system that disproportionately affect young people and people of color. It was founded in 2017, when Gund notably sold Roy Lichtenstein’s 1962 work “Masterpiece” for $165 million to invest $100 million in the initiative — a move linking cultural patronage to social activism that is rarely seen in the art world. During its run, A4J disbursed more than $127 million to more than 200 artists, activists, and organizations aligned with ending mass incarceration. Its work carries on through its successor project, the Center for Art and Advocacy, which moved into a new programming space in Bedford-Stuyvesant earlier this year.“She was a force for justice in the world who transformed the cultural landscape in New York and beyond,” Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation and a longtime friend of Gund who supported the creation of the Art for Justice Fund, told Hyperallergic.Visitors at Artists Rising 2025 organized by Agnes Gund’s Studio in a School (photo Maya Pontone/Hyperallergic)In addition to championing education and social justice causes, Gund was a notable patron of contemporary art, building a collection of works including major pieces by Mark Rothko and Jasper Johns and serving as president emerita and life trustee at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). She joined the museum’s international council in 1967, became a board member less than a decade later, and was appointed board president in 1991. During her tenure, she spearheaded the museum’s efforts to engage with contemporary art, most notably through her central role in its historic 1999 institutional merger with the P.S. 1 Center for Contemporary Art in Long Island City, Queens (now MoMA PS1). Her mark on the museum also extended beyond her presidency through MoMA’s major 2004 expansion — a $858 million project that involved the construction of a new building designed by the late architect Yoshio Taniguchi.Gund also served on the boards of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies, Morgan Library and Museum, Frick Collection, Andy Warhol Foundation, and Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, among many other cultural institutions.Her influence in museums and the arts can also be seen in the Center for Curatorial Leadership (CCL), an organization she co-founded in 2007 dedicated to training and shaping curators for museum leadership. “Aggie was a trailblazing activist and guiding force for good in the cultural world,” curator and CCL fellow Christa Clark told Hyperallergic. She described Gund as “eager to continue learning from the next generation with the kind of curiosity that characterizes the best leaders,” and an inspirational force for curators.“She was generous in every way, most especially of mind and spirit,” Clark said.