Honoring Karen Johnson Boyd: Collecting In-Depth at Home and at RAM

Karen Johnson Boyd (1924-2016) was an advocate for and a collector of art, especially contemporary American craft and works on paper. She was passionate about sharing her affinity with others and presented RAM with almost 1,700 pieces over several decades, the largest number of works given by a single donor. 

Her establishment of Perimeter Gallery in Chicago in 1982, with its emphasis on a broad range of artists, and her consistent patronage of visual art in other ways made Mrs. Boyd a distinguished­­—albeit quiet—major collector. The works gathered in this exhibition, including multiple examples by individual artists, reflect her desire to collect in-depth across disciplines and support artists’ development over a period of time while documenting their careers.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.