Fine Art PR Publicity Announcements News and Information
Fine Art PR Publicity Announcements News and Information

Chase Makes $10 Million Grant to Seattle Art Museum

Chase announced today a $10 million grant to the Seattle Art Museum (SAM), capping a tradition of support begun by Washington Mutual in 1999. The grant will be paid over the next five years.

“This gift demonstrates JPMorgan Chase’s commitment to this community,” said Mimi Gates, Director of the Seattle Art Museum.

“This grant reflects our special relationship with SAM,” said Kim Davis, president of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation. “We strive to be a good corporate citizen in all the communities where we do business.”

Chase and the Seattle Art Museum also announced that JPMorgan Chase will not be assuming Washington Mutual’s lease with the Seattle Art Museum for approximately 240,000 square feet of office space located at 1300 First Avenue in downtown Seattle. JPMorgan Chase and SAM will be working together to coordinate leasing activities and identify possible tenants for the space.

“We truly appreciate their collaboration and sincere generosity during this difficult time for everyone,” said Gates.

JPMorgan Chase purchased Washington Mutual’s banking assets on Sept. 25, 2008 from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

The five-year SAM grant is in addition to Chase’s commitment of $2.65 million in grants to Washington non-profits in 2009, which matches WaMu’s local corporate giving in 2008.

About Chase

Chase is the U.S. consumer and commercial banking business of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), which operates more than 5,400 branches and 14,000 ATMs nationally under the Chase and WaMu brands, including 187 in Washington. Chase has 157 million credit cards issued and serves consumers and small businesses through bank branches, ATMs and mortgage offices as well as through relationships with auto dealerships and schools and universities. It also serves more than 30,000 commercial banking clients, including corporations, municipalities, financial institutions and not-for-profit entities. More information about Chase is available at www.chase.com.

About SAM

For over 75 years, the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) has been a leading visual arts institution in the Pacific Northwest. SAM is one museum in three locations, the Seattle Art Museum downtown, Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) in Volunteer Park and the Olympic Sculpture Park on Seattle’s waterfront. SAM is an institution with a global perspective, collecting and exhibiting objects from 140 cultures and exploring the connections between past and present.