Nancy Amelia Magoon is an American philanthropist, art administrator, gallerist, and contemporary-art collector. Her career has included work in Miami's gallery and cultural institutions, long-standing leadership and advisory roles with museums and arts organizations, and major support for the Aspen Art Museum, SITE Santa Fe, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and other cultural institutions.
Background
Nancy Amelia Magoon was born on April 19, 1941, in New York City, to Jack Parker and Norma Harriet (Hirschl) Parker. Her father was a New York real-estate developer, and her family background connected her with the city's cultural and philanthropic environment.
She later established important personal and professional connections with Miami and Aspen. She has lived in the Aspen area since the 1980s, where her collecting and philanthropic activities became closely associated with the region's contemporary-art community.
Education
Magoon studied at Cornell University from 1958 to 1959. Cornell, founded in 1865 in Ithaca, New York, is a major American research university whose educational tradition combines liberal-arts study with specialized professional and scientific instruction.
Her later work in galleries, museums, dance organizations, and philanthropic institutions developed outside a documented degree program and was centered on arts administration, collecting, and cultural support.
Magoon began her documented arts career as a gallerist at Hokin Gallery in Miami from 1986 to 1989. The gallery formed part of Miami's expanding contemporary-art scene during a period when the city was developing new museums, galleries, and performing-arts institutions.
From 1989 to 1994, she served as secretary of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. The organization supported educational and professional opportunities for young artists, musicians, dancers, actors, and other emerging performers. During the same period she was vice president of the Center for the Fine Arts in Miami from 1984 to 1994 and vice president of Miami City Ballet from 1990 to 1994. The Center for the Fine Arts, opened in 1984, was a principal institution in Miami's developing cultural complex, while Miami City Ballet, founded in 1985, became South Florida's first major professional ballet company.
Magoon's long association with Aspen began by 1985 through the Aspen Art Museum and Aspen Ballet. The Aspen Art Museum, founded by artists in 1979 as a non-collecting institution, focuses on contemporary art, exhibitions, critical dialogue, and community engagement. Magoon has served as a national council member of the museum and is documented as a trustee in its later leadership history.
She became known as a major collector of contemporary art, maintaining collections in Aspen and New York and supporting artists and museums through acquisitions, loans, donations, and institutional philanthropy. Her collection has included contemporary installations, painting, sculpture, photography, historic objects, and Native American pottery and baskets. She has also supported SITE Santa Fe, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Pérez Art Museum Miami, Jazz Aspen, and other cultural organizations.
Magoon developed a significant collection of contemporary art encompassing painting, sculpture, photography, installation, historic objects, and Native American pottery and baskets. Her collecting has supported artists and contributed works, loans, and philanthropic visibility to museums and cultural institutions.
Magoon provided long-term philanthropic and leadership support to arts institutions including the Aspen Art Museum, SITE Santa Fe, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Pérez Art Museum Miami, Jazz Aspen, and Miami City Ballet.
Views
Magoon's stated philosophy of collecting emphasizes direct personal response rather than conformity to prevailing taste. She has favored works that teach her to look at the world differently and has expressed a preference for collecting living artists, especially younger artists who may benefit from early support.
She has also connected collecting with public responsibility. In her view, opening collections to others can help create new audiences and encourage people to begin engaging with art.
Membership
Magoon's documented civic and cultural memberships have included board and council service with arts, museum, philanthropic, health, and community organizations. Her affiliations have included the Aspen Art Museum, Aspen Ballet, Community Alliance Against Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, Susan G. Komen, SITE Santa Fe, Jazz Aspen, the National Gallery's collectors committee, the Aspen Community Foundation, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.
Her participation has ranged from trustee and board service to national-council and collectors-committee roles. These organizations connect contemporary art, museum education, dance, philanthropy, public health, and community support.
Served on the board of directors.
Community Alliance Against Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
,
United States
1990 - 1992
Served as a council member in Aspen.
Susan G. Komen
,
United States
1994
Served as an honorary trustee when the institution was known as the Center for the Fine Arts.
Pérez Art Museum Miami
,
United States
Served as a trustee and later supported exhibitions and programs.
SITE Santa Fe
,
United States
1996
Served on the national council.
Jazz Aspen
,
United States
1999
Served on the collectors committee.
National Gallery of Art
,
United States
2000
Served on the board of directors.
Aspen Community Foundation
,
United States
2000
Served on the national council.
Whitney Museum of American Art
,
United States
2003
Supported the museum as a member and donor.
Albright-Knox Art Gallery
,
United States
2005
Personality
Magoon has described her approach to collecting as personal, independent, and oriented toward works that change how viewers see the world. She has emphasized the stories attached to artworks and has said that collectors who are able to collect have a responsibility to share art with others and encourage wider engagement with it.
Interests
Contemporary-art collecting, museum philanthropy, sculpture gardens, dance, and support for emerging artists.
Artists
Andy Warhol, Felix González-Torres, Alice Neel, Tony Oursler, Tom Sachs, and other contemporary artists represented in her collection.
Sport & Clubs
Skiing, golf, fly fishing, skeet shooting, and clay-target shooting.
Connections
Magoon married Robert Cornelius Magoon on March 16, 1978. Robert Magoon was an ophthalmologist and a fellow art collector; the couple supported museums and cultural organizations in Aspen, Miami, New York, and Santa Fe. He died in 2018.
They had two children, Adam Glick Magoon and Peri Curnin Magoon. Magoon is also the daughter of Jack Parker and Norma Harriet (Hirschl) Parker.
Father:
Jack Parker
A New York real-estate developer.
Mother:
Norma Harriet (Hirschl) Parker
child:
Peri Curnin Magoon
child:
Adam Glick Magoon
husband:
Robert Cornelius Magoon
An ophthalmologist and art collector who shared Magoon's philanthropic support for museums and cultural organizations.
References
Frieze, “Nancy Magoon: The Mother of Aspen”
Interview and profile documenting Magoon's life in Aspen, collecting philosophy, art collection, relationships with artists, and support for the Aspen Art Museum.
