Inspiring Stories
Celebrating your philanthropy
Many of us are familiar with the expression ‘the people make the place’ and nowhere is this truer than at ROM. The Museum would not be a world-class cultural institution without the generous support of so many individuals, families and corporations. Here are just a few stories of ROM volunteers and donors who have gone above and beyond.
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Blanche and Wes Mitchell both believed learning should be a lifelong experience and the ROM was their classroom. A generous gift in their estate will help ensure the Museum continues to inspire learning and discovery for generations to come.
Doug Gibson has loved ROM since childhood. Some of his earliest memories are of going to the Museum with his mother in the early 1950s, which sparked a lifelong fascination with natural history. “Back then, they had a crystal cave in the geology gallery,” he recalls. “When you looked into it, it was like an optical illusion.”
When Maryann Weston first moved to Toronto from London, England, no one warned her about the extreme weather—the hot, humid summers and the icy, cold winters. Fortunately, it wasn’t a complete culture shock. As a Londoner, she was used to great museums and galleries like the British Museum and the Tate. So when she discovered the ROM, it immediately felt like home.
As a biographer, Marian Fowler wrote volumes about people whose impact lasted well beyond their lifetimes. Now, through an estate gift to the ROM, she has established her own powerful legacy that will endure far into the future.
One ROM curator can touch thousands of lives through the collections they develop, the exhibitions they curate, the students they mentor, the courses they teach, and through their own path-changing research and collaborations.
As a retired graphic designer, Neil Cochrane has a deep appreciation for good design. In fact, you could even say it’s in his blood. His family has been involved in design in one form or another—as gardeners, house decorators, and wallpaper printers—since the late 18th century.
Like so many others who grew up in Toronto, Emma Jenkin holds a special place in her heart for the ROM. From weekend visits with her parents to school field trips to summer camps, the Museum was a big part of her youth.
On November 14, 2018, the ROM proudly announced that Toronto philanthropists Jeff Willner and Stacey Madge generously committed $5 million for the future Willner Madge Gallery, Dawn of Life.
From a young age, Glenn Wiggins (1927–2013) was fascinated by “the little things that run the world.” His love of insects led to a distinguished career as ROM curator of entomology.