Arlene Schnitzer

Schnitzer was born to Simon and Helen (Holtzman) Director in Salem, Oregon, on January 10, 1929.{{Cite web|url=http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-arlene-schnitzer-12776|title= Oral history interview with Arlene Schnitzer, 1985 June 7-8|publisher=Archives of American Art}} Note: Oral history interview with Arlene Schnitzer, 1985 June 7–8, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Her parents were Jewish emigrants, her father from Chartoriysk, Russia, and her mother from Warsaw, Poland.{{Cite web|url=https://www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/article/666370|title=History | Director Park | the City of Portland, Oregon|access-date=2020-04-05|archive-date=2020-08-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814233212/https://www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/article/666370|url-status=dead}} She lived in Salem until age two, when her parents moved to Portland, Oregon. The family first lived in the Grant Park neighborhood. Schnitzer attended Fernwood Grammar School. From fourth to seventh grade, she attended Laurelhurst Grammar School. Following another relocation, she attended Multnomah Grammar School, the school from which she graduated. Schnitzer recalled "[growing] up in a retail business"; her parents were the owners of Jennings Furniture Company, a large furniture store.

In 1949, Arlene met and married Harold Schnitzer (1923–2011), who worked at Schnitzer Steel Industries before founding Harsch Investment Properties in 1950. The couple had one son, Jordan, in 1951. Jordan later served as president of Harsch and on the boards of several arts organizations; he also became an art collector and is the namesake of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, located on the University of Oregon campus.{{Cite news|url=http://blog.oregonlive.com/visualarts/2007/03/a_chat_with_jordan_schnitzer.html|title=A chat with Jordan Schnitzer|first=D.K.|last=Row|work=The Oregonian|publisher=Advance Publications|location=Portland, Oregon|date=March 30, 2007|issn=8750-1317}}{{Cite web|url=http://jsma.uoregon.edu/special-exhibition-"provenance-honor-arlene-schnitzer"-featuring-northwest-artists-opens-jordan|title=The special exhibition "Provenance: In Honor of Arlene Schnitzer" featuring Northwest artists, opens at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art|accessdate=February 23, 2013|date=May 3, 2012|publisher=Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art}}{{Dead link|date=October 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Between 1993 and 2011, the couple donated more than $80 million, helping to establish institutions such as the Harold Schnitzer Diabetes Health Center (2007) at the Oregon Health & Science University and expand the Portland Art Museum.{{Cite news|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2011/04/philanthropist_and_business_man_harold_schnitzer_dies_at_87.html|title= Harold Schnitzer, Portland philanthropist and real estate powerhouse, dies at 87|first=D.K.|last=Row|work=The Oregonian|publisher=Advance Publications|location=Portland, Oregon|date=April 27, 2011|issn=8750-1317}} Expansions for the Portland Art Museum included the Center for Northwest Art and curatorial and awards program; their private collection of pre-Han and Han ceramics led to the creation of the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Collection of Early Chinese Art and the endowed position, Curator of Asian Art. She and Harold advanced artistic participation and representation of minorities; they were instrumental in launching the careers of artists including Robert Colescott and Marita Dingus.

Harold and Arlene also funded Jewish studies programs at the University of Oregon and Portland State University. The couple also supported cultural institutions in the San Francisco Bay Area and Palm Springs, California, where they resided part-time.

In 2007, Arlene contributed $5,000 to the Portland Art Center.{{Cite news|url=http://blog.oregonlive.com/visualarts/2007/12/schnitzer_gives_5000_to_portla.html|title=Schnitzer gives $5,000 to Portland Art Center|first=D.K.|last=Row|accessdate=February 24, 2013|date=December 6, 2007|work=The Oregonian|publisher=Advance Publications|location=Portland, Oregon|issn=8750-1317}} Harold Schnitzer died in 2011; he and Arlene were married for 62 years. In 2013, in memory of her husband, Arlene donated $2.3 million to Portland State University for the construction of a three-story glass tower at Lincoln Hall. Both Arlene and Harold attended high school in Lincoln Hall. Arlene Schnitzer herself died on April 4, 2020, at the age of 91.{{Cite news|url=http://blog.oregonlive.com/higher-education/2013/02/major_gift_from_arlene_schnitz.html|title=Major gift from Arlene Schnitzer supports new Portland State University College of the Arts|first=john|last=Kirkland|date=February 20, 2013|accessdate=February 24, 2013|work=The Oregonian|publisher=Advance Publications|location=Portland, Oregon|issn=8750-1317}}

Schnitzer founded and directed the Fountain Gallery, together with her mother Helen Director, and a friend Edna Brigham.{{Cite web|url=https://www.opb.org/news/article/arlene-schnitzer-dead-obituary/|title=Arlene Schnitzer, Oregon Philanthropist And Art Collector, Dies At 91|last=Sabatier|first=Amelia Templeton {{!}} Julie|website=www.opb.org|language=en|access-date=2020-04-12}} They established Fountain in Portland to showcase artists in the Pacific Northwest.{{Cite web|url=http://www.artandliving.com/aandlmagazine/index.php/nowmenu/philanthropist/973-jordan-schnitzer|title=Jordan Schnitzer|first=Kimberly|last=Nichols|work=Art and Living|accessdate=February 23, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115092611/http://www.artandliving.com/aandlmagazine/index.php/nowmenu/philanthropist/973-jordan-schnitzer|archive-date=January 15, 2013|url-status=dead}} The Fountain has been called Portland's "first serious" art gallery.{{Cite news|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/O/index.ssf/2010/09/analysis_the_generational_shif.html|title=The generational shift in Oregon's cultural philanthropy|first=D.K.|last=Row|accessdate=February 24, 2013|date=September 25, 2010|work=The Oregonian|publisher=Advance Publications|location=Portland, Oregon|issn=8750-1317}}

Image:SchnitzerAtNight.jpg]]

Schnitzer is the namesake of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, a performing arts center located in downtown Portland. The Portland Art Museum created an honor called the Arlene Schnitzer Prize, which recognizes young artists whose work exhibit "great promise".{{Cite news|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/art/index.ssf/2011/06/portland_art_museums_arlene_sc.html|title= Portland Art Museum's Arlene Schnitzer Prize goes to Seattle artist John Grade|first=David|last=Stabler|accessdate=February 24, 2013|work=The Oregonian|publisher=Advance Publications|location=Portland, Oregon|date=March 30, 2007|issn=8750-1317}} In 2012, the exhibition "Provenance: In Honor of Arlene Schnitzer" featuring works by Pacific Northwest artists opened at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art; the works were selected from the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Art Collection and were displayed at the museum's Schnitzer Gallery of American Art.

• Director Park, named for Schnitzer's parents
• List of American Jews

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• [http://photos.oregonlive.com/oregonian/2011/04/harold_schnitzer_obituary_5.html Image: Harold and Arlene Schnitzer at the dedication of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501005159/http://photos.oregonlive.com/oregonian/2011/04/harold_schnitzer_obituary_5.html |date=2011-05-01 }} (Ross William Hamilton, The Oregonian, 1984)
• [http://photos.oregonlive.com/oregonian/2011/04/harold_schnitzer_obituary_4.html Image: Harold and Arlene Schnitzer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501005154/http://photos.oregonlive.com/oregonian/2011/04/harold_schnitzer_obituary_4.html |date=2011-05-01 }} (The Oregonian, 2011)

{{Oregon Women of Achievement}}

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Category:1929 births

Category:2020 deaths

Category:20th-century American art collectors

Category:Jewish art collectors

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Category:Jews from Oregon

Category:American philanthropists

Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent

Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent

Category:People from Portland, Oregon

Category:People from Salem, Oregon

Category:Philanthropists from Oregon

Category:21st-century American Jews