The Fowler Museum at UCLA has received a $1 million gift from Shirley and Ralph Shapiro of Los Angeles.

Since 2003, the Shapiros have supported the Fowler Museum's exhibitions and programs, and in 2004, they established the Shirley & Ralph Shapiro Director's Discretionary Fund. This new pledge of $1 million is made in honor of current Fowler director Marla C. Berns, in recognition of her outstanding accomplishments and contributions to UCLA and the community.

The pledge will be used to establish an endowed fund that will yield annual income to be used at the director's discretion. Berns will be the first Shirley & Ralph Shapiro Director of the Fowler Museum.

"We're pleased to support Marla Berns' talent, energy and inspired leadership of the Fowler, a museum that is a true treasure for UCLA and Los Angeles," said Shirley Shapiro. "With this endowment, we hope both to honor Marla Berns' dynamism and innovative efforts as well as to enhance the attractiveness of the director's position for future leaders of the Fowler."

When Berns assumed the directorship of the Fowler in November 2001, it was a homecoming to a place that had played an important role in her undergraduate and graduate education. Berns earned her bachelor's degree (1973) and Ph.D. (1986) in art history at UCLA, where she specialized in African arts — a particular strength of the Fowler.

One of the most important initiatives that Berns has launched as director came to fruition last fall with the opening of "Intersections: World Arts, Local Lives," a four-year project and the first long-term exhibition of highlights from the Fowler's renowned permanent collection of global arts. The $1 million exhibition features a unique thematic and cross-cultural approach and incorporates a wide range of new technologies.

In addition, Berns has encouraged the presentation of work by contemporary artists in exhibitions that speak to both the ongoing dynamism of world cultures and to the resonance between contemporary art and historical works. To that end, the Fowler debuted the national traveling exhibition "The Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama," which drew record-breaking audiences to the museum during the summer of 2006.

In addition, coming to the Fowler in April 2007 is the West Coast solo debut of acclaimed Ghanaian artist El Anatsui, recently named by The Independent (U.K.) as one of Africa's 50 greatest cultural figures. "El Anatsui: Gawu" will feature eight large-scale works that make use of large quantities of discarded everyday materials — such as flattened metal liquor bottle wrappers and food-tin tops — stitched together and transformed to create works of stunning originality that simultaneously reference traditional Ghanaian textiles.

Since her arrival, Berns has made audience-building and enhanced visibility two institutional priorities. Under her leadership, the Fowler has added several new programs, including the popular Fowler Out Loud, a Thursday night student performance series, as well as the museum's largest family festival ever — a spring 2006 event attended by thousands and presented in conjunction with the exhibition "CARNAVAL." Berns also encouraged the development of Fowler OutSpoken, an evening speakers' series that welcomes noted artists, scholars and cultural leaders to discuss ideas surrounding current exhibitions. Recent Fowler OutSpoken presenters have included artist Bill Viola, satirist Harry Shearer and cultural theorist W.J.T. Mitchell. One of Berns' first moves in 2002 was to eliminate the Fowler's admission fee, making the museum one of only a handful of free museums in the Los Angeles area. Last year, attendance increased 50 percent, and in the past five years, annual membership support has doubled.

Shirley and Ralph Shapiro, both graduates of UCLA, have been active volunteers for their alma mater and generous donors to many schools and programs at the university. The Shapiro's philanthropy also extends beyond UCLA to many organizations throughout Los Angeles and across the country that support the arts, environmental issues, children's health and human rights.

"I am honored by this recognition from Shirley and Ralph Shapiro, who are such engaged and dedicated philanthropists and volunteers," Berns said. "I am fortunate to be the director of the Fowler Museum — an institution with which I have been actively involved since my graduate years at UCLA in the late 1970s — and I am deeply touched by the Shapiro's vote of confidence. With this naming, I accept the challenges and responsibilities their generosity confers, and I look forward to leading this fine institution further on its journey. The remarkably talented staff of the Fowler Museum also deserves this acknowledgment, as each of them helps make my own professional successes here possible."

The Fowler Museum explores art and material culture primarily from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and the Americas, past and present. The Fowler seeks to enhance understanding and appreciation of the diverse peoples, cultures and religions of the world through highly contextualized interpretive exhibitions, publications and public programming informed by interdisciplinary approaches and the perspectives of the cultures represented. The museum provides exciting and informative exhibitions and events for the UCLA community and the people of Greater Los Angeles and beyond.

The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, from noon until 5 p.m., and on Thursday from noon until 8 p.m. The museum is closed Monday and Tuesday. The Fowler, part of UCLA's School of the Arts and Architecture, is located in the north part of the UCLA campus. Admission is free. Parking is available for $8 in Lot 4. For more information, the public may call (310) 825-4361 or visit www.fowler.ucla.edu.

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