Steve Cozart at the Weatherspoon Art Museum

Dr. Claribel & Miss Etta Cone Art Collection presentation to the Bertha L. and Moses H. Cone Society members as part of a Cone Health hosted virtual event on November 19, 2020.Cone Society members learned about Claribel and Etta Cone, the Cone sisters, who became voracious modern art collectors and recognized the value of sharing that art with the public. Weatherspoon Curator of Collections Elaine D. Gustafson presented a history of the Cone sisters’ impact on art in America and specifically at the Weatherspoon. Their donation of art in 1950 to the Weatherspoon became one of the cornerstones of the museum’s permanent collection. The Cone family’s generosity continued with gifts to fund art acquisitions to build the collection and the lead gift from Anne and Benjamin Cone, Sr., to construct the Weatherspoon’s current museum building. Cone Health Philanthropy Officer Ruth Heyd led a live question and answer session with Gustafson and Anne and Benjamin Cone Memorial Endowed Director Juliette Bianco, allowing participants to engage in the discussion.The virtual presentation also included remarks from Weatherspoon Arts Foundation Board member Sally Cone, UNCG Chancellor Frank Gilliam, Cone Health Chief Executive Officer Terry Akin, and the Weatherspoon’s Juliette Bianco. The museum’s sculpture garden served as a perfect setting on a clear November afternoon to capture these leaders’ thoughts about their shared passions for education, health, and art as well as their gratitude for the Cone family’s commitment to Greensboro.Weatherspoon Art Museum: https://weatherspoonart.org/ Weatherspoon Collection: https://weatherspoonart.org/collection/ UNC Greensboro: http://www.uncg.edu/Dr. Claribel & Miss Etta Cone bibliography:Cameron, Dianna and Carrie Streeter. "Modern Visions Modern Art: The Cone Sisters in North Carolina." Blowing Rock, NC: Blowing Rock Art & History Museum. 2019.Fillion, Susan. "Miss Etta and Dr. Claribel: Bringing Matisse to America." Boston: David R. Godine. 2011.Gabriel, Mary. "The Art of Acquiring: A Portrait of Etta & Claribel Cone." Baltimore, Maryland: Bancroft Press. 2002.Hirschland, Ellen B. and Nancy Hirschland Ramage. "The Cone Sisters of Baltimore: Collecting at Full Tilt." Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press. 2008.Levitov, Karen. "Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore." New York: The Jewish Museum. 2011.Pollack, Barbara. "The Collectors: Dr. Claribel and Miss Etta Cone." New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc. 1962.Richardson, Brenda. "Dr. Claribel & Miss Etta." The Cone Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Baltimore, Maryland: Baltimore Museum of Art. 1985.