Founder’s Award

Fleisher Art Memorial is proud to honor Dr. Constance E. Clayton with the 31st Founder’s Award. The award recognizes individuals who have made a significant commitment to providing access to the arts, promoting excellence in creative expression, and enriching Philadelphia’s cultural resources.

Dr. Clayton is a renowned educator, civic leader, and arts advocate with an unwavering commitment to helping children succeed. Among her many achievements, Dr. Clayton was the first African American and the first woman to lead the School District of Philadelphia. She served as superintendent for 11 years before she retired in 1993. Since her retirement, Dr. Clayton has made a remarkable impact on the arts. She served on the board of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and established the Constance E. Clayton Fellowship, which provides African American scholars with an opportunity to gain experience at the museum in preparation for a career as a curator or educator. In 2019, Dr. Clayton contributed more than 70 works to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, on view in the exhibition Awakened in You, accessible to thousands of Philadelphia schoolchildren and inspiring future artists, collectors, and museum audiences with work that speaks to the human experience.

We invite you to make a gift to Fleisher in honor of Dr. Clayton’s pioneering work and in celebration of the imaginations of Philadelphia’s young artists. Contributions will be acknowledged with the Constance E. Clayton Leadership Award, an annual paid internship at Fleisher for a Philadelphia teen artist to support professional experience in the creative workforce. Your gift will be a meaningful tribute to Dr. Clayton, and will further Fleisher’s work to help thousands of talented Philadelphia children achieve their full creative potential.

In honor of Dr. Clayton, Fleisher will present a vibrant exhibition of the work created by Philadelphia’s young artists at Cherry Street Pier on the Delaware River Waterfront in July 2021. We hope at that time it will be safe for our community to visit the exhibition and celebrate the creative achievements of hundreds of children from neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia. The health and well-being of Fleisher’s vibrant community of supporters and artists remain the top priority and will continue to inform decision-making around the young artists’ exhibition.

Questions? Contact Leah Gelb, Donor Engagement Officer, at 215-922-3456 ext. 326 or lgelb@fleisher.org.