Warning: This Video Will Make You Smile

Flowers + Art = Community

View this email in your browser Ideas and information to help you make a difference January 2026 Imagine walking into The Great Hall of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The hall is vast and buzzing with people. But your eyes are drawn to the lush flowers that brighten the space. What you may not know is that those elaborate floral arrangements have appeared every single week for more than 50 years.  The enduring welcome exists because of Lila Acheson Wallace. Together with her husband, DeWitt Wallace, Lila co-founded the Reader's Digest in 1922, helping turn it into one of the most widely read magazines in the world. From the beginning, the Wallaces believed that ideas, culture, and knowledge should be accessible to all people. Lila Wallace's philanthropy helped grow museums, opera companies, dancers, musicians, and theaters. In the late 1960s, she established an endowment for the permanent upkeep of the Great Hall and Plaza at The Met, including the weekly floral arrangements designed to soften the space and make visitors feel welcome. They were meant to signal that the museum and the art it displays were open to all.  We spent a morning at The Met to see this tradition in action and created a short video to take you with us.  Following the Wallaces' deaths, their estate helped shape the foundations that would later merge to become The Wallace Foundation. Today, we stay true to the passions of our founders and their legacy. Like the flowers in the Great Hall, we believe in steady, long-term investment that is thoughtful, lasting, and designed to ensure that art, learning, and opportunity remain open to all. FOLLOW THE WALLACE FOUNDATION Copyright © 2026 The Wallace Foundation, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: The Wallace Foundation 140 Broadway, 49th Floor New York, NY 10005 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.