Elizabeth Sackler

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Elizabeth Sackler
Elizabeth A. Sackler in 2012
Sackler in 2012
Born
Elizabeth Ann Sackler

(1948-02-19) February 19, 1948 (age 73)
New York City, New York, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Other namesElizabeth A. Sackler
EducationNew Lincoln School
Alma materUnion Institute & University
OccupationHistorian
Activist
Years active2000-present
Parent(s)Arthur M. Sackler
Else Sackler

Elizabeth Ann Sackler (born February 19, 1948) is an American public historian, arts activist, and an heiress to the widely criticized[1][2] Sackler pharmaceutical dynasty. She is the founder of the American Ritual Object Repatriation Foundation and the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum.

Early life and education[]

In 1966, Sackler graduated from New Lincoln School, an experimental private high school in New York City, where she became in involved in activism.[3] In 1997, Sackler received her PhD with a concentration in public history from Union Institute & University.[4][5]

Career[]

Early work[]

In 1992, Sackler became frustrated with Sotheby's refusal to repatriate Native American ceremonial masks, so she purchased them and returned them to their tribes of origin. This led her to become interested in art and social justice issues for American Indians, which led her to become the founding president of the American Indian Ritual Object Repatriation Foundation.[6] She is also President of The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation and the Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation.

Brooklyn Museum[]

In 2007, she founded the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, the first museum center devoted to female artists and feminist art, located at the Brooklyn Museum.[7] A centerpiece of the center's collection is Judy Chicago's installation of her work, The Dinner Party, which is located at the Brooklyn Museum.[8][9] Sackler and Chicago had been friends since the 1970s.[10]

In June 2014, Sackler became the first woman to be elected Chairman by the Brooklyn Museum Board of Trustees,[11][12] a position she held until June 2016.[13] She has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Brooklyn Museum since 2000.[14] More recently, Sackler's work has focused on issues related to women in prison, including the program series States of Denial: The Illegal Incarceration of Women, Children, and People of Color as well as the exhibition Women of York: Shared Dining, both at the Brooklyn Museum's Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art.[15]

Family[]

Sackler was born in New York City to Arthur M. Sackler, psychiatrist, entrepreneur and philanthropist and Else Sackler (née Jorgensen), from Denmark.[16] She has a sister, Carol Master.[17] Sackler is a mother of two children.

Controversy[]

In October 2017, Esquire[18] and The New Yorker[19] published critical articles outlining connections among Purdue Pharma, the larger Sackler family and Oxycontin's role in the opioid crisis. In response, Elizabeth Sackler claimed that neither she, nor her children, “benefited in any way” from the sale of Oxycontin or ever held shares in Purdue Pharma.[20] Articles confirmed that her father's option in a different pharmaceutical company, Purdue Frederick, were sold shortly after his death in 1987, to Purdue Pharma owners Mortimer and Raymond Sackler, years before the advent of Oxycontin. Online outlet Hyperallergic reviewed legal documents confirming her statement [21] and later articles in the New York Times,[22] Associated Press,[23] and other outlets published clarifications and corrections all confirming her branch of the family's separation from Purdue Pharma and all Oxycontin profits. Elizabeth Sackler said she admired Nan Goldin and all activists seeking to hold Purdue accountable for "morally abhorrent" behavior.[24][22]

In response, Goldin noted that Elizabeth's father, Arthur, earned his fortune in significant part through marketing of tranquilizers, including Valium, that were widely abused.[25]

"We have heard repeatedly from Arthur’s widow, Dame Jillian Sackler, and Elizabeth that because Arthur died before the existence of Oxycontin, they didn’t benefit from it. But he was the architect of the advertising model used so effectively to push the drug. He also turned Valium into the first million-dollar drug," Goldin said in 2018.[26] "The whole Sackler clan is evil," she added.

Goldin's claims regarding the connection between Arthur Sackler's legacy and the opioid crisis in the United States have been echoed by some researchers and academics. Former New York Times journalist Barry Meier wrote in his book Pain Killer that Arthur Sackler "helped pioneer some of the most controversial and troubling practices in medicine: the showering of favors on doctors, the lavish spending on consultants and experts ready to back a drugmaker’s claims, the funding of supposedly independent commercial interest groups, the creation of publications to serve as industry mouthpieces, and the outright exploitation of scientific research for marketing purposes."[27] Psychiatrist Allen Frances told The New Yorker in 2017 that “[m]ost of the questionable practices that propelled the pharmaceutical industry into the scourge it is today can be attributed to Arthur Sackler.”[28][29]

Honors and awards[]

  • 1994: Native American Film and Video Celebration, Lincoln Center (New York, NY), Honorary Award, Executive Producer Life Spirit[citation needed]
  • 1998: The Union Institute (Cincinnati, OH), Sussman Award for Academic Excellence[citation needed]
  • 1999: Yurok Tribal Council (Eureka, CA), Honor[citation needed]
  • 2002: Brooklyn Museum (Brooklyn, NY), Community Committee's Women in the Arts Award[citation needed]
  • 2003: Women’s eNews (New York, NY), 21 Leaders of the 21st Century Award[citation needed]
  • 2004: Women’s Caucus for Art (Seattle, WA), President’s Award[citation needed]
  • 2005: Drums Along The Hudson (New York, NY), Native American of the Year[citation needed]
  • 2006: ArtTable Award, Distinguished Service to the Visual Arts[citation needed]
  • 2007: Moore College of Art, Visionary Woman Award.[30]
  • 2015: Studio Arts College International (SACI), Honorary MFA degree[31]

Memberships and leadership[]

  • National Council on Public History, Member[citation needed]
  • Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fellow for Life[citation needed]
  • Institute of American Indian Arts Museum (Santa Fe, NM), Founder’s Circle[citation needed]
  • 1987–present: The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation (New York, NY), CEO[citation needed]
  • 1992–present: American Indian Ritual Object Repatriation Foundation (New York, NY), Founder and President[citation needed]
  • 1995–1999: Smithsonian Institution (Washington, D.C.), Founding President, Friends of the Freer and Sackler Galleries[citation needed]
  • 2000–present: National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington, D.C.), National Advisory Board[citation needed]
  • 2000–2018: Brooklyn Museum (Brooklyn, NY), Board of Trustees, Collections Committee, Executive Committee[citation needed]
    • 2014–2016: Chairman, Board of Trustees.[32][33]
  • 2001–present: Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation (New York, NY), President[citation needed]
  • 2001–2006: New Mexico Statuary Hall Foundation, Office of Indian Affairs (Santa Fe, NM), Board Member for the National Statuary Hall Collection, Washington, D.C.[citation needed]

See also[]

Works and publications[]

  • Sackler, Elizabeth A. (2006). "Chapter 6. Calling for a Code of Ethics in the Indian Art Market". In King, Elaine A.; Levin, Gail (eds.). Ethics and the Visual Arts. New York: Allworth Press. pp. 89–104. ISBN 978-1-581-15600-3. OCLC 859537911.

References[]

  1. ^ Keefe, Patrick Radden (October 23, 2017). "The Family That Built an Empire of Pain". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  2. ^ "The Secretive Family Making Billions From the Opioid Crisis". Esquire. October 16, 2017. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  3. ^ Maloney, Alli (8 January 2016). "Art and activism: The compass points of Elizabeth Sackler's storied career". Women in the World, The New York Times.
  4. ^ Sackler, Elizabeth A. (1997). Repatriation: The Reculturalization of the Indigenous Peoples of America: A Shero's Journey and the Creation of the American Indian Ritual Object Repatriation Foundation (Thesis). Brattleboro, VT: Union Institute. OCLC 43869349.
  5. ^ "Art Advocate to Speak at Union Institute & University's Los Angeles Commencement". Union Institute & University News. 7 August 2008.
  6. ^ "Elizabeth Sackler". The American Indian Ritual Object Repatriation Foundation. 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-04-26. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  7. ^ Pogrebin, Robin. "Elizabeth A. Sackler to Lead Brooklyn Museum Board". ArtsBeat. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
  8. ^ Selbach, Victoria (2 May 2017). "Interview with Elizabeth A. Sackler". PoetsArtists. Bloomington, IL: GOSS183 Publishing House. 45. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  9. ^ Lovelace, Carey (Fall 2004). "A Feast of Feminist Art". Ms. Magazine. Archived from the original on 2017-08-26. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
  10. ^ "Art and activism: The compass points of Elizabeth Sackler's storied career". Women in the World. 2016-01-08. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
  11. ^ Pogrebin, Robin (26 June 2014). "Elizabeth A. Sackler to Lead Brooklyn Museum Board". The New York Times.
  12. ^ Cascone, Sarah (17 December 2014). "Elizabeth Sackler Wants Matrons of the Arts - artnet News". Artnet.
  13. ^ Ghorashi, Hannah (10 June 2016). "Brooklyn Museum Elects Barbara M. Vogelstein As Board Chair". ARTnews.
  14. ^ Cascone, Sarah (27 June 2014). "Elizabeth Sackler Named Brooklyn Museum's First Chairwoman". Artnet.
  15. ^ "The Brooklyn Museum's Elizabeth Sackler on Mass Incarceration and the Role of Activist Art". Hyperallergic. 2016-07-29. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
  16. ^ "Elizabeth Sackler - New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909". FamilySearch. 21 September 1956.
  17. ^ "Paid Notice: Deaths – Sackler, Else". The New York Times. 17 March 2000.
  18. ^ "The Secretive Family Making Billions From the Opioid Crisis". Esquire. 2017-10-16. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
  19. ^ Keefe, Patrick Radden (2017-10-23). "The Family That Built an Empire of Pain". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
  20. ^ Walters, Joanna (2018-01-22). "'I don't know how they live with themselves' – artist Nan Goldin takes on the billionaire family behind OxyContin". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-03-11.
  21. ^ "Our Incomplete List of Cultural Institutions and Initiatives Funded by the Sackler Family". Hyperallergic. 2018-01-11. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  22. ^ Jump up to: a b Moynihan, Colin (2018-03-10). "Opioid Protest at Met Museum Targets Donors Connected to OxyContin". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  23. ^ "Correction: Museum-Opioid Protest story". AP News. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  24. ^ "Sackler scion backs photog's campaign against OxyContin". Page Six. 2018-01-18. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  25. ^ "'Direct Action Is Our Only Hope': Opioid Crisis Activist Nan Goldin on Why People Need to Go Offline to Fight for Their Beliefs". artnet. September 4, 2018. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  26. ^ "'Direct Action Is Our Only Hope': Opioid Crisis Activist Nan Goldin on Why People Need to Go Offline to Fight for Their Beliefs". artnet. September 4, 2018. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  27. ^ Meier, Barry (2018). Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America's Opioid Epidemic. p. 52. ISBN 978-0525511090
  28. ^ Keefe, Patrick Radden (October 23, 2017). "The Family That Built an Empire of Pain". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  29. ^ "The Secretive Family Making Billions From the Opioid Crisis". Esquire. October 16, 2017. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  30. ^ "Visionary Woman Awards". Moore College of Art & Design. Archived from the original on 8 December 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  31. ^ Beckinsale, Mary (26 June 2015). "SACI MFA in Studio Art Commencement - April 2015 (Part 5/9 - Mary Beckinsale and Elizabeth Sackler)" (Video). SACI Florence.
  32. ^ "Elizabeth A. Sackler elected first woman Board Chair of Brooklyn Museum". artdaily. 28 June 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  33. ^ "Brooklyn Museum Elects Barbara M. Vogelstein to Chair its Board of Trustees". Artforum. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  34. ^ Anon 2018

Further reading[]

External links[]

External video
video icon Elizabeth Sackler, !Women Art Revolution, Stanford University, February 6, 2007, Brooklyn, New York
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