The legacy of local business leader and top Longmont Museum benefactor Lila Jean Stewart has continued with a donation of $1 million from the Stewart Family Foundation.

The Museum will use the funds to target strategic plan initiatives, such as building expansion, staff support, and needed equipment.

“We are humbled to see Lila’s commitment to the Museum continue through this gift,” said Museum Director Kim Manajek. “Her memory very much lives on through the performances, exhibits and programs we’re able to present to the community thanks to her generosity.”

During her life, Lila Stewart was the leading contributor to the Museum’s 2012 $4.5 million capital campaign, enabling the construction of the state-of-the-art Stewart Auditorium. The Stewart Auditorium provides a premier performance space for small musical ensembles, films, lectures, theatre and dance, and has continued to be a pillar of the Museum’s programming through virtual events during the past year.

Although Stewart died in 2018, her passion projects – most prominently the Longmont Museum, the TLC Learning Center, and the University of Colorado – still feel her love. In 2019 the Stewart Family Foundation awarded the Museum $80,000 to pay for a Master Development Plan, which will inform building growth. In 2020, the Foundation contributed another $200,000 that has been critical in offsetting revenue lost from many months of closure and restricted admission and programming due to the pandemic. The Museum’s programming has been able to continue virtually—offering art instruction, entertainment, and vital conversations.

Jim Newcomb, president of the Stewart Family Foundation, reiterated the family’s dedication to the Museum. “The Stewart Family Foundation continues to honor the wishes of Bill, Lila and Linda,” Newcomb said. “It was deeply important to them to support the Longmont community and the mission of the Museum.”

The Longmont Museum is currently exhibiting the original work of Impressionists Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Camille Pissarro and their printmaker George William Thornley in a show entitled “Enduring Impressions,” on view with timed ticketing through July 18. It hopes to return to regular, in-person programming this summer, starting with the annual outdoor Summer Concert Series.