Efroymson

Historians may mark WWII as the beginning of contemporary art, but in Indy, it begins with the Efroymsons. The family’s money started the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art (iMOCA), endows the entrance gallery at the IMA, and grants $100,000 in Efroymson Contemporary Art Fellowships each year.


The PatriarchGustave Efroymson (1870–1946)
By age 18, Gustave had already purchased a stake in a local department store. But it was turning around the failing Real Silk Hosiery Mills near Mass Ave (where the logo remains on a water tower) that made him famous. Real Silk would thrive during WWII, making parachutes and bomb sleeves for the war effort.

The Local Descendants

Lori Efroymson-Aguilera, 67, chair of the Efroymson Family Fund
In 1998, as her husband Daniel battled cancer, Lori set up a family fund with him through the Central Indiana Community Foundation that has grown to almost $100 million. After Daniel’s untimely death, Lori carried on the Efroymson family mission of understated leadership. “She’s an incredibly classy, quiet person,” says CICF president Brian Payne. “For Lori, giving is about responsibility. It’s about doing the right thing.”

Jeremy Efroymson, 40, vice chairman of the EfroymsonFamily Fund
Look at any local grassroots arts group and you’ll probably find Jeremy’s fingerprints. Local artist Jeff Martin is one of dozens of beneficiaries. “Jeremy gets criticized sometimes for bouncing from project to project,” says Martin, who once started an art gallery with his help. “But most of the projects that he starts are still going, even though he’s not a part of them anymore.”

The Anonymity
“We’re well-known in certain areas,” admits Jeremy Efroymson, son of Daniel and Lori, “but a lot of people outside the nonprofit sector have no idea who I am.” He frequently visits the IMA, entering through the Efroymson Family Entrance Pavilion. “I went in and handed my IMA card to the person behind the desk,” he says. “The lady was like, ‘Your membership expires on Dec. 31. Would you like to renew?’”

The Private Collection
What’s hanging on the walls at home? Lori favors Christos Koutsouras, a Greek painter who briefly taught drawing and painting at the University of Indianapolis, while Jeremy collects prints from renowned sculptor Richard Serra. “I can’t afford his sculptures,” he says, adding that “five figures” is the most he has spent on a work for himself. “And I put a lot of my art in the closet. I’m scared the kids will tear it apart.”

The Legacy

Today, the enormous Efroymson Family Fund encompasses 600 projects. “My favorite thing we’ve done has been the Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellowships,” Jeremy says. “I’ve always wanted to give money directly to artists.”