A decades-long legacy of partnership, sponsorship, leadership.
The Allentown Art Museum has announced that it will honor the Butz family at its annual Gala Dinner & Auction on the evening of Saturday, April 6, 2019.
Lee and Dolly Butz, Greg Butz, and Eric Butz and Debora Roberson are among the family members that will be celebrated for their longtime and significant support of the Museum.
“The Butz family has a distinguished legacy of giving to the Art Museum over the past decades, not just years,” said David Mickenberg, the Museum’s Priscilla Payne Hurd President and CEO. “Their ongoing generosity and professional expertise has provided the means for arts organizations across the Lehigh Valley, including the Allentown Art Museum, to enrich, enliven, and improve our community in so many ways. We are grateful for their continued, essential support of the Museum and its mission.”
The annual Gala is the Museum’s primary fundraiser, held every April. Proceeds benefit all Museum operations, including exhibitions, programs for children and adults, community outreach, and special events.
In addition to the Alvin H. Butz Inc.’s President’s Chair sponsorship, other premier supporters of this year’s Museum Gala include: Joe & Rita Scheller (Palladium Underwriters); Penny Holman and Leon Holt (Platinum Underwriters); Air Products, Crayola/Rick & Michelle Stringer, Norris McLaughlin, P.A./Dolores Laputka, Esq., Tom & Amy Scalici, and Victaulic (Rembrandt Sponsors); Lutron and PPL (Gilbert Stuart Sponsors); and City Center Allentown, Al & Jill Douglass, and Dual Temp Company (Frank Lloyd Wright Sponsors).
The Butz family roots in the Lehigh Valley date back to the mid-1800s, when the family business was building covered bridges. Today the family operates two longstanding and successful companies anchored in Allentown: Alvin H. Butz Inc., a member of the Butz Family of Companies; and Roberson Butz Architects, owned by Eric Butz and Debora Roberson.
Greg Butz joined the Board of Trustees of the Allentown Art Museum in January 2019. He has served on fundraising campaigns, chaired committees, and held board seats on other nonprofit arts organizations as well. He enjoys collecting art and has been a strong proponent of business supporting the arts financially.
Lee and Dolly Butz are generous benefactors of numerous Lehigh Valley businesses and arts, education, and civic organizations. Lee’s fine-art photography has documented many musical and drama performances. They are longtime supporters of the Art Museum.
Eric Butz and Debora Roberson support arts and music education through their involvement with the Allentown School District Foundation, where they lead fundraising, recruit talent, and enlist volunteers. Roberson Butz Architects has provided architectural design services for the Allentown Art Museum in addition to Miller Symphony Hall, the Baum School of Art, and the State Theatre Center for the Arts.
Through their companies and individually, the Butz family have given more than $2 million dollars to arts organizations in and around the Lehigh Valley in the past ten years.