The fund, named for Grynsztejn, will be supported by a donation from museum board member Leslie Bluhm on behalf of her family. Its announcement comes as Grynsztejn prepares to step down at the end of 2026, shortly before the MCA marks its 60th anniversary.

The museum announced in 2015 that it would aim for women to make up at least half of the artists featured in its exhibitions, acquisitions and programming. It formalized the pledge five years later with a dedicated philanthropic fund. Grynsztejn has said she believes the MCA is the only art museum in the United States to make such a commitment.

“This is not woke,” Grynsztejn said. “This is fairness. This is equity. This is serving our public. We are a public trust, and our public is 50-plus % female.”

The effort is one part of a broader push during her leadership to expand whose work the museum shows and collects, while maintaining its profile in the international art world. The MCA’s collection grew from 1,300 to 3,800 objects during her tenure. The museum has also supported emerging artists through programs including the Ascendant Art Series, which gives artists early-career survey exhibitions, and Chicago Works, focused on rising local talent.

Upcoming exhibitions will include a major presentation of work by Chicago-born artist Rashid Johnson later this fall and a 2027 exhibition devoted to Bridgeport-based artist Amanda Williams.

Grynsztejn’s tenure also included significant challenges. In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, artists withdrew work from an exhibition to protest the museum’s earlier layoffs of more than 40 employees. Visitor-services and other staff formed a group called MCAccountable to press for greater transparency on pay and benefits. The museum voluntarily recognized the MCA Workers United union in 2024; in March, the union reached a four-year contract that includes a 12% wage increase across the board.

Grynsztejn described the pandemic shutdown and labor unrest as the most difficult period of her career, while saying staff and artists’ demands helped the institution address its workplace practices. The museum said it conducted a compensation analysis in 2023 to ensure employee pay met or exceeded Chicago job-market norms.

The MCA has also navigated post-pandemic deficits, reporting losses of $6.7 million in fiscal 2022-23 and $2.3 million in 2023-24, before posting a $200,000 surplus in 2024-25. Its endowment increased from $55.7 million when Grynsztejn began as director to $157.2 million as of Aug. 31, according to figures she provided. She said she raised more than $300 million in donations during her tenure.

Grynsztejn has said she wants to find new ways to support artists beyond the museum. The MCA has not announced who will succeed her. Naomi Beckwith, deputy director and chief curator at New York’s Guggenheim Museum and a former MCA senior curator, is among the names circulating in Chicago’s art community, but she has not confirmed interest.

Those who have worked with Grynsztejn say the next director will need to balance the museum’s international standing with its responsibilities to Chicago artists and audiences. Chicago artist Cheryl Pope, who spent nine years in the museum’s education department, said the institution needs a leader able to keep both the local community and the wider art world in view.