Carolyn Clark Powers
Carolyn Clark Powers is a dedicated philanthropist and arts patron. Her commitment to giving is sparked by the idea that art is a connector to be freely experienced by all. Carolyn’s expansive charitable focus includes support for the visual and performing arts, music education, and children’s and women’s issues.
Carolyn currently chairs the Americans for the Arts’ National Arts Awards, and is the namesake of its annual Carolyn Clark Powers Lifetime Achievement Award, bestowed to such living legends as Tony Bennett, Herbie Hancock, Sophia Loren, Mavis Staples and the esteemed Modern painter Luchita Hurtado.
She also is the President of the Board of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles. Elected in 2018, after serving as a trustee since 2009, she is proud to be a part of the first female-led Board at the museum with Chair Maria Seferian, collaborating on new initiatives with Director Klaus Biesenbach. Driven by art’s ability to educate, change and heal, and to bridge cultural and socio-economic divides, Carolyn recently made a substantial gift to MOCA of $10 million, expanding public access to art in Los Angeles. Her donation, which she announced at MOCA’s 40th anniversary benefit, will fund the museum’s first free general admissions program.
A Los Angeles resident for more than 35 years, Carolyn was raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She traces her roots to her ancestral home, Dockery Farms in the Mississippi Delta, designated by the National Register of Historic Places as the official birthplace of Blues music in America. To honor its vital connection to a music genre chronicling the American experience, Carolyn helped create the Dockery Farms Foundation and is the Co-Chair of its Board of Directors.
In addition, Carolyn is a board member of the Grammy Museum Foundation and the Kennedy Center National Committee for the Performing Arts. Devoted to early arts and music education, she also worked with PS Arts, serving low-income public schools.
On a personal level, Carolyn challenges herself to new experiences and perspectives. She regularly engages in feats of physical endurance, including completing marathons in New York, Boston, Washington DC, Chicago and Honolulu. She balances her philanthropic work with family, including her three sons, mindful yoga and meditation. Carolyn is an avid traveler, skier, art collector, music aficionado, and enjoys fine food and wine.
A full list of organizations that Carolyn supports is available upon request.
