Andrew Conru, the Seattle entrepreneur who last year purchased the Lusty Lady building in downtown Seattle, has a new project he’s funding: the Conru Art Foundation , intended to support the local arts community — including arts publication PublicDisplay.ART. Conru, the founder of adult entertainment and social networking company FriendFinder Networks, announced his new art foundation last Thursday.
The foundation will provide about $1 million a year to support PD.A. as well as a 4,000-square-foot event center, located two floors above Traver Gallery at 110 Union St.
and available now, that will be provided free for art-related nonprofits to host events and gatherings, he said in an interview this week. Additional plans for the foundation are in the works, with an emphasis on supporting Seattle’s arts ecosystem. “I have three pretty major projects coming up, but they’re all to be told later,” Conru said.
“We’re trying to take all these initiatives that people have worked on and try to absorb them into one clearinghouse of information related to the art world here. That’s our general direction.” Conru, whose Conru Foundation already gives about $500,000 to fund some Seattle arts and related nonprofits, is also working on renovating the Lusty Lady building into an art venue, with details to come, according to his art foundation’s website.
PD.A is intended to be the “publication wing of the Conru Art Foundation,” Conru said. He plans to help expand PD.
A.
