Creative Capital, a nonprofit organization that provides direct grants and career development services to artists, has announced a gift of $1 million from the estate of photographer Theo Westenberger.

The gift will be used to establish Theo Westenberger Awards for Creative Capital artists; a loan fund for Creative Capital alumni in literature, film/video, visual arts, and emerging fields; and a program in estate planning. The gift also includes $250,000 to underwrite inaugural Theo Westenberger Awards to Yance Ford (2012 Film/Video), LaToya Ruby Frazier (2012 Visual Arts), Laurie Jo Reynolds (2013 Emerging Fields), Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts (2013 Literature), and Quintan Ana Wikswo (2013 Emerging Fields). Every time the investment returns from the remaining $750,000 reach $50,000, a new Theo Westenberger Award recipient will be selected from among Creative Capital grantees.

The gift also will support the creation of a loan fund for alumni artists, with up to $250,000 to be used to guarantee low-interest, low-risk loans. The program will include an optional financial planning clinic to help artists succeed financially, build good credit, and manage their financial lives. The fund will complement an existing Loan Fund for the Performing Arts created in 2011 with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The new program in estate planning, initially designed for Creative Capital artists, will eventually be made available to all artists funded through Creative Capital's ancillary programs, as well as participants in Creative Capital’s Professional Development Program for artists.

Acclaimed both commercially and in the fine arts, Westenberger was known for her celebrity portraits and was the first female photographer to shoot the covers of Newsweek and Sports Illustrated. She also was dedicated to teaching and promoting the work of others, a legacy that her estate continues through mentorship, resource sharing, and a contest for women photographers. "Theo was committed to supporting individual artists and to providing the tools necessary to create success," said Colleen Keegan, executor of the Westenberger estate.