We sit together at Joy Cafe in the Spring Garden area with birds chirping, the condenser unit humming and conversations from other diners passing by. We drink pressed juice and smoothies and talk about ArtPhilly, his organization focused on growing artistic voices in the city, and its latest, biannual effort titled “What Now: 2026.” While the theme of the citywide festival explores the 250th anniversary of the founding document of the United States, the Declaration of Independence, the double entender shows Sachs trying to create a festival that invests in Philadelphia’s arts ecosystem.
At a very young age, she sang, which inspired her lifelong love of art and culture. When it was time for him to go to the University of Pennsylvania to get his degree, he thought he would be a music or math major, but that changed dramatically after he encountered art history. Something clicked, he tells the Observer—memorizing dates and charting important moments in history makes sense. That new found love drove him to his studies; she met her late husband, Keith L. Sachs before graduation in 1969. After graduating, he became a docent at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where he would continue to work for more than 40 years. When she rejoined the museum after having children, she became a curator in the Department of European Painting, where she put together an exhibition of Paul Cézanne, on whom she had written her college thesis. In 1988, her husband became a trustee of the institution.
The couple’s involvement with the museum changed his view of the art of public conversation that can inspire and inspire the sharing of artistic knowledge with others. “For the artist we have, we always lend to any exhibition if requested, because we felt it was our responsibility. The couple started collecting in 1980, initially focusing on the works of artists who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s. Today, Sachs is modest about his art collection, only stating that he has donated Anselm Kiefer to the museum. For him, collecting is not about building wealth or even fame; what drives him as a collector is the importance of finding work by artists of his generation and supporting people. In 2013, he and Keith donated their $70 million collection to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which renamed the modern art wing after him. As for the rest of the collection, he plans to pass it on to the museum after his death.
When Keith died unexpectedly in 2018, he took over the board. He describes losing a living partner as in Pixar’s Up, where the main character’s wife gives him a letter before she passes. Most of the movie, he can’t bring himself to open it because it causes him grief, but in the end when he opens it, he finds empty pages waiting to be filled by him. Two years after her husband’s death, COVID struck, and Sachs decided she was ready to enter a new phase of her life. “That’s where I’m at—filling in the blank pages,” he explained, referring to his decision to found ArtPhilly.
“I’ve spent my entire career at the museum, and now I’m out on the hill and I’ve met some amazing people. It’s been great,” he adds when asked how the festival was. At first, he put together a group he met with every week: Bill Adair, John McInerney and Thom Collins. They talked about how Sachs was disappointed in his centenary in 1976 and wanted to do better. When he spoke to the 250th anniversary team, they first asked to include him in the art committee, but, according to him, they also made it clear that art will be the next thing in the celebration. It was then that he decided to do something on his own. “Philadelphia is not the baby brother of any other city. Philly is a world-class city in its own right,” he asserted. The original team of four was expanded to include seven artistic directors from institutions across Philadelphia; they met six times and together they created a list of more than 80 artists which was then reduced to 17 artists who will create 45 projects.
They looked at several models every two years while creating what would become ArtPhilly. One example was the scale of Art and Design Chicago, sponsored by the Terra Foundation. The founders of that program invested five million dollars and made $30 million—economic development of the city, especially on the South Side. Most important to Sachs, however, is the cultural investment shown in a long-neglected area. He views art as an important aspect of well-being and social benefit as an economic driver.
The theme of 2026, “What Now,” came from the conversations of the four original team members. At a time when people are remembering and recalling the Declaration of Independence, a pressing question has arisen: Who are we? America’s identity has always been about myth-making, and the world has changed a lot too. At this point in our conversation, Sachs hands me a pen from the Haverford College exhibit “Bicentennial City” (2020), which examines the year-long celebration of 1976. In it is a quote from Leonard Cohen that guided their original thinking for the show: “There’s a crack in everything, there’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light comes in.” Sachs sees this period 50 years later as a breakthrough for artists.
Heritage is at the forefront of Sachs’s life. Great art collectors amassed things quietly during their lifetimes or built large collections with names such as the Guggenheim Museum, the Glenstone and the Menil Collection. Sachs says he wasn’t particularly interested in that kind of legacy but more specifically in a legacy built by nurturing relationships in real time. With ArtPhilly, he has taken on the role of collector, thus putting the community first. He responds with urgency to the contemporary artists around him, rather than just finding new works. “Musicians are our guiding light, and they can interpret the best at any time,” he said. “And how much do we need them right now? But artists also have the ability to not only let us know where we are, but also give us hope, and they are light.”
Many discussions of art collectors
