The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago has created a $5 million endowment dedicated to collecting works by women artists, unveiled at an event on October 5. The fund was made possible by a gift from museum board member and entrepreneur Leslie Bluhm on behalf of Chicago's Bluhm family, and it honours the legacy of outgoing director Madeleine Grynsztejn, who is leaving the institution at the end of the year after an 18-year tenure. The new endowment builds on the MCA's Women Artists Initiative, formalised as a philanthropic fund in 2020, five years after the museum committed to parity for women artists across its programmes. As part of the process, the initiative will be renamed the Madeleine Fund For Women Artists, cementing Grynsztejn's role in establishing and leading the effort. In a statement, Grynsztejn said the MCA had championed equity for nearly sixty years, but that the fund took a remarkable step toward codifying gender parity into the museum's activities for decades to come. She added that the moment was vital not just for the institution but for contemporary art itself. The announcement lands as museums continue to confront the gender imbalances of their collections, where women artists remain under-represented in both acquisitions and displays. By endowing the commitment rather than relying on annual budgets, the MCA is attempting to lock in a structural correction — one that will shape what its visitors see long after its current leadership has moved on. The fund also sets a benchmark for peer institutions. Named endowments dedicated specifically to acquiring work by women remain rare in American museums, and Chicago's move may pressure other contemporary art museums to match the gesture with money rather than statements. With Grynsztejn departing after eighteen years, the Madeleine Fund ties her tenure's signature policy to the museum's permanent financial architecture.