Matron of the arts: one person can't change the world? Don't tell that to the woman affectionately known as Milu, one of Brazil's leading arts patrons - Style of Life: The Arts

MARIA DE LOURDES Egydio Villela, better known as Milu, was born into one of Brazil's most powerful families. She is the controlling shareholder of the Itausa Group, which owns Brazil's second-largest private bank, Banco Itau. But Milu has not remained in the ivory tower. Often referred to as the Princess Diana of Brazil, Milu has used her social influence to benefit myriad projects and institutions while convincing others of the value of philanthropy to support the arts community and the poor.

Milu divides most of her time between her duties as president of both Sao Paulo's Museum of Modern Art (MAM) and the Sao Paulo Volunteer Center. She also serves as vice president of the Itau Cultural Association and remains the founding director of Projeto Despertar, a non-government youth organization located in one of Sao Paulo's roughest neighborhoods.

Milu wasn't always this busy. Until 1990, she dedicated most of her time to raising her children, rarely appearing in the social columns. After separating from her husband, she decided to make a change, both in her life and in the lives of others. In 1993, she hired private tutors from Brazil's prestigious Getulio Vargas Foundation to teach her business administration; the following year she was elected president of MAM.

When Milu became president of MAM, the museum was in utter disarray According to Milu, "It was completely abandoned. The ceiling dripped, and every time it rained we had to get out buckets to keep the building from flooding." Her first challenge was to raise funds to renovate the museum's interior. But the true scope of the needed repairs soon became clear: "We changed the floor, the ceilings, the roof, the lighting. We had to install a security system and climate control system." Through her network of affluent friends and other patrons among Brazil's social elite, she raised US$4.2 million to renovate the building.

Once the structure was brought up to international standards, Milu started investing in other aspects of the museum. Trained at Sao Paulo's Pontificia Universidade Catolica in education, Milu formulated a personal and professional goal to reinvent MAM as a teaching center, "Educating through art is the primary function of the museum," she says.

Milu also has concentrated her efforts on increasing the caliber and quantity of the museum's collection. Thanks to donations from both Sao Paulo's high society and its business leaders, Milu has increased the museum's holdings 40 percent since 1993. Today the museum has nearly 100 corporate sponsors, including Bank-Boston, Fundacao Roberto Marinho, Telesp Celular and Merrill Lynch, among others.

Milu has also played a key role in bringing art to the people. During the past year, three of Sao Paulo's high-end shopping centers have donated space to the museum to be used for classes, expositions and gift shops. "This is the first project of its kind in the world, and it has been extremely successful. We have found a way to grow by going to places where people spend their free time," Milu says. Four additional shopping centers in Sao Paulo state have expressed interest in hosting similar art-friendly projects.

Milu has also helped raise money for other modem art museums. Most of the expositions presented in Sao Paulo also travel to museums in Rio de Janeiro, Recife, Salvador and Fortaleza. For Milu, "what matters is that our expositions are seen by the greatest number of people possible, particularly in communities outside Rio and Sao Paulo."

Besides well-attended art exhibits, the museum boasts a popular restaurant that overlooks Sao Paulo's Ibirapuera Park. The number of museum visitors has skyrocketed since Milu took over. In 1994, only 9,822 patrons passed through the doors. In 1999, the museum staff counted more than 185,000 visitors, including 32,000 school children. Helping draw them in, the museum offered 510 courses and lectures.

Funding for the museum also has increased exponentially In 1994, the museum had fewer than 50 members. Today, there are 785 members and 77 corporate sponsors. Maria Rossi, MAM's head librarian, has worked at the museum since 1978 under three different presidents. According to Rossi, Milu has "given the museum a new life. When she arrived, the museum was completely abandoned. MAM has been reborn from the ashes." Rossi describes Milu as "a warrior and a fighter who is always trying to improve the museum."

The same can be said of Milu in her social work. Even before she took over MAM, Milu started working to improve low-income communities. After visiting Jardim Miriam, one of Sao Paulo's poorest, most violent neighborhoods, Milu set out to help that community The Despertar (Awaken) Community Center was founded after Milu secured old warehouse space from the municipal government. Her next challenge was to convince the community that the project was serious. For six months, the center was vandalized repeatedly The situation finally improved at the end of the year. "Once our first group of students graduated, the community saw that we were for real," Milu says.

Today the community center offers 15 free courses to disadvantaged adults and children from the local neighborhood. Each of the 150 students receives two meals per day at the center, as well as subsidized medical and dental care. Students are trained to work as beauticians, electricians, secretaries and gardeners. Courses in the same areas are offered to adults, in addition to a series of cooking, sewing, fitness and reading classes. To date, the center has trained more than 800 people. A day-care center recently opened on site supervises 165 children daily.

"Despertar proved that it is possible to significantly improve a neighborhood with even a small effort," says Milu. "The experience made me want to broaden the scope of the project." Milu consequently joined forces with First Lady Ruth Cardoso in an effort to encourage Brazilians to work as volunteers. In 1997, the two women founded the Sao Paulo Volunteer Center, and Milu was elected president. Currently, the center has more than 12,000 volunteers working in 350 non-governmental organizations. Milu hopes to increase this number significantly in 2001, which has been designated the "Year of the Volunteer" by the United Nations. "We are hoping to reach the level of the United States, where 23 million people volunteer five hours or more per week. We are after people's free time." Few, however, will be able to match how much Milu has given of her own.

COPYRIGHT 2000 Americas Publishing Group
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