of paintings that she planned from the outset to donate to the Art Association's museum as a memorial to her parents. During the 1940s Fesler acquired for the museum a collection of eight paintings by Meindert Hobbema, Corneille de Lyon, Aelbert Cuyp, Jacob van Ruisdael, Vincent van Gogh, Willem Kalf, Georges Seurat, and Paul Cézanne. Although her acquisitions were made anonymously, it was not a well-kept secret at the museum that Fesler was the source of the gifts. When she did become publicly known as the donor, Art News described her as "a new kind of patron," one who acquired works of art directly for the museum and not for herself. Philanthropic leadership Fesler's contributions to the Herron museum and art school in Indianapolis did not begin or end with her donations of fine art. She also provided substantial financial support and leadership. Fesler served as a board member of the Herron School of Art from 1916 to 1947, and remained active on several committees at the Art Association, including its Fine Arts Committee and the Art School Committee. In 1941 Fesler succeeded Evans Woolen II as president of the Art Association of Indianapolis and continued to serve in that role until 1947, when she resigned for health reasons. Fesler's generous support of the organization continued through bequests made in her will following her death in 1960. In 1928 the construction of a new Herron art school building on the Art Association's property at 16th and Pennsylvania Streets was made possible through an anonymous $200,000 gift, which the association's leadership knew was Fesler's donation. The old art school building was demolished and replaced with a new facility designed by Paul Philippe Cret, a French architect whose firm was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Robert Frost Daggett of Indianapolis. The new art school building was dedicated on September 5, 1929. In 1933 Fesler spearheaded the decision to separate the Herron art school from the museum under separate directors. While Wilbur Peat remained the head of the Herron museum, Fesler led a search for the Herron art school's first director, recommending artist and New York art educator Donald Mattison for the position and offering to pay his salary. In 1940 Fesler's financial support shifted from the Herron art school to the museum, beginning with a remodeling of its 16th Street museum building in 1940–41. She made an anonymous $50,000 donation in support