New Fund Alert! J. Fred Kuntz Endowed Fund
Donors give $20,000 to support Southampton Arts through Community Foundation Grey Bruce
SOUTHAMPTON, ON – Two donors have jointly given a total of $20,000 to a new fund at Community Foundation Grey Bruce (CFGB) that will benefit the Southampton Arts Centre (SAC).
Fred Kuntz, Chair of the Board of Southampton Arts, donated $10,000 to create the new J. Fred Kuntz Endowed Fund. It will be a sub-fund of the existing Southampton Arts Centre Endowment Fund.
Merv Redman of Kitchener, a regular summer visitor to Saugeen Shores, donated an additional $10,000 to the J. Fred Kuntz fund.
“We want to support the arts community in Southampton in the long run,” Kuntz said. “That’s the beauty of donating through Community Foundation. The investment just keeps giving.”
“The arts add so much to the quality of life in a community – that is why I support Southampton Arts,” Redman said.
Southampton Arts has two programs: the Southampton Art School, founded in 1957, which offers arts courses to about 1,000 youth and adults each summer; and the Southampton Art Gallery, in the former Town Hall building on High St., free to the public and selling the works of about 40 local and regional artists.
The original SAC Endowment Fund was created in 2010-11 with $30,000, including $20,000 from local donors and Southampton Arts itself, plus $10,000 in matching funds from a CFGB program at that time.
Through investment over the past 15 years, the original fund has grown to about $45,000. As a result, the annual grant to the arts organization was over $1,900 in 2025. Returns from the new sub-fund will roll up into the existing fund, to further boost annual grants.
Redman has been a significant supporter to Southampton Arts, including through direct donations and a two-year, interest free loan of $25,000 in 2024 to help the group recover from financial setbacks during the pandemic.
Following the Town of Saugeen Shores’ decision in May this year to assist SAC financially with $50,000, Redman stepped up with another $5,000 donation directly to SAC.
“I was especially heartened this year to see Town council commit to supporting Southampton Arts – a municipal vote of confidence in the organization’s mission and value,” Redman says. “It inspired me to make these additional donations, both to Southampton Arts directly and to the endowment fund with the Community Foundation.”
“We welcome such donations through our foundation,” said Stuart Reid, Executive Director of CFGB. “We remain a steadfast source for good in our communities, helping to build a vibrant, healthy and sustainable future.”
Created in 1994, Community Foundation Grey Bruce has a mandate to enhance community vitality by fostering open discussion about local need, sharing knowledge, and growing endowments to provide strategic granting and support to a wide range of non-profit organizations.
For more information, please contact:
Fred Kuntz, Chair, Board of Directors, Southampton Arts Centre
chair@southamptonarts.com
519-540-8410For more information, please contact:
www.southamptonartscentre.com
Stuart Reid, Executive Director, Community Foundation Grey Bruce
foundation@cfgb.ca
519-371-7203
www.communityfoundationgreybruce.com