Jeane Hamilton, who was known for her role in supporting and transforming what later became the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, has died at age 96. She passed away at her home Wednesday morning, her family told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
When she first arrived in Little Rock from Indianapolis in 1952, she found a city in need of the arts. With the help of then-Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller, Hamilton and her fellow Junior League of Little Rock members oversaw an expansion of what is now the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, growing its collection and beginning the museum's first education initiatives.
Hamilton spoke in October 2019 at the Junior League of Little Rock about her passion for the arts, and her efforts to lay the groundwork for some of the best-known organizations still around today.