Nancy and Steven Oliver Sculpture Collection

In December, although it was announced only recently, Bay Area collectors Nancy and Steven Oliver made a novel arrangement to preserve the renowned collection of outdoor sculpture on their Geyserville ranch.

The Oliver Ranch Foundation has been formed to dovetail with the Community Foundation Sonoma County, which will ultimately inherit the Oliver Ranch and the commissioned land art on its grounds.

The site-responsive pieces there include works by Bruce Nauman, Richard Serra, Roger Berry and, most recently, Ann Hamilton.

Hamilton designed a tall cylindrical tower with internal spiral staircases that serves as a performance space.

Oliver and I spoke by phone about the foundation plan and the ranch's future.

Q: Was there a model elsewhere for your new legacy arrangement?

A: We looked at a lot of different things. As San Francisco Museum of Modern Art board chairman, I was involved in two or three different support organizations. I was also on the board of the Smithsonian. Because I was on the SFMOMA board, there was the temptation to give the collection there. But I looked at Dia Beacon, which is a great success, but apparently cost Dia its Manhattan venue, and I didn't want to do anything that would bankrupt SFMOMA.
And when I opened the subject with the Community Foundation, they were over the moon about it. Then a lot of people lobbied me that this was where it should be. The Community Foundation touts the wine tours, and we have 30 to 40 visitor tours a year. We'd also be able to give the place over to other foundations for retreats. The Pulitzer Foundation had a retreat here not long ago.

Q: Are you still on the SFMOMA board?

A: Not since about a year ago. After more than 20 years, I felt it was time to give other people an opportunity to take a leadership role. I still miss working with Neal (Benezra, SFMOMA director), but I sort of got seduced by the head of the Ford Foundation to join the board of the U.S. Artists grants program. They give 50 artists $50,000 a year each. And there's no age limit. This year they gave a grant to a 76-year-old guy in Alaska. He quit his job as a greeter at Walmart and is back to being a poet.

Q: What kind of money is involved in the legacy plan?

A: Twenty to 25 million, half as art, half as endowment. So far, we've only given nine of the 18 commissioned works. We carved out 15 acres that include the house, the guesthouse and the lake that will give some sort of privacy to the family. After our grandchildren pass, all that will also go to the foundation.

Q: You're giving half the art now and half later. Why?

A: It was only about the ease of it. Half the works are on the 15 acres we're reserving. Of all the works we've commissioned, a few are no longer there. We gave the Fred Sandback to SFMOMA. Of Andy Goldsworthy's pieces on the land, the longest lasted three months, the shortest, two minutes. They survive only in his photographs, which will go to the foundation.

Q: What about additions to the collection after you're gone?

A: There'll be a board and a curator, and they'll make some selections, I hope. The endowment will be enough to do that, though they may have to be a little more selective than we were. Also endowed are new commissioned works for the tower. Michael York will be reading Shakespeare there in June. Bill T. Jones is talking about a ballet. As long as Nancy and I are still on solid food, we'll be involved in all those things.

Q: Have you defined parameters for posthumous additions to the collection?

A: No, only that the artists respond to the land.

Q: Will conservation of the works be provided for as part of the arrangement?

A: There is a budget for that. We talked to SFMOMA's conservators about that recently. We're trying to get some of these things done before the endowment has to pay for anything.

Q: What about the adjoining land? Any chance it will come under use that will compromise the experience of the ranch grounds?

A: That's probably not going to be a problem. Sonoma County is pretty tough on zoning. We're pretty well protected.

Q: Are the grounds still used as a sheep ranch?

A: No, the sheep ranching ended about two years ago.
My accountant said I had enough expensive hobbies that lose money and I probably ought to shut it down. We belonged to a co-op of local sheep ranchers, and for years Wolfgang Puck bought everything we produced, except for 2 percent reserved for local restaurants.