Many Indiana cities and towns are home to successful families that acquired large fortunes from their entrepreneurial ventures. Think of Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, the Ball Brothers in Muncie, the Miller family in Columbus, the Goodrich family in Winchester, and many others. These families often passed their fortunes to their descendants and charitable foundations. These philanthropic foundations were typically established to promote specific causes and to enhance the culture and quality of life in the communities where their businesses originated.  

The beneficence of the Ball family has long blessed Muncie. We recently mourned the passing of 96-year-old David Owsley, who must be one of the last family members with a living memory of the original Ball Brothers. Mr. Owsley was the grandson of Frank C. Ball, president of the Ball Brothers Manufacturing Company (later Ball Corporation) and father of Owsley’s mother, Lucina (Lucy) Ball. Owsley’s father, Texas lawyer and World War I veteran Alvin M. Owsley, served as national commander of the American Legion.  

Though David began his career in public relations, his passion for art led him to study at New York University and work at some of the world’s most prestigious museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. His deep knowledge and appreciation of art shaped his life’s work. 

Despite his global career, Owsley never forgot his Indiana roots. The Art Museum at Ball State was founded by gifts and loans from the art collection of the Ball family. Owsley curated and added to those gifts so that now more than 2,500 works, or around one-quarter of the museum’s current holdings trace to the Ball family. He also led efforts to diversify the collection beyond American and European art. Today, the museum boasts of art from all seven continents on display. In 2011, Ball State renamed the museum the David Owsley Museum of Art (DOMA) in his honor.  

Adam Smith, in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, wrote that while justice is essential to society’s survival, society “may subsist without beneficence though not in the most comfortable state.” Beneficence, however, is “the ornament which embellishes. David Owsley embodied that ornament; his life’s work made our community more beautiful, thoughtful, and connected to the broader world.  

Thank you, David Owsley, for the art, the vision, and the legacy.