As a 2025 recipient of the prestigious Ohio Arts Council Governor’s Award for the Arts and a Toledo Museum of Art board member, Sara Jane DeHoff learned about giving from watching her parents help others in their small Iowa town. "They weren't loud about it," she recalls. "I would hear that my dad helped someone after the fact. It was quiet support." This early lesson in understated philanthropy would shape her approach to community involvement for decades to come.
When Sara Jane moved to Toledo in 1975 and started a business in Perrysburg, she discovered a community rich with cultural treasures. Meeting Roger Mandle, then Executive Director of the Toledo Museum of Art, opened doors to the region's vibrant arts scene. As her children attended Maumee Valley Day School, her first fundraising experience supporting the school introduced her to like-minded community members committed to giving back.
From there, Sara Jane's involvement expanded organically. She joined the Arts Commission and Perrysburg Garden Club, and through environmental advocacy work, helped found the Black Swamp Conservancy. Throughout these efforts is a common thread: education.
"Education is very important because our future is dependent on it," DeHoff explains. Coming from a family of educators, she sees every philanthropic effort as a chance to inspire learning. "You open a door through educational experiences to inspire the next generation of thinkers. You never know what's going to wake up a child."
This philosophy drove Sara Jane to create the Young Artists at Work (YAAW) program, connecting youth with professional working artist experiences. Her commitment to nurturing the next generation of art supporters earned recognition when she received the prestigious Ohio Arts Council Governor's Award for the Arts in 2025.
Sara Jane's impact extends far beyond programming. She played an instrumental role in major capital campaigns that transformed Toledo's cultural landscape, including the Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art and the institution's Second Century Campaign. These efforts helped secure the resources needed to maintain Toledo's reputation for world-class cultural offerings.
Her fundraising success stems from her ability to help others see beyond narrow definitions of "the arts." "The word art frightens people—they think it's for a certain few," she notes. "They miss the importance of it as a community." Instead, DeHoff emphasizes how Toledo's cultural institutions serve as economic engines, drawing new businesses and tourists while enhancing educational opportunities.
Sara Jane believes Toledo's exceptional cultural institutions shouldn't be taken for granted. She worries about future support and advocates for broader understanding of the arts' community value, from economic development to education.
"We try and put arts into a box," she reflects, "and there is no box big enough." For Sara Jane, supporting arts and culture means investing in Toledo's future.
This story was featured in the Fall 2025 edition of Foundation Matters. To see the full newsletter, click here.