NEW YORK (July 14, 2026)

The newly formed Murmrr Arts Foundation (MAF) today announced the launch of The Murmrr Commission Series, the inaugural program in its mission to develop new models of cultural philanthropy. The series begins with Murmrr Commission No. 001—a portrait of Ms. Lauryn Hill by internationally acclaimed artist Tomokazu Matsuyama.

Building upon more than a decade of multidisciplinary programming through Murmrr Presents, the Foundation extends that work through commissioning, collecting, exhibiting, and preserving significant works across the visual, literary, and performing arts. Murmrr Presents has presented artists including Björk, Nick Cave, Patti Smith, Beck, Annie Lennox, John Mulaney, Karl Ove Knausgaard, and Jim Jarmusch, among many others.

The portrait will be unveiled during Ms. Lauryn Hill’s performance at The Clubhouse in East Hampton, New York, on July 25, 2026, becoming the first work in the permanent collection of Murmrr Arts Foundation and establishing the Foundation’s long-term vision of commissioning culturally significant works across artistic disciplines.

Few artists have shaped contemporary culture as profoundly as Ms. Lauryn Hill. From The Fugees to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998), her influence continues to resonate across music, fashion, language, and contemporary art. Her East Hampton appearance—one of only five U.S. performances this year and her first fully acoustic concert since MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 (2002)—inspired the Foundation’s inaugural commission. In June 2026, Ms. Lauryn Hill was honored at the BET Awards with the Living Legend Icon Award.

A longtime admirer of Ms. Lauryn Hill, Tomokazu Matsuyama has spoken about being drawn to New York by the city’s creative energy and by artists such as The Fugees and Nas. Their shared cultural landscape makes the portrait a dialogue between two artists whose work has profoundly shaped contemporary identity through different creative mediums.

Matsuyama noted, “Ms. Lauryn Hill’s voice gave language to a generation searching for itself, and to paint her is to trace the same lines of identity, memory, and reinvention that have always moved through my own work.”

Widely recognized as one of the leading contemporary painters of his generation, Matsuyama creates richly layered works that merge Japanese and Western art historical traditions with fashion, graphic design, street culture, and contemporary portraiture. His paintings have become internationally celebrated for collapsing cultural boundaries while reflecting the complexity of an interconnected world.

Conceived as a long-term cultural representation of the moment, Matsuyama’s Murmrr Commission No. 001 will remain in public conversation through exhibitions, educational programming, and broad public access, allowing the work to continue generating cultural value long after its unveiling.

Brian Kelly, Founder and Executive Chair of the Murmrr Arts Foundation, said, “Our mission is to put masterpieces where life happens — school cafeterias, prisons, neighborhood diners, public libraries — to bring great art into the everyday.”

As part of the Foundation’s launch, complimentary tickets are being made available to Long Island youth in partnership with the East Hampton Library, providing students the opportunity to attend both the unveiling of the artwork and Ms. Lauryn Hill’s performance.

A New Model for Cultural Philanthropy

The Murmrr Arts Foundation was founded on a simple belief: culture is one of humanity’s greatest renewable resources.

Rather than viewing philanthropy as a one-time act of giving, the Foundation commissions significant works of art, preserves them as long-term cultural assets, and reinvests proceeds from exhibitions, editions, and related initiatives into future commissions, educational programming, public access, and live cultural experiences. The result is a renewable cycle in which one cultural work helps inspire—and help finance—the next.

An edition of twenty prints of Matsuyama’s Murmrr Commission No. 001 will be produced, with proceeds supporting the Foundation’s charitable mission. A portion of the proceeds will also benefit a charitable organization selected by Ms. Lauryn Hill.

MAF believes extraordinary art should not simply be collected—it should be encountered.

DANIEL QUINTANILLA