This week we are featuring supporters who followed their hearts to the Museum even before it opened in mid-2015.  Steve and Linda Ivy are art and history aficionados and dear friends of our founders, J.P. and Mary Jon Bryan, who fell in love with our collection when much of it was displayed at J.P.’s Torch Energy offices in downtown Houston.

Linda and Steve live in Dallas and have been married for 47 years. They have two wonderful sons and four precious granddaughters. Steve is a 3^rd generation Texan, and as they say, Linda got here as soon as she could. Steve is the CEO of Heritage Auctions, the 3^rd largest Fine Art and Collectible auctioneer in the world, and Linda is involved in numerous charities and active in handling the family’s investments.  They spend their time in Dallas, Colorado Springs (around the corner from the Bryans) and in Laguna Beach.

Steve and Linda are both independently longtime friends of the Bryan family. Steve first met J.P. though his involvement with the Texas State Historical Association at a 1984 meeting in Austin. Linda met J.P.’s Mom, Gretchen Josey, the year before working with the Northwood Institute for the Dynasty Gala in Dallas, which Linda chaired. Gretchen was an advisor having worked with Northwood in Houston. The familial connection wasn’t made until the following year when the couples dined together in Houston. Steve, Linda, and J.P. were in the living room of the Bryan home waiting for Mary Jon when Linda picked up a family photo album.  While thumbing through it she came across a picture of Gretchen, turned to J.P. and asked how he knew Gretchen to which J.P. laconically responded: “she’s my Mom”. That evening was the beginning of a wonderful lifelong friendship spanning the Amalfi Coast, Chalk Draw Ranch, the Gage Hotel, New Orleans, Beverly Hills, the Broadmoor and many points in between.

Steve, like J.P., has a natural affinity for objects and history with a slightly different twist. Steve wants to sell all of them while J.P. wants to buy all of them. Steve is the founder of Heritage Auctions, and J.P. of course is the founder of the Bryan Museum, the premier Museum in the U.S covering Texas and the story of Westward Expansion.  As J.P., Steve has an abiding love for history and especially the history of Texas. Steve has served on the boards of the Dallas Historical Society, the Texas Historical Foundation, and the Texas History Museum. Both Steve and Linda “deeply believe in the mission of the Bryan Museum”, so it was only natural that they have been great supporters of the Bryan Museum since the beginning, having attended all of the Annual Galas as well as the Grand Opening.

When The Bryan Museum is counting its blessings, our abundance of loyal supporters and dear friends is paramount.  Linda and Steve are shining examples of what is at the heart of our ability to fulfill our mission. We hope you will join them and support us on our wonderful journey, bringing our shared history to vibrant life for everyone!