Ruth G. Landfield, 87, Fargo, a philanthropist and arts supporter of the Fargo-Moorhead area, which she called "The Athens of the Plains," died Saturday in her home.
One of the founders of the Lake Agassiz Arts Council, she helped increase the visibility and quality of the F-M arts community with her longtime financial patronage and volunteer work
Ruth Goldberg was born Feb. 2, 1918, in Fargo, where she graduated from high school in 1936. In 1940, she graduated with a degree in psychology from Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Cambridge, Mass.
Her love of the arts began early in her life with her parents bringing her to the symphony and plays
In August 1941, she married Seymour Landfield. In 1949, the couple returned to Fargo, where they established Midwest Printing and Lithographing Co. He died in 1990.
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Ruth Landfield served as a patron and volunteered for many local arts groups, including the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony and the Plains Art Museum, as well as a number of other arts, musical and civic groups.
She served as the first woman president of Temple Beth El and first chair sponsor for both the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony and the Jazz Arts Group.
Landfield was particularly proud of Imagination '71, a campaign she organized aimed at encouraging the Fargo Public Schools to keep its arts education programs.
She was the financial backer of Carousel Dance Theater and principal manager of Max and Anne Goldberg Foundation, named for her parents.
She served on the Plains Art Museum board of directors, as president and longtime board member of Fargo Hadassah, member of KMFE, F-M Civic Opera Co. board of directors, Red River Art Center, Fine Arts Club, F-M Symphony Association and League of Women Voters.
In August 2000, the Lake Agassiz Arts Council, which she helped start in the late 1960s, honored her with "A Tribute to Ruth Landfield" in the Fargo Theatre, complete with performances from groups she sponsored, a trumpet fanfare for the guest of honor and a visit from Sesame Street characters thanking Landfield for her contributions to Prairie Public Television.
In April 2002, she was honored by the F-M Symphony. Musical director Joel Revzen read a proclamation from the mayors of Fargo and Moorhead thanking her for her support and declaring Aug. 10 "Ruth Landfield Day" in Fargo-Moorhead. A Fargo Film Festival award is also named after her.
"You have to remember no one person does anything," she said at her tribute in 2000. "Everybody in the audience are the movers and shakers, so I thank you. We have a good thing going and now we have to keep it growing."
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The funeral will be Tuesday at 11 in Temple Beth El, Fargo.
