Parenting & Family Quote by Richard MacDonald

Charity is doing double duty here: it’s presented as a moral practice and as a personal brand statement. MacDonald frames giving not as an obligation or a political stance, but as an identity - “very important to me” - then immediately anchors that identity in scale: “donated millions of dollars.” The number isn’t just information; it’s credentialing. In the art world, where wealth, patronage, and prestige constantly blur, naming the figure functions like a provenance stamp: proof of seriousness, success, and legitimacy.

The language stays insistently frictionless. “Gives me an opportunity,” “give back,” “feels great” - these are the stock phrases of philanthropic self-description, polished enough to reassure donors, collectors, and institutions that the speaker is safe, stable, and benevolent. That smoothness is the subtext: nothing controversial, nothing that invites hard questions about need, systems, or accountability. The emphasis on “especially children” is a strategic emotional shorthand, the least contestable beneficiary and the quickest route to moral consensus.

Coming from a sculptor, there’s also a quiet symmetry: sculpting is about shaping material into an object the public can read at a glance; this is the same impulse applied to character. The intent isn’t merely to express generosity. It’s to locate the artist inside a community narrative - not the aloof creator, but the civic-minded benefactor - while keeping the message broadly marketable. In that sense, the quote is less confession than positioning: philanthropy as both sincere impulse and reputational architecture.