Farmer Family Foundation

Unlocking future potential at Union Terminal

Cincinnati is a place of boundless optimism, creativity and ingenuity. From the civic DNA of trailblazers like John A. Ruthven and Neil Armstrong, ours is a dynamic city of discovery for science, art, culture and history. Cincinnati Museum Center amplifies our city’s pioneering leadership by sparking curiosity in people of all ages.

The Farmer Family Foundation was created in 1988 by Richard T. Farmer, Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Cintas Corporation. Cintas, headquartered in Cincinnati, is a leading example of how creativity, ingenuity and dedication can build a company that supports over one million businesses across the country and around the world.

The Farmer Family Foundation has been a supporter of the Cincinnati Museum Center since helping to open The Children’s Museum in 1998. Recently, the Farmer Family Foundation helped honor two Cincinnati innovators with their support of the Smithsonian traveling exhibition Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission and Cincinnati Museum Center’s future John A. & Judy Ruthven Edge of Appalachia Gallery. Dick Farmer, Neil Armstrong and John Ruthven’s shared spirit of curiosity and determination led them each to excel in their chosen fields. “Our support of Cincinnati Museum Center will help unlock minds with new experiences and hopefully inspire young people to pursuit their own dreams,” states Dick Farmer, Founder of the Farmer Family Foundation.

The reimagination of Cincinnati Museum Center’s exhibitions and complementary spaces and programming will stimulate the limitless wonder, critical thinking skills and innovative capacities of future generations.

In the John A. & Judy Ruthven Edge of Appalachia Gallery, guests will explore a simulated Eastern forest canopy, learn from plant and animal collections, marvel at the tenacity of artist and naturalist John A. Ruthven and explore climate change by time-traveling through past and present environments. Guests might also develop and deepen empathy through a live animal encounter or by connecting to nature that thrives in an urban environment. Through these experiences, guests will be inspired to appreciate the biodiversity and fragility of nature nearby.

Organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) and the National Air and Space Museum, Destination Moon featured more than 20 original Apollo 11-flown objects plus models and videos that detailed the historic journey of the Apollo 11 crew, led by Neil Armstrong. The star of the exhibition was the Apollo 11 command module Columbia – the spacecraft that carried the astronauts to orbit around the Moon and back.

“We made the decision to support cultural icon Cincinnati Museum Center in their important work to honor the legacies of John A. Ruthven and Neil Armstrong,” shared Brynne Farmer Coletti. “Through this work, the Museum Center is emboldening the next generation to imagine a world of possibility through exploration, curiosity and innovation.”