Mayor William Cogswell today released the following statement on the passing of Martha Rivers Ingram (pictured), a Charleston native, philanthropist and arts patron whose vision and generosity helped create the Charleston Gaillard Center. Ingram died Thursday morning, Aug. 6, 2026, at the age of 90.
"Charleston has lost one of its most devoted daughters. Martha Rivers Ingram was born and raised in this city, and though her business and her life carried her to Nashville, she never stopped pouring herself back into the place that shaped her. More than any single person of her generation, Martha was the catalyst who made Charleston the cultural capital of the South. Her vision gave us the Charleston Gaillard Center, a world-class home for the performing arts that exists today because she believed this community deserved nothing less.
"Martha understood that the arts belong to everyone, not just a fortunate few. The performances and education programs she made possible will reach Lowcountry children for generations, and that is a legacy very few people ever leave behind.
"On behalf of the entire City of Charleston, I extend my deepest condolences to her sons and to the entire Ingram and Rivers family. We are grateful for her life, and Charleston is a richer place because of her."