Edie Marshall

Edie Marshall spent 25 years away from Memphis, and her return was prompted by her family, the arts, and her community. She found meaningful ways of self-expression through her various career pursuits. Here she shares her family's history with the Dixon, and how her grandmother initiated a legacy gift that benefits the Dixon and its visitors.

Tell us about yourself.

I am the daughter and granddaughter of very creative women who were well known for their own unique styles. After I taught school for 21 years, they and my very responsible dad guided me toward a position at AutoZone, where I was responsible for buying office supplies and merchandising auto parts—and I knew nothing about cars! But I believe that anyone can be taught to do anything so I learned and found success in that role. I then worked with Greg Baudoin in his antique and interior design businesses, traveling to sales in Europe where, because I spoke French, I interpreted for him. After that, I retired.

Please tell us how your family inspired you.

I "inherited" my appreciation for the Dixon from my grandmother, Lynn Williams, and mother, Cecil Marshall. I would drive my grandmother to Dixon events where she interacted with other supporters. Her cultural connection inspired my mother, who befriended artists, authors, architects—all creative people—surrounding herself with some of this area's most imaginative individuals. With that exposure, my education in the fine arts, and my love for my family, I returned to Memphis in 1994 to begin my own Dixon journey.

Your family knew Margaret and Hugo Dixon well. Please share some of that history.

I visited the Dixon estate often through my grandmother's and mother's friendship with Margaret and Hugo. Mother was thrilled that the museum and gardens would be shared with the community following their deaths. So I followed their lead. I embraced the Dixon's collecting focus and its diversity of exhibitions, thanks to my years of art education and my European travels. I joined the Memphis Garden Club at the encouragement of family and friends and found equal passion for both the gallery and the garden programs.

Your grandmother created a Charitable Remainder Trust that named your mother as beneficiary. Following Cecil's passing, the Dixon received a generous contribution. What inspired you and your brother to direct her legacy gift to invest in a painting in her memory?

Curator Julie Pierotti identified a painting at a New York gallery that was an ideal fit for the Dixon collection. I saw the painting as the perfect way to honor her memory. I loved the intimacy of the two women in the café and the composition of the approaching waiter, but my brother Jim saw it as more reminiscent of our grandmother. Since she had established the original trust, it was the appropriate thing to do. We are thrilled.

You joined the Curator's Circle in 2018. What are your impressions?

I am inspired by the Dixon collection and its various exhibitions. The Curator's Circle enables me to become more enmeshed in the institution, to support it financially, and to engage in the process of building the collection. It fills in all the blanks in my growing Dixon relationship. I will renew my participation this year.

Do you have any personal observations on the process of establishing a planned gift?

Being a part of the Dixon community was a generational transition. Carrying on my family's tradition of support for the Dixon perpetuates family history. Children should be encouraged to become involved and financially supportive so that treasures like the Dixon continue. To continue their legacy of support, I have a deferred gift to the Dixon in my own estate plan.

Thank you, Edie Marshall, for sharing your family's story as well as your own commitment to the Dixon. You, too, can make a difference in the community we share through your planned gift to the Dixon. For more information about making an estate gift, please contact the Office of Planned Giving at (901) 312-1243 or sjohnson@dixon.org.