Lisa Sauer thought she had picked an easy painting.
During a team-building exercise at the Cincinnati Art Museum, the P&G leader had to describe a painting to a colleague who couldn’t see it, who would then try to draw it. She chose Chagall’s Red Rooster. How hard could a red rooster be?
Then she noticed a floating man, a figure beneath a tree, and details she had missed entirely.
“The more you look at it, the more you see,” she says.
Her relationship with ArtsWave followed a similar path. Lisa began giving early in her 32-year P&G career, but joining ArtsWave’s board revealed what her donations made possible. She discovered an organization as disciplined about investing in the community as she was about running complex operations.
As board chair beginning in 2015, Lisa helped lead a major shift in ArtsWave’s funding model, connecting grants to measurable economic and community impact. For more than six months, she and about 20 fellow volunteers met every Saturday to shape the approach. Helping arts organizations communicate their value—and attract additional support—remains the work she is proudest of.
In 2024, Lisa and her husband, Jon Moeller, co-chaired a record-setting ArtsWave campaign that raised $12.5 million from more than 22,000 donors. Her Leaders for Cincy Arts initiative contributed $2 million from 160 business and community leaders.
Now, Lisa is looking beyond the annual campaign. She wants a growing endowment to sustain the full range of Cincinnati’s arts, from world-class institutions to the neighborhood studio where she takes beginner drawing classes.
Her own gift to ArtsWave’s endowment helps make that future possible.
“There’s no doubt for me that that’s a great place to invest for the future,” she says.
For Lisa, there is always more to see—and more worth supporting.