Top 200 Collectors

Dealer Tire CEO Scott Mueller and his wife, Kelly, are longtime supporters of the Cleveland Museum of Art. After news broke that he was the donor behind a more than $20 million dollar gift to the museum, he was quoted saying his donation was “intended to incentivize the institution in its pursuit of outstanding contemporary art acquisitions and research, as well as the presentation of work by new and emerging artists.” Their sculpture-focused collection adorns a 150-acre property with more than 30 outdoor works, all promised to the Cleveland Museum of Art. From 2019 to 2022, Scott was chair of the museum’s board.

The couple does not spare expenses when it comes to presenting their work in venturesome settings. They built an underground bunker for an immersive installation by the always ambitious duo Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe, and another sculpture—Richard Serra’s Rowdy Meadow Ridges (2018)—required more heavy lifting than most artworks: the laying of a road on a steep slope into a heavily wooded area. “The road had to accommodate the weight of each of the five enormous steel plates that weighed 96,000 pounds, as well as cranes and machinery needed for installation,” the Muellers told ARTnews. The woods weren’t entirely wiped out, though: “Upon completion there was a considerable reclamation project undertaken to restore the land to its natural state,” they said. Art is not the only activity that has brought Scott Mueller outdoors. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, when asked how he got involved in art, Mueller responded, “I was in search of a hobby, and I failed at golf.”