Chicago collector Barbara Levy Kipper has made a substantial donation of Asian art and artifacts to the Art Institute of Chicago, Broadway World reports. The collection comprises of around 400 Buddhist ritual objects and pieces of ethnic Asian jewelry. The donation was announced by the museum’s President Douglas Druick and Director Elouise W. Martin on Monday.

Kipper’s donation allows the museum to add an important element to its existing collection of Indian, Himalayan, Central Asian, Southeast Asian, and Chinese art. The museum is planning to stage a special exhibition of the donated works in the summer of 2016.

Museum president Druick said, “We are so very grateful to Barbara for her many years of extraordinary commitment to the Art Institute and for the infectious enthusiasm she brings to everything she does.”

The former chairman of the Art Institute’s Board of Trustees added, “The richness of Barbara’s selections reflects her wonderful eye for the art of Asian cultures. Her passion for collecting is incomparable, as is her willingness to share her objects with the public.”

Kipper said, “It never occurred to me I’d become either a serious collector or photographer.” She added, “Jewelry and ritual objects in the collection exemplify the exuberance of what once was. I take pleasure in knowing that these objects are now safe from destruction, their journeys completed.”

Kipper was the chairman of the newspaper, magazine, and book distributor Chas. Levy Circulating Company until 2011 and is a life trustee of the Art Institute of Chicago.