Vancouver resident Robert H. N. Ho is donating, through his foundation, nearly $10 million to the Guggenheim Museum in New York to be used for a contemporary Chinese art program.

During the program, the Guggenheim will commission major art from at least three artists or group of artists who were born in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong or Macau, and create a position at the Guggenheim for a Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation curator of Chinese art.

“(Ho) personally has a love of Chinese culture and art,”said Ted Lipman, chief executive officer of the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation, who was to announce the donation in New York today.

“He feels it needs to be supported ... there’s a lot of focus on China from a business perspective but there’s a whole other level that needs attention which is culture and art.”

The Ho Foundation, established eight years ago and based in Hong Kong, focuses much of its philanthropy on Chinese and Buddhist visual art and culture, from ancient to contemporary.

Asked why the Vancouver Art Gallery was not selected for the gift, Lipman said Vancouver is “not a global platform for contemporary Chinese art.”

“It could be in the future. It (Vancouver) sees itself as a large Asian-focused city, but in terms of our objectives for this project we feel the Guggenheim is a more ideal partner for us as we are seeking to encourage a global understanding of contemporary Chinese art.”

Since the foundation’s launch, it has also worked with the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the Palace Museum in Beijing.