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Since the establishment of the Melle Foundation in 1994, Ruscha Langelaan had been associated with the foundation as its chairperson. From the outset, she guided the board and ensured Melle's legacy. She fulfilled this role with natural dedication for almost thirty years.

Her connection to Melle's work had personal origins and was based on a deep friendship with the painter. Ruscha Langelaan was a student of Melle's. She had taken drawing lessons from him for years at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. This resulted not only in an artistic kinship, but also in a deep friendship between the two artists.

A tangible reminder of this friendship is the special painting they created together in 1974, two years before Melle's death. The two-by-two-meter canvas is an encounter between two artists with their own styles. Until her death, it hung in the hallway of her apartment, where it could be seen by everyone who visited her.

The last thing Ruscha Langelaan did as a chairperson was to hold talks with the Tranendal Foundation about the merger of the two foundations that worked on behalf of Melle. When the merger became a reality in 2024 and a new generation of board members dedicated to Melle took office, she resigned from her position. With Ruscha Langelaan's departure, the Melle Foundation loses a dedicated former chairwoman, someone who knew Melle's work from the inside out.