Worcester Art Museum Annual Report FY2022

WORCESTER ART MUSEUM

The Worcester Art Museum's mission is to connect people, communities, and cultures through the experience of art.

Message from the Director

Fiscal Year 2022 was foundational to the continual building of the Worcester Art Museum’s future. During this time, the Museum strengthened itself while staying wholly focused on our defined mission, vision, and values. This work can be seen in many areas of the Museum’s operations, perhaps most visibly in the work to revitalize our campus in order to welcome the widest possible audience.

We could not begin to look ahead and envision the future of WAM without fundraising. This past year was record-breaking. The Museum received two monumental anonymous gifts totaling $16 million. Additionally, we raised $1 million in program support, and were fortunate enough to receive $2.2 million in unrestricted support, exceeding our goal by 45%. We are ever grateful for our dedicated WAM supporters!

Our exhibitions over the past year spanned history, culture, geography, and perspectives. Us Them We | Race Ethnicity Identity was a successful collaboration with Clark University that demonstrated WAM’s capacity to use art in current conversations around social issues. The Museum is looking to apply this careful thinking to how all art is presented, which is further supported by our DEAI work. Love Stories from the National Portrait Gallery, London drew a large audience, while WAM’s own Jewels of the Nile was lauded as “beguiling” by The Wall Street Journal.

WAM has continued to stay committed to sharing the power of art not only with Worcester audiences, but with people around the world. Through our loan program, over 1.1 million individuals across the globe saw extraordinary pieces from WAM’s collection. This includes The Age of Armor: Treasures from the Higgins Collection at the Worcester Art Museum which was presented at the Toledo Museum of Art and Denver Art Museum in Fiscal Year 2022. Additional venues include the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida (fall/winter 2022-2023); Saint Louis Art Museum (spring 2023); Telfair Museums in Savannah, Georgia (summer/fall 2023); and San Antonio Museum of Art (spring 2024).

We deepened roots with our local community and drove engagement through thoughtful, creative programming. Nearly 55,000 visitors engaged in programming in this fiscal year—20,000 more than the year prior. Engagement with our community is an ever-present component of WAM’s goals.

All these achievements contribute to a cycle of success that hinges on the revitalization of our physical space. With the completion of Lancaster Plaza this past year, the Lancaster Lobby is being activated with new ways to connect and welcome visitors, including a partnership with local coffee roaster Acoustic Java. The Museum Library is moving to an innovative new space, coinciding with a renovation of the Higgins Education Wing.

Thank you to all our staff, trustees, corporators, members, donors, funders, volunteers, visitors, followers, students, and neighbors. Together we create one unified whole that learns and grows together to further the Worcester Art Museum’s mission.

Jean and Myles McDonough Director

Board of Trustees

2021-22

Dorothy Chen-Courtin, President

Douglas S. Brown, Vice President

Sarah G. Berry, Treasurer

Susan M. Bassick, Clerk

Lawrence H. Curtis

Jennifer Davis Carey

James C. Donnelly, Jr.

Michael B. Fox

Mark W. Fuller

Jennifer C. Glowik-Adams

Karen M. Keane

Sohail Masood

Margaret McEvoy-Ball

Thomas P. McGregor

Philip R. Morgan

Malcolm A. Rogers

Jonathan R. Sigel

Anne-Marie Soullière

Cynthia L. Strauss

George W. Tetler III

Christina Villena

Ex Officio

Matthias Waschek,

Jean and Myles McDonough Director of the Worcester Art Museum

Trustees Emeriti

Herbert S. Alexander

Marie A. Angelini

Joseph J. Bafaro

Ellen R. Berezin

Lisa M. Bernat

Karin I. Branscombe

Irene Browne-Grim

Sara Buckingham

Mary T. Cocaine*

J. Christopher Collins

Richard B. Collins

Dix F. Davis

Henry B. Dewey

John B. Dirlam

Antonella Doucette

Warner S. Fletcher

Gabriele M. Goszcz

James N. Heald 2nd

George E. Hecker

John Herron

Prentiss C. Higgins

M Howard Johnson

James D. Javaras

William D. Kelleher

Judith S. King

Lisa Kirby Gibbs

David A. Lemoine

David A. Lucht

C. Jean McDonough*

Lisa H. McDonough

Katharine M. Michie

Moira Moynihan-Manoog

Frederic H. Mulligan

John F. O’Brien

Richard J. Pentland

David A. Persky

Phyllis Pollack

Sarah C. Ribeiro

John Savickas

Clifford J. Schorer III

Richard P. Sergel

Michael D. Sleeper

Sumner B. Tilton

* = deceased

Corporators 2021-22

Corporators, as stewards of the public trust, ensure the continuation of the Worcester Art Museum's mission to collect, preserve, exhibit, and educate. Critical to the foundation and outreach of the Worcester Art Museum, Corporators serve as ambassadors, participants, and contributors, and are charged with the powers provided by law, as well as the Corporation's Articles of Organization and Bylaws. Corporators are expected to consider the Museum a top philanthropic priority.

David R. Adler

Kolawole Akindele

Robert Alario

Herbert S. Alexander

Che Anderson

John B. Anderson

Janet Andreson Dealy

Julia D. Andrieni

Andrew Athy

Barbara T. Athy

Edward M. Augustus, Jr.

Richard M. Avis

Joseph J. Bafaro, Jr.

Bradford Barker

Joan T. Barry

Thomas Bartholomew

Susan M. Bassick

Eric Beattie

Lisa Beittel

Lisa M. Bernat

Sarah G. Berry

Maureen Binienda

Charles A. Birbara

Maurice J. Boisvert

Karin I. Branscombe

John P. Brissette

Christopher A. Brown

Douglas Brown

John H. Budd

Eric Butler

Anne Byers

Benjamin Byun

Caroline A. Camougis

Suzanne R. CampbellLambert

Jay E. Cantor

Stephen Casey

Matilde Castiel

Jennifer B. Caswell

Rodmia Cesar

Harriette L. Chandler

Dorothy Chen-Courtin

Germán Chiriboga

Catherine Choquette

Kim M. Ciborowski

Vin Cipolla

Donna Cohen

Bryan J. Coleman

J. Christopher Collins

James E. Collins

Sarah Connell Sanders

Timothy Convery

Leonard C. Cowan

Tracy A. Craig

Emily L. Crim

Joshua Croke

Elizabeth A. Crowley

Lawrence H. Curtis

Leslie Cutler

Jyoti Datta

Laurel Davis

Jennifer Davis Carey

Eileen deCastro

Nina Chapin de Rochefort

Gail Dempsey

Siobhan Dennis

Paul DePalo

Jeffrey L. Dill

Thomas M. Dolan

James C. Donnelly, Jr.

Antonella Doucette

John Duggan

David C. Ekberg

Patricia Z. Eppinger

Allen Falke

Karen C. Falke

Andrew Feldman

Marianne Felice

Justin L. Fletcher

Romina Sarreal Ford

David E. Fort

Michael B. Fox

Mark W. Fuller

Dina Gaudette

Paul J. Giorgio

Maureen L. Glowik

Jennifer C. Glowik-Adams

Stephen J. Gordon

Gabriele M. Goszcz

Mel L. Greenberg

J. Michael Grenon

Eve Griliches

Abraham W. Haddad

Monica Hamel

Frank F. Herron

Emily G. Holdstein

Sandy Hubbard

Leigh C. Hudson

Kate Hutchinson

Kham Inthirath

Todd Michael Jenny

Nancy Jeppson

Katherine Burton Jones

Dr. Oliver C. Joseph

Rachel Kaminsky

Amar V. Kapur

Evelyn Karet

Marshall Katzen

Karen M. Keane

Lydia Keene-Kendrick

Lori E. Kelly

Paul Kelly

W. David Kelly

Alison C. Kenary

Arthur G. Kentros

Bruce King

Jean A. King

Judith S. King

Lisa Kirby Gibbs

Julie Ann Lamacchia

Mary Ellen Lane

John P. Lauring

Diane Lebel

Paul Levenson

Ottilie Levine

Ann T. Lisi

Patricia S. Lotuff

Suzanne Maas

Ingrid Jeppson Mach

Paul J. Mahon

Robert Mailloux

Susan Mailman

Sohail Masood

Samantha P. McDonald

Lisa H. McDonough

Kate McEvoy

Margaret McEvoy-Ball

Linda R. McGoldrick

Thomas P. McGregor

Martha B. McKenna

Toni K. Meltzer

Thomas S. Michie

Erwin E. Miller

Christopher Mitchell

Satya B. Mitra

Philip R. Morgan

Florcy Morisset

Michelle S. Morneau

Lisa S. Mucciarone

Mary Munson

Emily P. Murray

Michael V. O’Brien

Candace Okuno

Megan O’Sullivan O’Leary

Stephanie Opalka

Robert G. Oriol

Edward J. Osowski

Joseph L. Pagano

Kathleen Pagano

Susan M. Palatucci

Deborah Penta

William O. Pettit

Joseph Petty, Mayor of

Worcester

Philip J. Phillips

Sherri Pitcher

Phyllis Pollack

Pam Provo

Douglas Radigan

George C. Rand

Carl D. Rapp

Mary Jane Rein

Luanne Remillard

Sarah Ribeiro

Giselle Rivera-Flores

Ruthann P. Rizzi

Carol W. Robey

Linda B. Robbins

Camille I. Roberts

Malcolm A. Rogers

Dr. Leah Rothstein

Kent dur Russell

John Savickas

Anh Vu Sawyer

Dr. Shlomit Schall

Clifford J. Schorer III

Carol L. Seager

Patricia A. Segerson

J. Thomas Selldorff

Roger Servison

Janice E. Seymour

Mark L. Shelton

Gary Shurland

Jonathan R. Sigel

Jang B. Singh

Jaclyn Skagerlind

Carol J. Sleeper

Joffrey Smith

Margaret Snow

Anne-Marie Soullière

Kristina M. Spillane

Robin S. Starr

Carolyn J. Stempler

John C. Stimpson

Cynthia L. Strauss

Susan Strickler

John J. Szlyk

George W. Tetler III

Robert Thompson

Lynne Tonna

Josephine R. Truesdell

Judith C. Vaillancourt

Luke M. Vaillancourt

Rev. Dr. Esau Vance

Russell VanderBaan

Carmen D. Vazquez

Christina Villena

Brenda Verduin Dean

Hank von Hellion

Omar Wahab

Elizabeth Wambui

Kristin B. Waters

Charles Weiss

Barbara K. Wheaton

Hillary White

Bernard Whitmore

Emily G. Wood

Stacy E. Woods

John T. Worcester

Alan S. Yoffie

Valerie Zolezzi Wyndham

Love Stories from the National Portrait Gallery, London

November 13, 2021 – March 13, 2022

This pioneering exhibition presented masterpieces from the Collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London, in an innovative exploration of love's role in the creation of some of the greatest masterpieces of Western art. Organized thematically with works spanning from the late 16th century to the present day, Love Stories argued that ideas of love and desire have been critical to the development of portraiture since the genre's emergence in the English Renaissance. More so than other art forms, portraits—sometimes given as tokens of love—offer visual records of relationships, celebrate key moments like engagements and weddings, and serve as memorials to deceased or absent lovers.

At the heart of this exhibition was a series of real-life love stories, each of which shed light on a different aspect of romantic love. From past notions of romantic love as a dangerous illness, to today's celebration of romance as a means of finding fulfillment in life, this exhibition ultimately reveals love as a constant and defining element of the human experience over the past 450 years.

This exhibition was organized by the National Portrait Gallery, London.

WAM's presentation was made possible through the generous support from the Fletcher Foundation. Project also funded in part by the Ruth and John Adam, Jr. Exhibition Fund, Richard A. Heald Curatorial Fund, Don and Mary Melville Contemporary Art Fund, Michie Family Curatorial Fund, John M. Nelson Fund, and Hall and Kate Peterson Fund. Related programming supported by the Bernard G. and Louise B. Palitz Fund.

Sponsored by:

US | THEM | WE: RACE X ETHNICITY X IDENTITY

February 19 – June 19, 2022

Addressing identity as a socio-political issue has been a central theme for artists since the 1970s. Us Them We | Race Ethnicity Identity considered the ways that contemporary artists accentuate concepts like race and ethnicity through various visual strategies. Four formal devices served as the foundation for the exhibition: Text, Juxtaposition, Seriality, and Pattern. Artists often employ one or more of these approaches as means of storytelling, protest, and celebration. This exhibition demonstrated how these organizing principles serve as a common tool through which personal and communal social status are explored.

The exhibition was co-curated by Nancy Kathryn Burns, Stoddard Associate Curator of Prints, Drawings and Photographs, and Toby Sisson, Associate Professor and Program Director of Studio Art at Clark University. In spring 2021, thirteen Clark University students enrolled in the advanced studio course, “Contemporary Directions,” which explored the topic of identity and was co-taught by Sisson and Burns. Despite the constraints of the coronavirus pandemic, students met with artists over Zoom and created artworks in response to objects featured in the exhibition. These student works were on display in an ancillary gallery in the Museum. This exhibition was organized in partnership with, and with support from, Clark University. Additional support provided by the Fletcher Foundation, Marlene and David Persky, Michael and Kristy Beauvais, Eve Griliches, Sara Shields and Bruce Fishbein, and Kristin B. Waters. Project also funded in part by the John M. Nelson Fund and Hall and Kate Peterson Fund. Related programming supported by the Amelia and Robert H. Haley Memorial Lecture Fund and Spear Fund for Public Programs.

Sponsored by:

Exhibitions

Gachnang, Joanna Bossart, Joseph Benjamin, Konrad Tobler, Kyle Wilton, Louis Barney, Lourdes Mercado, Luciano Berti, Marc Pia, Marvin Siegel, Miguel Maldonado, Niki Hosig, Remy Pia, Roland Fellmann, Rosa Duran, Ruth Libermann, Sean Casey, Susann Bossart, Vijay Kapoor, 1992 – 1998, wax and oil on panel, Collection of Noel Kirnon. © Byron Kim 2021. Image courtesy of the artist and James Cohan, New York.

ANNUAL REPORT / Fiscal Year 2022

Jewels of the Nile:

Ancient Egyptian Treasures from the Worcester Art Museum

June 18, 2022 – January 8, 2023

The magnificence of ancient Egypt shone through in jewelry—the most precious and personal of human possessions—in this expansive exhibition. Jewels of the Nile: Ancient Egyptian Treasures from the Worcester Art Museum put the Museum’s collection of early Egyptian jewelry on view for the first time in a century. Remarkable for both its breadth and quality, this collection was assembled by Kingsmill Marrs (d. 1912) and Laura Norcross Marrs (1845 – 1926) and given to WAM by Mrs. Marrs.

Jewels of the Nile showcased 300 objects, ranging from tiny beads and gems to large sculptures from the Museum’s other Egyptian holdings. The exhibition delved into the materials and techniques used in the creation of personal adornments, the evolution of style over the centuries, and the early twentiethcentury phenomenon of Egyptomania sparked by archaeological exploration in the region. Interactive components and interpretive programs allowed visitors of all ages to explore and experience for themselves this fascinating aspect of ancient Egyptian culture. Jewels of the Nile was curated by Peter Lacovara, Ph.D., Director of The Ancient Egyptian Archaeology and Heritage Fund; and Yvonne Markowitz, Rita J. Kaplan and Susan B. Kaplan Curator Emerita of Jewelry at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. This exhibition was made possible through the generous support from Dr. Sohail Masood, his wife Mona Masood, and their children Laila Masood and Omar Masood.

Additional generous funding provided by the Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation, Inc., Fletcher Foundation, and Sandy Hubbard and Thomas J. Logan. Interactive elements in the exhibition supported in part by the Mass Cultural Council's Innovation Fund. Related programming supported by the Schwartz Charitable Foundation.

Sponsored by:

Additional support from:

Pictured above: Brooch Featuring a Skiff with Blossoms and an Ancient Plaquette, umarked, (plaquette) New Kingdom, ca. 1539 –1077 BCE; (gold mount) late 1800s – early 1900s, glazed steatite and gold (modern), Gift of Mrs. E.D. Buffington, 1914.2

Left: Gallery view of

Photo: © Steven King, Clark University

Media Partner:

Angus McBean, Berto Pasuka,1947, vintage bromide print, National Portrait Gallery, London.

Byron Kim, Synecdoche: Danielle Brunner, Dominic Shamyer, Ella Kim, George Gountas, Glenn Ligon, Jay Patrikios, Johannes

Education and Experience

Public and Group Tours

Studio Class Programs

Adult, teen, and youth classes were held yearround online and in person.

Studio Class Events

Community Partnerships

•Arts Alternative, Worcester County Juvenile Courts

•Centro

•City of Worcester (Polling Site, Ward 3, Precinct 2)

•The Clemente Course in the Humanities

•Genesis Club, Inc.

•India Society of Worcester

•Mass Cultural Council-UP Initiative

•Open Door Gallery (Open Door Arts/Seven Hills Foundation)

Public Programs

Arms & Armor Demonstrations (virtual and in-person)

Deck the Halls!

Diwali at WAM

Flora in Winter

In partnership with the Worcester Garden Club. Spring Community Day

Master Series

Sponsor:

Creating an Icon: Edward Augustus Brackett's visit to John Brown's Prison Cell

Speaker: Laura C. McDonald, Art Collections

Registrar at Tufts University Art Gallery.

Men of Terror: A Comprehensive Analysis of Viking Combat

Speaker: William R. Short, Ph.D., author, filmmaker, lecturer, and independent scholar specializing in Viking-age topics.

Love Stories from the National Portrait Gallery, London

Speakers: Lucy Peltz, Ph.D., Head of Collection Displays (Tudor to Regency) and Senior Curator 18th Century Collections from the National Portrait Gallery, London; A. Cassandra Albinson, Ph.D., Head, Division of European and American Art, and Margaret S. Winthrop Curator of European Art, at Harvard Art Museums. Us Them We | Race Ethnicity Identity

Speaker: Kimberly Juanita Brown, Ph.D., Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing, Dartmouth College.

Pierre Subleyras’ Portrait of Maria Felice Tibaldi

Speaker: Eve Straussman-Pflanzer, Ph.D., Curator and Head of Italian and Spanish paintings, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Amulets and Adornments from Islamic Lands

Speaker: Courtney Ann Stewart, Researcher of Islamic Art History, and the History of Jewelry and Gemstones.

•Salisbury Cultural District

•Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Massachusetts

•Summer Together–with Recreation Worcester and other agencies

•Worcester Child Development Head Start

•Worcester Cultural Coalition

•Worcester Garden Club

•Worcester Jewish Community Center (JCC)

•Worcester Public Library

•Worcester Public Schools, AP Art History

•Worcester Public Schools, CultureLEAP

•Worcester Public Schools, 21st Century Community Learning

•Youth Art Month

Community Access: free or discounted admission

• Card to Culture Program: EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare

In partnership with the Mass Cultural Council, Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and Massachusetts Health Connector

• Community Access Program

Provides free general admission to local youth and adult social service agencies throughout the year.

• Free First Sundays

Free admission for all visitors.

Sponsored by Sandy Hubbard and Thomas J. Logan and

• Blue Star Museums, Veterans and Active Duty Military

Volunteer Impact

The Worcester Art Museum thanks all of its generous docents and volunteers who give many hours of their time to the Museum. Volunteers help us advance our mission and without them, our work is truly not possible. In Fiscal Year 2022, over 300 volunteers put in approximately 2,000 hours of work on behalf of the Museum—both virtually and in person. These hours include 500 hours of docent tours, provided by our 50 docents who gave a total of 373 private and public tours, and also includes other volunteers across Museum departments. In addition, WAM is grateful to all of the Trustees and committees across the Museum, as well as to the Corporators and Members’ Council, for their important work on committees and for their help with day-to-day activities at the Museum.

Social Media Highlights

September 1, 2021 – August 31, 2022

WAM in the News

Highlights from September 2021 through August 2022

GBH News – Morning Edition, December 2, 2021

GBH – Open Studio, “Open Studio: New Exhibit From London’s National Portrait Gallery Launches In Worcester,” December 17, 2021

The Boston Globe, “Asking the Urgent Questions in Us Them We,” February 23, 2022

Live auctioneers, “Worcester museum’s ‘Us Them We’ surveys socio-political landscape,” February 1, 2022

Worcester Magazine, “Contemporary artists explore identity in Worcester Art Museum's 'Us Them We’,” February 16, 2022

The Boston Globe, “Conscious Coupling in ‘Love Stories’,” February 8, 2022

PBS News Hour, “New exhibit chronicles how love has been depicted in art through the ages,” February 14, 2022

Spectrum News 1, “New exhibition at Worcester Art Museum highlights art and identity,” February 18, 2022

Telegram & Gazette, “‘Transformative’ investment: Worcester Art Museum begins work on $2.1M research library,” March 14, 2022

Worcester Business Journal, “Worcester Art Museum commences $2M library addition,” March 10, 2022

The Boston Globe, “Writers Celebrating the Worcester Art Museum’s Collection…,” April 17, 2022

Spectrum News 1, “Clark University students create video game inspired by Higgins Armory collection,” May 9, 2022

Telegram & Gazette, “‘Symphony of sensibilities’: In Worcester State/Worcester Art Museum collaboration, art inspires essays,” May 9, 2022

Telegram & Gazette, “Worcester Art Museum shows off Egyptian treasures in ‘Jewels of the Nile,’” June 17, 2022

Worcester Business Journal, “After nearly 100 years, WAM begins full exhibition of Egyptian jewelry donation,” June 20, 2022 Antiques and Arts Weekly, “‘Jewels of the Nile’ Sails into Focus at the Worcester Art Museum,” July 1, 2022

Worcester Magazine, “Worcester artist Kat O'Connor has solo exhibition at Worcester Art Museum,” July 12, 2022

Wall Street Journal, “Style on the Nile: Egypt’s Wearable Art,” August 27, 2022

Acquisition Highlights

Everything

We've

Ever Been, Everything We Are Right Now–Above,

Nicholas Galanin Galanin, a Tlingit and Unangax Nations Alaskan interdisciplinary artist, considers abstraction an important formal device. In his art, Galanin discusses the way in which art historians, galleries, and museums have ignored the importance of abstraction as a marker of Native American identity. He says, “Oftentimes institutions or [the] western art canon deny our communities’ abstraction, even though our foundations of cultural visual language are often extremely abstract and have also influenced many celebrated abstract movements.” This WAM acquisition, with bright abstract blue and gold, was featured in Us Them We | Race Ethnicity Identity (see Exhibitions, page 7).

Woman Driver/S.Boston/July 1977 and Seaview Motel/Truro/Mass, John Goodman John Goodman, a documentary photographer based in Wellesley, Massachusetts, describes himself as a photographer as being “drawn to the human body and its contradictions… [and exploring] the contest between light and dark, grit and tenderness, power and grace.” The two photographs acquired by WAM in FY22 encompass all of these contradictions. The first, Seaview Motel/Truro/Mass, is an ethereal scene featuring a blonde woman in a phone booth in the foreground, with a beach umbrella and a children’s slide in the background behind a white and white fence. The second, Goodman’s Woman Driver/S.Boston/July 1977, features a woman with large curlers in her hair who is staring down the camera from the driver’s seat of a car. While each image displays the human body in a different way, the photos center them and explore the relationship between the person and their environment.

Fish Standard (Mahi-Maratib)

This past year WAM acquired a large Indian/Mughal Fish Standard (62 × 73 cm) dated to around 1700 made of gilt copper alloy and iron. This striking object is a battle standard in the form of a fish, a symbol of power and courage that cannot be tamed. The hollow body is engraved with scales, except for the underside, which is engraved with motifs of lotus flowers that surround the conical pole mount. It also features two recurved and serrated pectoral fins and one recurved and serrated dorsal fin. The fish’s face is embossed with two, large eyes, a nose, and thick eyebrows that are etched with individual hairs. There are also distinctive curls at the temples. Lining the top of the mouth are engraved, curved whiskers. The fish’s agape mouth reveals large iron fangs and a row of smaller iron teeth at both the top and bottom. The inside of the mouth is lined with red velvet. The other half of the body would have been fashioned out of cloth, which, when billowing in the wind, would have been both an impressive and intimidating sight on the battlefield.

Nicholas Galanin (American Indian, Tlingit and Unangax Nations, born 1979), Everything We've Ever Been, Everything We Are Right Now – Above, 2019, monotype and gold leaf with additional preexisting pink platetone, Chapin Riley Fund at the Greater Worcester Community Foundation, 2021.83

John Goodman (American, born 1947), Woman Driver/S.Boston/July 1977, 1977; printed 2019, archival pigment print, Helen Sagoff Slosberg Fund in Honor of Daniel Catton Rich, 2021.96

Fish Standard (Mahi-Maratib), Indian, Mughal, about 1700, gilt copper alloy and iron, Museum purchase through the Eliza S. Paine Fund and Higgins Collection Acquisitions Fund, 2022.38

WAM’s loan program boomed in Fiscal Year 2022, with over 1.1 million people around the world seeing pieces from our collection. 140 WAM objects went on loan to museums around the world as a part of our temporary and longterm loan program and traveling exhibitions program, including: 31 WAM objects on temporary loan to museums in France, Italy, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, and the United States (including New York, California, Colorado, Michigan, Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, Arkansas, Maine, Connecticut, and Massachusetts); 20 WAM objects on long-term loan to museums in New York, Kentucky, Texas, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and the United Kingdom, and 89 WAM objects included in traveling exhibition Age of Armor: Treasures from the Higgins Armory Collection at the Worcester Art Museum.

Among these pieces were three paintings by Winslow Homer, loaned to the Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Gale (1916.48), In a Florida Jungle (1911.19), and Coral Formation (1911.15). While at The Met, over 200,000 visitors viewed these three paintings amongst 85 others in an exhibition entitled Crosscurrents, exploring Homer’s career across time through paintings of American life and scenery.

Loans

Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910), The Gale, 1883–1893, oil on canvas, 1916.48

Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910), In a Florida Jungle, 1885–1886, watercolor over graphite, with scraping, on moderately thick, moderately textured, off-white wove paper, Museum Purchase, 1911.19

Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910), Coral Formation, detail, 1901, watercolor over graphite on moderately thick, moderately textured, off-white wove paper, Museum Purchase, 1911.15

Conservation Highlights

Conservation Highlights

WAM conservators worked on many exciting projects during Fiscal Year 2022. For example, Senior Objects Conservator Paula Artal-Isbrand completed the restoration of the larger than life-size Shipwrecked Mother and Child by Edward Augustus Brackett (1904.64). Using several different methods of cleaning, she methodically removed decades of soot and grime from the marble sculpture. To repair broken and missing bits of fingers and toes, Paula made use of 3-D printing technology. In collaboration with WPI, she replicated the missing digits in acrylic resin. Before gluing the replacements to the original, a layer of Japanese tissue was inserted between the marble and the acrylic to ensure that the replacements could be removed in the future. Paula then painted the restored fingers and toes using conservation-grade acrylics to match the color of the surrounding stone. In August, the sculpture was permanently relocated to the Morgan Gallery for all to enjoy.

This year, George F. and Sybil H. Fuller Term Chair in Conservation and Chief Conservator Rita Albertson treated The Calling of St. Matthew by Italian Baroque painter Bernardo Strozzi (1941.1). Treatment of the large oil on canvas consisted of surface cleaning, re-varnishing and retouching it in preparation for a 2021 exhibition at the National Gallery of Art and the Quirinale in Rome. Although the international exhibition was cancelled during the pandemic, Rita was able to spend more time on completing the project. In February, the painting was reinstalled in the 17th-century European gallery

In Fiscal Year 2022, Paper Conservator Eliza Spaulding examined 188 works of art on paper, which included new acquisitions, loans to the Museum and permanent collection works. Eighty-five of the loans arrived from England and were featured in the WAM special exhibition Love Stories from the National Portrait Gallery, London (November 13, 2021 – March 13, 2022). Eliza documented the condition of each of these works when they arrived and monitored their condition while on display to ensure no changes had occurred.

Arms & Armor Conservator Bill MacMillan focused much of his attention in 2022 on the touring exhibition, The Age of Armor that opened in November at the Toledo Museum of Art. This involved preparing the works for travel, as well as packing and installing them for Toledo.

Edward Augustus Brackett, Shipwrecked Mother and Child, 1848–1851, white marble, Gift of Edward Augustus Brackett,1904.64

Bernardo Strozzi The Calling of Saint Matthew, about 1620, oil on canvas, Museum Purchase, 1941.1

Tribute to Endowments

Worcester Art Museum was founded on a passion for art and community made possible through philanthropy. For nearly 125 years, the Worcester Art Museum has relied on the generosity of donors who believe in the value of the Museum. We honor and recognize the following families, who have supported the Museum by creating endowed funds. The income produced by these funds is used to support the purposes communicated by the donor. These funds provide important financial support to WAM and its programs. The Museum is grateful for this enduring legacy of support provided by the following endowed funds:

Ruth and John Adam, Jr. Exhibition Fund

George I. Alden Trust Assistant Director of Education Fund

George I. Alden Trust Docent Education Fund

Harriet B. Bancroft Fund

S.N. Behrman Library Fund

Sally Riley Bishop Fund

Barbara A. Booth Flower Fund

Karl L. and Dorothy M. Briel Library Fund

Alexander H. Bullock Fund

Burrow Movie Fund

Isabel Baker Carleton Memorial Fund

Abbie S. and Mildred L. Cather Fund

Douglas Cox and Edward Osowski Fund for Photography

Dorothy Frances Cruikshank Education Fund

Charles E. Culpeper Conservation Laboratory Fund

Dwight A. Davis Fund

Alexander and Caroline Murdock DeWitt Fund

Docent Education Fund

Ruth and Loring Holmes Dodd Fund

Frank F. Dresser Fund

Theodore T. and Mary G. Ellis Fund

J. Irving England & Jane L. England Charitable Trust

David Freelander Memorial Education Fund

David J. Freelander Scholarship Fund

George F. and Sybil H. Fuller Conservation Fund

Thomas Hovey Gage Memorial Fund

Austin S. Garver Fund

Sarah C. Garver Fund

Edward F. Goggin Fund

Nehemias Gorin Foundation Fund

Greater Worcester Community Foundation

Booth Family Fund for Education and Outreach

Martha A. Cowan Fund

Jeppson Memorial Fund

Louise R. and John F. Reynders Fund

Marvin Richmond Fund

Chapin Riley Fund

Helen M. and Thomas B. Stinson Fund

Nathan and Barbara Greenberg Discovery Fund

Nathan and Barbara Greenberg Education Fund

Amelia and Robert H. Haley Memorial Lecture Fund

Charles A. Hamilton Fund

Richard A. Heald Curatorial Fund

Edith Florence Hendricks Scholarship Fund

Herron-Dresser Publications Fund

Chester D. Heywood Scholarship Fund

Hiatt FAME Fund

Jacob Hiatt Scholarship Fund

Higgins Armory General Endowment Fund

The Higgins Curator of Arms and Armor and Medieval Art Endowment Fund

Hoche-Scofield Foundation

Christian A. Johnson Discovery Fund

Christian A. Johnson Exhibition Fund

The Christian A. Johnson Resource Center Fund

Frances A. Kinnicutt Fund

Philip Klausmeyer Conservation Fund

Joseph and Shirley Krosoczka Memorial Youth Scholarship Fund

Macomber Conservation Fund

Jean and Myles McDonough Director Endowment Fund

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Conservation Fund

Don and Mary Melville Contemporary Art Fund

Michie Family Curatorial Fund

John M. Nelson Fund

Paine Charitable Trust

Eliza S. Paine Fund

Bernard G. and Louise B. Palitz Fund

Hall and Kate Peterson Fund

Mary E. and Irene L. Piper Scholarship Fund

Susan Ella Reed-Lawton Fund

Arthur J. Remillard, Jr. Youth Education Fund

Romanoff Education and Library Fund

Marion Olch Ruhman Education Fund

William S. Sargent Fund

Norman and Dorothy Sharfman Education Fund

Helen Sagoff Slosberg Fund

Ethel M. Smith Education Fund

Spear Fund for Public Programs

Stoddard Acquisition Fund

Stoddard Associate Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs Endowment Fund

Stoddard Charitable Trust Directors Fund

Stoddard Discovery Fund

St. Wulstan Society Fund

Sudbury Foundation Scholarship Fund

Alice Eliza Waite Memorial Fund

Miriam Washburn Trust Fund

Karl B. A. Wass/Lundquist Family Scholarship Fund

James A. Welu Curator of European Art Fund

Mary Louise Wilding-White Fund

Worcester Art Society

If you are interested in establishing a fund please contact the Development Department at 508.793.4363 or email developmentinfo@worcesterart.org

Tributes

(In Memory/In Honor of)

In Memory of Regina M. Bonofilio

WAM Art Docents

In Memory of Janet Buck

James A. Welu

In Memory of Isabel Baker Carleton

Mr. and Mrs. Curtis R. Carleton

In Memory of Mary T. Cocaine

Ms. Lynne Berlyn

James Croteau

Margaret Lee Dima

Laquanda Franklin

Eric Jeppson and Nancy Fifield Jeppson

Stephen and Valerie Loring

Mrs. Judith Markowitz

Mr. and Mrs. Richard F. Powell

Elaine Rassias

Mary Samaras

George Tsandikos

Maria and James Tsihlis

Jean Welch

Worcester Red Sox

In Honor of Arlene and Arthur Constant

Frayda Abramson

In Honor of Cynthia Strauss and Harry

Sherr

Steven Maddox

In Honor of James C. Donnelly, Jr.

Ruah Donnelly and Steven E. Dinkelaker

In Memory of Jane Goodyear Hall

Bill Alicandro

In Memory of Alan Harris

Dr. Diane Lebel

In Memory of Frances Jacobson

James A. Welu

In Honor of Edward J. Osowski

Louise W. Gleason

In Honor of Jarrett Krosoczka

Richard Hennessy

In Honor of Cathie Markham

Bernard Dems

In Memory of Dororthy M. Masterson

Karen and David Baer

Philip and Diane Masterson

Michael and Martha Palermo

In Memory of Jean McDonough

Mary and Warner Fletcher

John and Geri Graham

Jay and Joan Hershman

Alice Hwang

Eric Jeppson and Nancy Fifield Jeppson

Marlene and David Persky

James Ray

WAM Art Docents

Worcester Red Sox

In Memory of Melvin Merken

Rachelle M. Pologne

In Memory of Sandra Danine Rapp

Michael Abele

John and Karen Andreoli

Mr. and Mrs. James H. Barnhill

Linda Baron

Thomas and Theresa Barosky

Mr. and Mrs. Jay Bath

Michael Bell

Margareta Berg

Caroline Berlinger

Alden Bourne

Thomas Buckingham

Loren Bunag

Kathleen Chartener

Byron Clark

Paul and Suzanne Cohan

James Comer

Patricia Crump

Barbara Demmon

Henry B. and Jane K. Dewey

Antonella and Roger Doucette

Marillyn and John Earley

Judy Felgoise

Mr. and Mrs. Brian A. Fox

Christy Galloway

Diane Goldstein

Pauline Governale

Jeanne and David GovernaleCousineau

Lori Griswold

James and Susan Halpin

Alan Havranek

Michael Hayeck

Douglas Howland

Evelyn Karet, Ph.D.

Michael Kelleher

Teri Keller

Daniel Kenary

Judith S. King

Dominique Kliger

Hilary Kruchowy

Rich Kyle

Stephen and Valerie Loring

Gerald Matteson

Kathleen and Douglas Means

Christopher Mehne

Carol Momjian and Michael Hanamirian

Michelle Moriniere

Gregg and Jean Nabhan

Ann C. Nelson

Christopher L. Nelson

Michael O'Connor

Scott and Natasha Pollock

Christine and Jonathan Proffitt

Alex Rapp

Ann-Cathrine Rapp

The Rapp Family Fund

Audrey Schnur

Lynda and Robert Sorrenti

Mr. and Mrs. J. Lincoln Spaulding

Barbara Sweeney

Cheryl Tucker

Mary Beth and Steve Verget

Olivia von Heydekampf

Aric Wei

James A. Welu

The Woods Family

Peter Yarger

In Honor of John Savickas

Unibank

In Memory of Susan Scherer

Amy and Robert Dunn

In Honor of Anne-Marie Soullière

William and Lia Poorvu

In Honor of Eliza Spaulding

Karen and Frederick Spaulding

In Memoriam of Hope and Ivan Spear

Brian and Monique Spear

In Memory of Carol Sutton

Chelsea Ellsworth

Catherine Oles

WAM Art Docents

In Honor of Marnie Weir

David and Jeannie Brooks

Legacy Society

The Legacy Society was formed to recognize those individuals who have included the Worcester Art Museum in their will or estate plans. These generous and visionary Members ensure that the Museum is a vibrant institution that will deliver transformative experiences for future generations. We are grateful to the following individuals who have either left a legacy gift or have included the Museum in their estate plans, thereby making WAM a priority during their lifetime and beyond:

Members of the Legacy Society

Anonymous

Anonymous

Toni Begman

Sarah and Allen Berry

Philip H. Brewer

Dr. Elaine and Mr. Robert* Bukowiecki

Alexandra Cleworth and Gary Staab

Susan C. Courtemanche

Dix and Sarah Davis

Brenda Verduin Dean

Margery Dearborn

Robert A. DeLuca

Patricia and Richard Desplaines, Jr.

Henry B. and Jane K. Dewey

Maria* and John Dirlam

Andrea N. Driscoll

Heath Drury Boote

Stephen C. Fitzsimmons

Dr. James and Mrs. Kathleen Hogan

Frances* and Howard Jacobson

Peter Jefts

Lisa Kirby Gibbs and Peter Gibbs

Joan Peterson Klimann

David* and Barbara Krashes

Marcia Lagerwey and Loren Hoekzema

Claude M. Lee III

Dr. Paul J. Mahon

Jodie and David Martinson

Mr.* and Mrs. Robert K. Massey

Dr. and Mrs. Glenn A. Meltzer

Linda and John* Nelson

Edward J. Osowski

Sarah and Joe Ribeiro

Mr. and Mrs. Henry B. Rose

Mr.* and Mrs. Sidney Rose

Ruth R. Rubin

Jennifer L. and Richard E. Saffran

Dr. Peter B. Schneider

Dr. Shirley S. Siff and Robert M.* Siff

Mary Skousgaard

Mr.* and Ms. Jack Tobin

Members who live on through their generous gift

Mrs. Margery A. Adams

Harriet A. Alexander

Mr. and Mrs. William C. Arthur Jr.

Ann Baumann

Mr. and Mrs. Howard M. Booth

Karl and Dorothy Briel

Eleanor H. Burke

Douglas P. Butler

Dr. and Mrs. William T. Carleton

William R. Carrick

Mrs. Fairman C. Cowan

Jeanne Y. Curtis

Mary S. Cushman

Janet B. Daniels

Eleanor Daniels Bronson Hodge

Shirley Look Dunbar

Michael E. Economos

Cathleen C. Esleeck

James E. Lowell

Maurice I. Hurwitz

Mr. and Mrs. I. R. Freelander

Esther and Howard Freeman

Eleanor M. Garvey

Judith S. Gerrish

Robert D. Harrington, Jr.

Mrs. Milton P. Higgins

John and Marianne Jeppson

Britta Dorothy Jeppson

Mary Patricia Keasbey

Sarah Bramson Kupchik

Irving and Marie Lepore

Anne Lewis

Sara Mallard

Myles and Jean McDonough

Ellen E. McGrail

Don and Mary Melville

Henry T. Michie

Jean H. Miles Mrs. David J. Milliken

Mrs. Anne (Nancy) Morgan

Haim G. Nagirner

Viola M. Niemi

Mary Ann Horner Pervier

Marilyn E. Plue

Richard Prouty

Mr. and Mrs. Chapin Riley

Blake Robinson

Louise and Elijah Romanoff

Agnes B. Russfield

Leonard B. Safford

Edith Safford

Katherine Sawyer

John. R. Scarborough

Norman L. Sharfman

Hope and Ivan Spear

Helen M. and Thomas B. Stinson

Helen E. Stoddard

Lois Tarlow

Madeline Tear

Richard S. Teitz

Hester N. Wetherell

Margaret Ray Whitney

Irving N. Wolfson, M.D.

Mrs. Ledlie L. Woolsey

Elton Yasuna

If you are interested in naming the Worcester Art Museum in your will or estate plans, or already have, please contact the Development Office by calling 508.793.4363 or by emailing us at EmilyIsakson@worcesterart.org

For more information on planned giving, please visit worcesterartlegacy.org

Financial Picture

Statement of Financial Position

AUGUST 31, 2022 (With Summarized Comparative Information for 2021)

Statement of Activities

AUGUST 31, 2022 (With Summarized Comparative Information for 2021)