Fruitlands Museum Annual Report 2014

2014

Fruitlands Museum ANNUAL REPORT 100 Years of Heritage, Nature & Art

Staff Wyona Lynch-McWhite – Executive Director Janet Bailey - Marketing Strategist Mary Delaney – Marketing Manager Aixa Lovezzola – Finance/HR Manager Martin Gredinger - Chief Financial Officer Melissa Kershaw – Director of Education & Public Programs Kate Parsons – Development Officer Michael Rouleau – Manager of Buildings & Grounds Suzanne Smith – Director of Development Michael Volmar – Chief Curator Inez Andrews Helen Batchelder Rachel Bobzin Ruth Bobzin Emily Carr Samyak Chowdhury Maribeth Cote Lisa Dagdigian Judith Diamondstone Danielle Fennema

Allison Footit Harriet Friedrich Sally Gardner Amy Gust Julia Harrington Timothy Houlihan Mary Hunt Gary Jackson Patricia Jennings Reesha Katcher Naomi Nowell Karen Omahen Samuel Palmer Carlene Phillips Gwendolyn Pozdena Julia Sheehan Lauren Sheehan Sheila Simollardes Elsa Stroh Virginia Watts

Board of Trustees

Members of the Corporation

Marie LeBlanc – President Victor Normand – Vice President Ken Cochrane – Treasurer Terry Symula – Secretary Eileen deCastro Ellen Hazen Todd K. Helwig Kerry Lewis Peter von Loesecke John Ott

Bob Anderson LaGina Austin Jennifer Combs Marge Darby Richard B. Fellows Linda Hoffman Katherine Jasmine Jonathan Keep John Laupheimer

Ray Lyons John O’Keefe C. Ronald Ostberg Steve Payne Jeffrey Schwarz Karen Strickland Ara Tyler Dan Wolfe As of December 2014

Message from the Director Some years are unforgettable and 2014 was that sort of year for Fruitlands Museum. The highlights of our activities across all areas of operation are detailed within the pages of this report, but there is no way that this format can do justice to the excitement and energy that we saw during these twelve months.

The Museum officially opened in June of 1914 and thoughts about what might happen on our 100th birthday had been on the minds of the Museum’s board and staff for a very long time. I joined in and began planning for our Centennial Celebration as soon as I arrived in 2012, and our efforts culminated this year with the successful production of our Centennial Book and Exhibition. From the excitement of launching our first ever Kickstarter campaign and learning how to produce online videos, to collecting great stories that show what Fruitlands has meant to people through the years, I was continually humbled by the amazing legacy that brought the Museum to such a milestone. This feeling was magnified every time I had a chance to share the experience of walking into the Art Museum with visitors to see the exhibition that brought together all five collections.

Collection. Great programs need great audiences, and we launched our Open Gates initiative to provide free admission to families, seniors and school groups. We also started a strategic planning process to build a plan for the beginning of our next century of operation. The planning process – and the Centennial – will officially end in 2015, but we learned a great deal through the work completed this year, and it has already made an impact. Planning, growth and celebration were big themes for Fruitlands this year.

We could not have asked for a better way to celebrate our past as we move into a bright new future. Hats off to our 100th Birthday. It was a year to remember.

Executive Director

Another important project during the year was the launch of our revamped Education and Outreach Programs and the introduction of an Environmental Education thematic initiative. Thanks to partners in Harvard and beyond, we developed a literacy series, a film series, and dozens of programs to help connect people with our Living

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Fruitlands centennial year provided the young and the young at heart with exciting, entertaining, and thoughtful ways to connect to the Museum and its noteworthy collections.

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Education & Public Programs School and Group Tours: In 2014, nearly 2000 children and adults learned about the art, heritage, and environment of New England by exploring the collections and grounds in guided tours, customized presentations, hands-on learning, and selfdirected activities that engage the mind and encourage life-long learning.

New in 2014, Fruitlands Museum worked with Harvard Public Schools to prototype a series of five two-hour teacher workshops featuring interdisciplinary themes, guided gallery tours with open-ended conversations, creative thinking activities, and group discussions W highlighting the many ways museum objects can be incorporated into classroom learning. With a total of 34 participants thus far, these workshops have great potential for connecting area teachers to the amazing resources at Fruitlands Museum.

Art Classes: 2014 saw an expanded docket of art classes and workshops with 33 people participating in instructed classes focusing on hand-stitched books, basket-making, oil and acrylic painting, observational drawing, and abstract landscape painting.

ever seen, these entertaining community events were among the best birthday parties any museum could hope for!

In addition to the raucous free days, Fruitlands also marked its centennial year with a series of scholarly presentations focusing on museum founder Clara Endicott Sears, the children of the Fruitlands experiment, and the history of Shakers in America. Nearly 250 people attended these insightful presentations.

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Environmental Education: Building on our efforts for more environmental E programming, Fruitlands continued to work with regional experts including the Herbal Community of Central Massachusetts, J.U.M.P. S (Just Understand My Potential), Eastern Mountain Sports, and Harvard Conservation Trust to provide a variety of outdoor experiences in the Fruitlands Living Collection. The Museum’s efforts are paying off – people in Central Massachusetts are beginning to recognize the remarkable natural beauty found at Fruitlands and are turning out for guided trail walks, birding walks, nature scavenger hunts, cross-country skiing clinics, and gardening demonstrations in record numbers.

Centennial Events: In the summer of 2014, a record 2,375 adults and children visited Fruitlands Museum during one of four free campus-wide centennial year celebrations. Featuring live animal presentations, craft activities, museum gallery visits, artist demonstrations, live music, and the biggest birthday cake Fruitlands has

Signature Fruitlands Programs Landmark Fruitlands programs, including plein air art classes, the Summer Concert Series, Harvest Weekend, and WinterFest returned to the hillside in 2014, while new and growing traditions such as Basket Weekend, Seasonal Bonfire, Food for Thought Film Series and Artistin-Residence workshops garnered high visitation and exceptional reviews from participants. In all, Fruitlands hosted 125 public programs in 2014, many for the first time, and served 6,000 adults, families and children in new and unique ways.

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Exhibitions

Relics from the Pergolas We thought it fitting to kick off the centennial year with an exhibition of statuary that once was part of the Pergolas garden, the former summer home of the museum founder, Clara Endicott Sears.

Many items had never been on public display. The items along with interpretive materials about the house and gardens were of great interest to museum visitors.

Student Art Competition The first student art competition hosted by Fruitlands attracted entries from over seventy middle school and high school students from more than a dozen towns across eastern Massachusetts. The exhibition proved to be an excellent way to showcase local talent and encourage young artists.

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Ehrenkranz Basket Collection In 2013 the museum received a generous donation of baskets from the collection of Elaine Ehrenkranz, featuring 80+ antique baskets from Native people around the world including North, Central and South America, Africa and Asia.

Ehrenkranz had a lifelong interest in baskets, and she actively collected them.

Most of all, she loved the process of learning about the art and sharing that information with students, collectors and anyone interested in her collections. The exhibit highlighted the fusion of basketry styles, materials and techniques.

The Land as a Living Collection This exhibit celebrated the museum’s first collection, the Land. The landscape is ever changing as human culture responds to current conditions and influences future ecological habitats. Each of the communities represented in Fruitlands’ collections—Native Americans,

Shakers, Transcendentalists, nineteenth-century artists— contributed to the history of the New England landscape.

Richard Kattman: Transcendental Abstractions Our 2014 artist-in-residence, Richard’s large format abstract paintings are inspired by natural elements—sea, wind, sand, grass, sky, flowers, fields, woods, gardens and night stars.

Some canvases are his views of the earth as it appears from space. These artworks portray the fragility of life and the known universe.

100 Objects, 100 Stories, 100 Years at Fruitlands The signature exhibit for the museum’s centennial year celebrated the past one hundred years by highlighting the richness of our diverse collections and sharing stories contributed by members of our community.

The one hundred most popular objects in Fruitlands’ Transcendental, Shaker, Native American collections, landscape paintings and portraits includes fascinating examples of our New England past, some with poignant local flair. It also celebrates our community, as we crowd-sourced the object selection process and also collected more than 50 stories from individuals and families who have enjoyed Fruitlands for generations.

2014 Acquisitions 1 Shaker Stove donated by Thomas Turley 1 Harvard Shaker side chair donated by Richard C. Dabrowski and Carolyn A. Smith 121 Historical objects donated by the Joan Pearson Watkins Trust 2 Chairs once owned by Joseph and Nancy Palmer donated by Nancy Palmer Lowe Crocker 25 Prehistoric arrowheads donated by the Ortler Family 1 Colonial whetstone donated by Ian Davidson 18 Museum exhibit cases donated by the former Higgins Armory Museum 7 | Annual Report

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FEATURE ARTICLES included Boston Globe West, Yankee Magazine, Worcester Magazine, Art New England, Arts & Antiques, Artfix Daily and Worcester Telegram.

TELEVISION COVERAGE: WCVB Chronicle, WGBH Open Studio with Jared Bowen and Museum Open House.

SOME DIGITAL STATS FOR 2014: 82,000+ users viewed Fruitlands’ website 345,800 times 675 new Facebook followers 300+ new twitter followers 328 Pinterest Pins 56 e-marketing newsletters read by 59,073 people

We are grateful to the following for their contributions to our Kickstarter campaign in February 2014. Their generosity helped us fund our centennial book.

Patti Anklam Reed Anthony Brother Arnold Gwen Art Rebecca Audette Janet Bailey Marty Blank Joan Blue Joanne Boag Ruth Bobzin Diana Boyle Brian Burris Susan Case Jodi Colella Jessica Collier Maureen Connelly Eileen deCastro Mary Delaney John and Annette Ekberg Scott Erb Martin Fletcher Ursula Flury

Martha Folsom Betty Fulton Donna Gerlaugh Robert Ellis Gerlaugh Robert LeRoy Gerlaugh Martin Gredinger Kristopher Hall Roger Hall Robin Hanley Ellen Harasimowicz Casey Harrington Linda Hoffman Susan Jackson Melissa Kershaw Daniel Knapp Marian Knapp Andrea Lamar Bobbie Lamont John Laupheimer Marie LeBlanc Susan Litowitz Aixa Lovezzola

Wyona Lynch-McWhite Donna M. Weiss Cecilia Macheski David Macpherson Adam Morton Victor Normand C. Ron Ostberg John Ott Karen Page Anthea Reilly Karl Schmidt Joseph Seliga Sheila Simollardes Robert Sumner Terry Symula Keith Turner Barry Van Dusen Stanley Vestal Mike Volmar Lynne Wood Digital Silver Imaging

Fruitlands by the Numbers OPERATING EXPENSES

SUPPORT & REVENUE 21% Rentals & Functions

2% Museum Store Sales

30% Appropriated from Sears Trust

5% Admissions Income

1% Other

40% Gifts, Grants & Membership

1% Programs & Special Events

16% Programs & Education

31% Management & General

15% Curatorial/ Exhibition

15% Facilities & Maintenance

3% Museum Store

9% Marketing

11% Membership & Development

Total Operating Expenses: $1,376,495 8 | Fruitlands Museum

Fiscal year is January - December

Events Fruitlands Museum’s Centennial Year brought crowds of fans and new friends to our many celebrations and special events.

OPEN GATES INITIATIVE Funded with generous grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Highland Street Foundation, the Open Gates Initiative provided free access to the Museum on four separate days in 2014.

Main Season Opening Day: We started the year off right with FREE admission for everyone.

Centennial Saturday: The big 100th birthday was celebrated with 869 of our closest friends. We enjoyed live music, craft activities, artist demonstrations, games and a cake to beat all cakes!

Free Fun Friday: 1247 guests joined us for this FREE day, courtesy of the Highland Street Foundation.

Centennial Exhibit Opening: We finished off the Main Season in style with another FREE day so everyone would have a chance to enjoy the centennial exhibit, 100 Objects, 100 Stories, 100 Years at Fruitlands Museum.

SUMMER CONCERTS In June we welcomed back the Concord Band for their 29th season at Fruitlands! On June 26, the band helped us celebrate the Museum’s 100th anniversary with special performances of music composed by Fruitlands founder Clara Endicott Sears. The July 31st concert brought back another group that has become a concert tradition–The Love Dogs–and Black Marmot closed out the summer once again.

SUMMER SOLSTICE FARM TO FORK DINNER Our second Farm to Fork dinner was the perfect way to celebrate Fruitlands centennial birthday. Under a blue summer sky, 100+ happy guests dined on locally sourced cuisine and listened to live music. The evening was finished off with a champagne toast under the tent.

THE CRAFT FESTIVAL AT FRUITLANDS The 4th annual juried Craft Festival at Fruitlands, held in partnership with the Worcester Center for Crafts, continued to grow this year. The beautiful weather and talented artisans brought out the crowds as 2224 visitors shopped at 40 booths. The weekend was a roaring success and will be repeated in 2015 for the 5th consecutive year.

BEER TASTING & BONFIRE The 2014 Main Season ended with the now traditional Craft Beer Tasting and bonfire. Nine breweries brought local craft beer for sampling and hors d’oeuvres from Fireside Catering rounded out the tasting experience. After the last bottle was recycled the bonfire was lit and a crowd of over 200 watched as it lit up the cold November sky.

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Donors We are pleased to recognize our donors whose cash gifts were received between January 1 and December 31, 2014.

Names are listed by cumulative gifts during this time period. We value gifts of all sizes and extend our thanks to everyone who supports Fruitlands and our vital mission.

Gifts $5,000 and above Eileen & Ed DeCastro John & Deborah Laupheimer Marie LeBlanc & Greg Schnipke Pamela Smith*

Gifts $2,500-$4,999 Reed & Barbara Anthony Ken & Pam Cochrane The Estate of Ragnhild “Ronnie” Harris* Ellen Hazen & Matthew

Carpenter Peter & Alice von Loesecke

Gifts $1,000-$2,499 Nancy & Reiner Beeuwkes Garden Club of Harvard Erhart Muller* Steve & Diane Payne The Stevenson Family Sara Timmons

Gifts $500-$999 Jim & Carolyn Birmingham Alex & Jennifer Combs Harvard Road Race Association Kerry Lewis Susan Litowitz Victor & Jackie Normand Lois C. Russell Theodore & Mary Shasta

Gifts $250-$499 John Cunney & Jared Wollaston Marjorie Darby Mary Ells 10 | Fruitlands Museum

Martin Fletcher Ted & Connie Lapres Douglass & Dee Lee Gail Ann McCarthy Glenn & Faith Parker Roseanne & James Saalfield Russell & Linda Shappy Keith & Mary Turner

Gifts $100-$249 Anonymous (2) Maud Ayson Janet Bailey Jane Biering & Peter Shepard Lee Burton Barbara & James Cantrill Susan Case Maureen Connelly Frank & Emilie Coolidge Molly & Chris Cutler Maria Day Mary & Larry Delaney N. Joel Ehrenkranz John & Annette Ekberg Martha S. Folsom Rhonda Gallant Gary & Nancy Gasser Robert E. Gerlaugh Richard Gioiosa & Simon Jones Larry & Holly Glick Kristopher & Savannah Hall Roger L. Hall Ellen & Paul Harasimowicz James & Diana Harte Harvard Boy Scouts Patricia Jennings

G. Demetrios Karis & Alicia Dwyer Terese & Philip Knoettner Tom & Bobbie Lamont Tom Larkin Nel & Phyllis LeBlanc Wyona Lynch-McWhite & Christopher McWhite Lorrie Morgan Suzanne R. Newton Andrew O’Connor Ronald & Susan Ostberg John & Lili Ott Jonathan & Jessie Panek David & Laura Peterson Fred & Karen Ratcliffe Chelsey & David Remington Karl Schmidt Thomas Shepherd Sheila Simollardes Otto & Dorothy Solbrig Robert Sumner Terry & George Symula Stan & Claudia Vestal Lucy Wallace

Gifts in Memoriam Darcy Marshall & Louise Marshall in Memory of Paula Marshall The Family of Jean & George Roberts

Gifts In-kind Baxter Brewing Company Berkshire Brewing Company Cape Ann Brewing Company Cisco Brewers Fireside Catering Pepperell Beverage Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project The People’s Pint

Transitions Liquidation Services Tuckerman Brewing Company Universal Wilde WGBH

Foundations & Granting Agencies Acton-Boxborough Cultural Council Ashburnham Cultural Council Ashby Cultural Council Attleboro Cultural Council Ayer Cultural Council Billerica Arts Cultural Council Bolton Cultural Council Brimfield Cultural Council Bruce J. Anderson Foundation Carlisle Cultural Council Clinton Rotary Club Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts Concord Cultural Council Duxbury Cultural Council Foundation for MetroWest Freetown Cultural Council Groton Cultural Council Harvard Cultural Council Highland Street Foundation Hudson Cultural Council Leominster Cultural Council Lexington Cultural Council Lunenburg Cultural Council Massachusetts Cultural Council Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund Maynard Cultural Council MBIA Foundation Milford Cultural Council Millbury Cultural Council Nashoba Valley Chamber of Commerce

Corporations Needham Cultural Council Bell Lap Coaching Northbridge Cultural Council Bemis Associates, Inc. Reynolds R. and Pamela M. Digital Silver Imaging Smith Foundation Emerson Hospital Shrewsbury Cultural Council Enterprise Bank and Trust Southborough Cultural Arts Company Council Mirick, O’Connell, DeMallie & Springfield Cultural Council Lougee, LLP Stow Cultural Council North Middlesex Savings Bank Upton Cultural Council Natural Resources Conservation RiverCourt Residences Transitions Liquidation Services Service Tufts Health Plan Westford Cultural Council Wagner Motors Wilmington Cultural Council

Members Members are the most loyal advocates of the Museum.

They receive benefits including free admission, discounts on workshops, classes, concerts and paid programs as well as in the Museum Store and Café.

Benefactor & Sponsor

Persis & David Levy

Reed & Barbara Anthony Richard & Helen Brockelman Ellen Hazen & Matthew Carpenter Eric Prouty Pamela Smith* Ann Sonnenfeld

Marie LeBlanc & Greg

Patron

Ronald & Susan Ostberg

Frank & Emilie Coolidge Richard & Bayla Cornell Eileen & Ed DeCastro Jack & Susan Guswa Todd & Lara Helwig George C. Herbolsheimer John & Deborah Laupheimer *Deceased

Schnipke Kerry Lewis Wyona Lynch-McWhite & Christopher McWhite Ray Lyons Victor & Jackie Normand John & Lili Ott Heidi & Donald Siegrist Chase & Suzanne Smith John O’Keefe & Lynne Stopen Terry & George Symula Stan & Claudia Vestal Doug & Beth Williams

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Corporate

Anonymous (3) Carol Addy Scott Blatterman Marvin Caldwell Natasha Cavicchio Robert Chasen Jamey Gioncola Stacie Green Dorna Hamer G. Demetrios Karis & Alicia Dwyer Kirk Kinder David & Barbara Krashes Jacqueline Lehr Edwina & Henry Marcus John & Anne McCormack Debra McDuffee Lynn Meheran Bryan Moss Lynn Neild Kieran & Kate Parsons Stephen Reidy Martha Rypinski Patrick Scollin & Frances Guerard Thomas Shepherd Tim Clark & Ruth Silman Stephanie C. Somers Otto & Dorothy Solbrig John & Adrienne Sparks Debra Strick Greg & Susan Sullivan Richard & Pamela Sullivan Dawn Sulmasy Charles Swanson Lynn Viamari Irvin W. Weaver Virginia Weeks Jessica Weeks & Alvin Gonzalez Joseph Wong Michael & Connie Woolcock

Bristol-Myers Squibb Groton Ayer Realty Trust Nypro, Inc. Wagner Motors

Library Acton Memorial Library Athol Public Library Beaman Memorial Library Belmont Public Library Bentley University Library Bolton Public Library Cary Memorial Library Chelmsford Public Library Concord Free Public Library Forbush Memorial Library Lunenburg Public Library Groton Public Library Harvard Public Library Hazen Memorial Library Hopkinton Public Library J.V. Fletcher Library Jacob Edwards Library Keene Public Library Lawrence Library Lincoln Public Library Marlborough Public Library Maynard Public Library Reading Public Library Reuben Hoar Library Sargent Memorial Library Shrewsbury Public Library Stevens Memorial Library Wayland Public Library Westborough Public Library Worcester Free Public Library

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1 | Fruitlands Museum

102 Prospect Hill Road | Harvard, MA 01451 | www.fruitlands.org