INTREPID ADVANCEMENTS
Summer 2025
THE POWER OF STORYTELLING
To Our Donors, Members, and Supporters Writ Large,
I am thrilled to be here and hope to meet many of you in person at our upcoming events! My name is Lee Ann Gullie, and I recently joined the Intrepid Museum as Vice President of Institutional Advancement.
Years of leadership in performing arts fundraising have given me a deep appreciation for the power of storytelling. The Intrepid Museum is special in that regard: we have the unique ability to bring history to life where it actually happened.
As the granddaughter of World War II service members, I’ve always been drawn to understanding how ordinary people rise to meet extraordinary challenges. And as the mother of two young children, I understand the role the Intrepid Museum plays in sharing these vital stories with the next generation of learners and leaders.
My fundraising experience working with major off-Broadway organizations has taught me to be resourceful and creative—skills that are increasingly important in the nonprofit arts & culture environment. I look forward to working on innovative fundraising methods that support the Museum’s mission while advancing its capabilities.
I am also excited to develop programming that brings our supporters on board not only as funders but also as partners, actively inspiring future generations through incredible stories of service and preserving mechanical marvels like Intrepid.
This is an exciting time to join the Institutional Advancement team. The Museum is in the midst of unprecedented projects to open up never-before-seen spaces such as Intrepid ’s sick bay, post office and barber shop, crucial components of the ship’s operation as a veritable city at sea.
As a national leader in museum accessibility, we are also hard at work ensuring all our visitors can enjoy unforgettable experiences through technologies such as augmented and virtual reality, which are “opening” physically inaccessible spaces, including the ship’s boiler and engine rooms.
I’m honored to be part of this incredible team and mission, and I can’t wait to meet you at our upcoming events. Thank you for all that you do to support the Intrepid Museum. Together, we’ll continue to inspire generations through these extraordinary stories of courage, innovation, and service.
With gratitude,
Lee Ann Gullie
Lee Ann Gullie, Vice President of Institutional Advancement.
Photo by Intrepid Museum Staff
FIXED-UP FIGHTERS: RESTORING ICONIC AIRCRAFT
Our aircraft are exposed to high winds, scorching sun and salt air year-round—not to mention pigeons seeking rent-free housing in Hell’s Kitchen. Paid aircraft restoration staff and volunteers are constantly rotating planes through our specialized Aircraft Restoration Hangar (ARH) in a fight against the elements.
Two planes that recently spent time side-by-side in the ARH are ones that fought each other in the skies over Vietnam: the Soviet-built MiG-21 and the U.S. Navy’s Vought F-8 Crusader.
The markings on our MiG-21 previously represented a Vietnamese People’s Air Force camouflage scheme, but our plane actually has Polish roots! As such, it was repainted to reflect this aircraft’s unique history.
Over 11,000 MiG-21s were produced, and dozens of countries operated the type through the second half of the 20th century, making the MiG-21 one of our most recognized planes. The ease of maintenance that kept these planes flying for decades also made it easier for our team to “peek under the hood” for signs of corrosion. Fortunately, this airframe only needed minor TLC.
Our Crusader had its existing markings reapplied to continue telling the story of Lt. Anthony “Tony” Nargi, the last Intrepid fighter pilot to down an enemy plane in air-to-air combat.
The restoration of the Crusader was a major undertaking. Its nose landing gear was on the vergeof collapse. However, our resourceful team had a ‘new old stock’ strut waiting in the wings for this very occasion. The process of replacing this part and completing the work required an all-hands effort. In all, 13 people dedicated a total of 274 hours to stabilize the Crusader and get it back on the flight line for the benefit of our visitors.
Your support makes this vital work possible and ensures that visitors experience the intersection of history and innovation firsthand, face-to-face with some of the most incredible aircraft on public display.
Vought F-8 Crusader in front of Aircraft Restoration Hangar.
Photo by Intrepid Museum Staff
MiG-21 receiving a little TLC. Photo by Intrepid Museum Staff
FLEET WEEK: CELEBRATION & COMMEMORATION
From the spectacular Parade of Ships along the Hudson River to the moving Memorial Day ceremony— where commemorative wreaths were laid, a 100-foot U.S. flag was unfurled and Navy fighter jets soared overhead—we honored the brave men and women who have served our country. Your support helped create unforgettable memories for all in attendance. Thank you for helping us honor our heroes!
Nearly 27,000 visitors 46 participating organizations
459 visitors who experienced talks in our Aircraft Restoration Hangar
Almost 2X increase in media coverage from 2024
More than 750,000 social media impressions
FROM ARTIFACT TO EXPERIENCE: BRINGING THE PAST TO LIFE
The Intrepid Museum’s historic preservation efforts showcase crucial lessons from the past, but making this history matter to current and future generations requires more than just artifacts behind glass. Visitors need to feel a direct connection to the objects they see.
This challenge was recently met by the Museum’s new 10,500-square-foot exhibition in Intrepid ’s hangar 1. The largest refresh of the Museum’s permanent exhibition in nearly 20 years, it contains embedded oral history videos featuring former Intrepid crew members and hands-on experiences that help visitors of all ages and abilities understand the monumental feats of engineering and world-historical events represented by the Museum’s collections.
The exhibition redesign also significantly opened up hangar 1, permitting the installation of our newly acquired WWII-era FG-1D Corsair aircraft and 50 never-before-seen artifacts.
This new exhibition is amplifying the efforts of the Museum’s educators and Visitor Experience specialists who tell compelling stories of service, sacrifice and innovation where they actually happened: aboard a ship that not only witnessed history but made it for over 30 years.
Want to stay up to date on the Museum’s upcoming exhibitions or tune into exciting live programs? Check out our events calendar to learn and explore with us!
The Corsair is a powerful visual reminder of Intrepid ’s Pacific War deployments. Its unique design also helps Museum educators explain the four forces of flight to visiting school groups. In nearby exhibit cases, our educators show students objects that speak to tensions aboard the ship during the 1970s, revealing how Intrepid was a microcosm of America. By leveraging 4
Photo by Erika Kapin Photography
artifacts representing a broader cross-section of crew members, the Education team’s civics initiatives are able to connect the past and present in ways that youth find compelling and personally relevant.
Clearer wayfinding and organization are also helping the general public achieve a greater understanding of history and innovation. Visitors interested in Intrepid ’s WWII service can seamlessly follow the story from the ship’s construction through its multiple combat deployments.
By the same token, the repositioning of ship models representing Intrepid ’s WWII and post-war configurations has made it easier for visitors to see the ship evolve over time from a straight-deck carrier with myriad anti-aircraft guns to an angled-deck carrier sporting almost no guns and jet-powered aircraft.
Whether experienced by individuals, families or school groups, hangar 1 represents a major upgrade to our permanent exhibition that will help advance the Museum’s mission for years to come!
ABOVE: Hangar 1 prior to redesign. Photos by Intrepid Museum Staff
The exhibition hall has been made possible thanks to generous support from The Kislak Family Foundation, Inc.; Emil Buehler Perpetual Trust; Cushman & Wakefield; Anonymous; Ng Family Foundation; Gayley Forsyth Knight; Jocelyn Forsyth Vick; Elizabeth Candace Forsyth.
Hangar 1 exhibition redesign Photos by Intrepid Museum Staff
EXPLORING THE DEPTHS OF DISCOVERY
Building on its record of curatorial excellence, the Museum recently unveiled its latest temporary exhibition, Mysteries from the Deep: Exploring Underwater Archaeology, co-produced with Flying Fish, the exhibition design firm behind the Museum’s popular Apollo: When We Went to the Moon. This expansive 9,000-square-foot exhibition, located in the Space Shuttle Pavilion, brings visitors beneath the waves where cutting-edge technology and expert teams uncover mysteries spanning thousands of years of history.
Mysteries from the Deep spotlights some of the most compelling submerged sites from around the world, including deep-water shipwrecks, the oldest known harbor town, and caves filled with the remains of extinct animals. These fascinating subjects are presented in English and Spanish through hands-on, interactive elements that allow visitors to touch objects, experiment with sonar, and digitally reconstruct dig sites, providing a firsthand experience of underwater archaeology. Embedded videos also allow visitors to virtually “meet” underwater archaeologists to learn more about their work and its importance.
As a traveling, bilingual exhibition, Mysteries from the Deep will reach far beyond the Museum’s footprint at Pier 86 and serve as the authoritative underwater archaeology experience on public display.
RIGHT: Visitors experience the Intrepid Museum’s newest temporary exhibition in collaboration with Flying Fish, Mysteries from the Deep: Exploring Underwater Archaeology.
Photos by Intrepid Museum Staff
MEDIA BOOM: HUMOR, GEN Z & HERITAGE
Reaching audiences where they are and speaking their language is increasingly important. This is true not only for visitors traveling from abroad but also for demographic groups like Gen Z, who browse content online. With that in mind, the Museum started a series of videos featuring volunteer and Navy veteran Pat Sirr, the “very demure, very mindful” “rizzler” bringing engaging historical content to younger audiences.
Pat’s videos are sprinkled with humor, incredible artifacts on display at the Museum, and a healthy dose of Gen Z slang that has been connecting with the Museum’s nearly 300,000 total followers. His videos are among the most highly viewed and engaged with across the Museum’s social media channels.
In fact, one of his recent videos for the Museum’s “besties” highlighting the Museum’s Hangar 1 exhibition and Corsair aircraft garnered over 56,000 views and 14,000 engagements (likes, comments, shares and saves) on TikTok, making it one of the most popular this year.
The Museum’s social media performance is off to a strong start in 2025, with roughly 6.7 million impressions (views). Our audiences also like what they see: the Museum has recorded a 77% increase in video views and a whopping 173% increase in comments on its posts year over year. Their enjoyment is driving viewers to become followers at a rate of approximately 1,000 per month.
Thanks to the Museum’s social media team and dedicated volunteers such as Pat Sirr, we can continue to bring history and innovation to life while we expand our digital impact—and that’s “no cap.”
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT: PAT SIRR
Volunteers at the Intrepid Museum play a vital role in our operations. In 2024, 170 volunteers spent over 22,600 hours educating visitors, restoring aircraft, transcribing oral histories and so much more. In Pat’s case, the skills he picked up in the Navy as a communications electrician help him enhance visitor experiences high up in Intrepid ’s bridges, where you can often find him explaining the ins and out of the engine order telegraph and dead reckoning tracer.
When first asked to participate in the Museum’s social media videos, Pat was unfamiliar with Gen Z slang or memes but was willing to try anything. “You gotta have fun in life,” Pat says. The experience has been transformative. He knows the impact he has on our audiences. “I’m proud to be a part of it. These videos make people want to come see the Museum firsthand.”
Visitors who stop and speak with Pat onsite often ask how he’s doing. “I say, ‘I’m on an aircraft carrier in Manhattan, what could be better?’ To explain how Intrepid was built— primarily by women! To see guests smile as they learn. That is really important and unique. This is the best thing I’ve ever done.”
Thank you for being an amazing volunteer and ambassador for the Museum, Pat!
Want to be a part of something bigger? Check out the website for more information about becoming a volunteer!
Photo by Intrepid Museum Staff
One Intrepid Square W. 46th Street & 12th Avenue, New York, NY 10036-4103
ARTIFACT SPOTLIGHT
The papers of Lt. John M. Duthie, an Intrepid plank owner (original crew member) and WWII-era aviation ordnance officer, were incorporated into our new Hangar 1 exhibition in March. They speak to the busy pace of air operations aboard ship during World War II.
This collection also features aerial reconnaissance photographs from Operation Hailstone, a massive air raid on the Japanese Navy’s base at Truk (Chuuk) Atoll. Over the course of just a couple of days in February 1944, aircraft from Intrepid and other ships sank dozens of enemy vessels, totaling almost 200,000 tons.
Over the years, Chuuk became one of the scuba diving capitals of the world. We know Lt. Duthie—who played a role in sending those ships to the bottom of the lagoon— followed this development with interest. He cut out related newspaper articles, which are now part of his donated artifact collection at the Intrepid Museum.
Preserving stories of service like Lt. Duthie’s helps us remember the sacrifices made on our behalf and inspires present and future generations to tackle any challenge they may face—no matter how daunting.
ON THE COVER
TOP IMAGE: New temporary exhibition, Mysteries from the Deep MIDDLE: FG-1D Corsair aircraft as part of the Hangar 1 redesign
BOTTOM: Soviet-built MiG-21 treated for corrosion in the Aircraft Restoration Hangar
Photos by Intrepid Museum Staff
Collection of the Intrepid Museum. Gift of Ann Duthie Perez. A2014.22 and P2018.66.14