Collections + Exhibitions

OPERATIONS + FINANCE

Looking back on 2021, flexibility is a word that comes to mind. While we entered the year with the hopes of putting the pandemic in the rear-view mirror, we again found ourselves navigating the changing landscape of public safety requirements as we continued to offer a safe and welcoming experience. While at times these changes presented challenges, they also provided us with opportunities to be forward-thinking with technology solutions for the Board of Trustees, colleagues and volunteers. We implemented audio and visual equipment that allows us to hold interactive hybrid meetings where virtual participants can be engaged as fully as in-person attendees.

The finance and operations department leads and implements museum-wide IT solutions, maintains fiscal accountability, supports the visitor experience, and ensures the continued care of our historic building. While the pandemic paused some of our initiatives, we are well-positioned as we look to the future and we begin to make some exciting plans for 2022.

— Lisa Gill, Director of Finance and Operations

We were happy to welcome nearly 23,500 daily visitors back to the museum in 2021, a level on-par with previous years.

Retail sales of $209,000 made 2021 our second-best year in our history with a 93% growth in sales over 2020. We implemented a new cloud-based point of sale system in August, and launched our e-commerce site in December.

The multi-year project to update the banners on the exterior of the building came to life. These vibrant banners hint at what visitors will see and experience inside the Museum, while drawing attention to our beautiful historic building.

COLLECTIONS + EXHIBITIONS

In 2021, the curatorial department accessioned 96 new objects into the permanent collection through donation, partial gift, and endowment purchase. Each of these new additions strategically enhanced collection diversity in areas such as Hispanic art, African American art, Native American art, works by LGBTQ+ and women artists. Such acquisitions serve to activate our institutional mission, crafted in 2015, by filling identified areas of need within the collection. Be sure to visit our New Acquisitions Gallery frequently throughout the year to see new featured works!

This past year we successfully presented eight temporary exhibitions that aligned with our annual theme of Environments Examined. Five of these special exhibitions were curated in-house, pulling from select works within the permanent collection. Exhibitions are an intentional way we work to highlight the depth and context of The Rockwell collection.

The curatorial department is also pleased to introduce our newest team member, Katherine Koltiska Banerjee, who will be supporting the department as part-time Associate Curator. Katherine is a graduate of Alfred University and currently a PhD candidate in the art history department at Pennsylvania State University. We are thrilled to have her experience with art historical research, scholarly writing, and collections management.

— Kirsty Harper Buchanan, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions

New Acquisitions Gallery A visitor recognizes himself in a 1975 photograph on view in FLX KODACHROME: National Geographic Photographer Nathan Benn

Clara S. Peck Fund Purchases:

Wendy Red Star 2021.2.1 – 2021.2.15 Print, Accession Series 2019 Pigment print on archival paper,

Santo Nino 2021.3a-b Sculpture, Santero Bulto of St. Francis circa 1830 Wood, gesso, natural pigments, rope

Romare Bearden 2021.4.1 Print, Family (Mother and Child) 1979 Lithograph on paper

Faith Ringgold 2021.4.2 Print, Aunt Emmy, 2005 Lithograph on paper

Jane Peterson 2021.6 Painting, A Day at the Beach circa 1940 Watercolor and charcoal on paper

Whitfield Lovell 2021.11.1, 2021.11.2, 2021.11.3 Mixed Media, Works from the Card Series V (2014), the Card Series II (2006) and the Round Series V (2014) Charcoal with collaged playing card on buffwove paper Betye Saar 2021.11.4 Sculpture, Untitled (front and back) 1978 Mixed media, including photogravure copper plate, copper repousse, collage, wood

1 Blanche Lazzell 2021.13.2 Sketch, Study for Abstract Composition 1928 Graphite on sketch paper

Hans Hofmann 2021.13.2 Painting, Untitled 1948 Gouache on paper

Museum Purchase with Funds from Clara S. Peck Fund and Reifschlager Fund:

Radcliffe Bailey 2021.5 Mixed Media, Until I Die / Minor Keys 1997 Color spitbite, sugarlift aquatint, soft ground etching, drypoint, photogravure and chine collé on paper, Museum

Museum Purchase through Funds from The Silver Dollar Society:

Grace Cochrane Sanger 2021.8 Painting, The Red Cloche Oil on canvas board

Museum Purchase with In-Kind Gift by the Artist:

Nathan Benn 2021.9a-c – 2021.10.16 S Print, Finger Lakes series 1975 Print on acid-free Epson Hot Press Bright paper, using Epson Ultarchrome ink

Gift of Dr. Marianne Woods:

Women printmakers from the WPA school (36 works) 2021.1.1 – 2021.1.36 Woodcuts on paper In memory of Kenneth Cooper

Gift of James and Marilynn Milmoe:

James O. Milmoe 2021.7 Print, Strasburg Colorado Railroad Depot Color photographic print In memory of Marilynn Milmoe

Gift of Martin Ehlers:

William de la Montagne Cary 2021.12 Painting, Buffalo Crossing the Ice on the Missouri circa 1961-1874 Oil on canvas

Gift of Anonymous Donor:

Robin Tichane (1) 2021.13.1 Prints, AIDS’ Dark Terrain: Twelve Stations from a Yankee Pilgrimage 12 prints, color woodcut prints on Inomache Nacre paper In memory of Robin Tichane and John Schmidt

Left: Robin Tichane, Silent Spring from the series AIDS’ Dark Terrain: Twelve Stations from a Yankee Pilgrimage, 1992, Color woodcut print on Inomache Nacre paper, 7 3/4 × 18 in. Anonymous Gift in memory of Robin Tichane and John Schmidt. 2022.3.10.