access WORCESTER ART MUSEUM magazine 2018
Contents
Cover: Winslow Homer, Rocky Coast (Maine Coast), (detail) 1882-1900, oil on canvas, Wadsworth Atheneum, The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund. Endowed in memory of Leontine Terry Hatch by J.T.S. and D.C.S., 1945.1. Image courtesy of the Wadsworth Atheneum.
4
From the Director
6
Coming Away: Winslow Homer and England
8
Rediscovering an American Community of Color
12
Dangerous Liaisons Revisited
14
The Mystery of Worcester’s Leonardo
16
Stained Glass by Tiffany and La Farge
18
WAM Goes Medieval
21
Keeping the Body in the Museum
22
2017-18 Master Series
24
Tours, programs, etc.
26
Flora in Winter
30
Membership
34
La Bella Notte Corporators Ball
Left: William Bullard, Richard Wilson and Mary Elizabeth Ward Wilson, about 1902; printed 2016, archival inkjet print on Epson Hot Press Natural paper. Facsimile produced from glass plate negatives lent by Mr. Frank Morrill.
access magazine is a publication of the Worcester Art Museum. All rights reserved. Information subject to change. Editor: Julieane Frost Editorial Assistant: Cynthia Allegrezza Designer: Kim Noonan Photographers: Jeff Baker, Stephen Briggs, Norm Eggert, Kim Noonan, Dany Pelletier Contributing Writer: Rae Padilla Francoeur
Connect with us
fln
3
From the Director The theme of connecting art with individual experiences of joy and discovery has guided the Worcester Art Museum since the creation of our Vision 2020 Statement over four years ago. At our annual meeting on November 28, 2017, WAM Corporators will be presented with a renewed Mission Statement, which underscores our commitment: The Worcester Art Museum connects people, communities, and cultures through the experience of art.
One of our proudest moments of connecting was at the beginning of this year, when we had the privilege to host a naturalization ceremony in the Renaissance Court. Surrounded by art from many cultures and periods, 40 new citizens proudly waved their certificates and then visited with their families and friends in our galleries.
This past summer and fall, Reusable Universes: Shih Chieh Huang, which repurposed everyday objects into lifelike, underwater creatures, mesmerized everyone from babies in strollers to senior citizens. The sculptures reached out to touch and draw people in— even to lie on the floor beneath them and become part of the surrounding “sea.” One mother wrote on our Facebook page: “My son loved it and still talks about it a week later.” In July, Huang’s three-day Organic Concept installation in the Renaissance Court surprised, enthralled, and teased visitors into thinking about art in a new way.
Late this summer, our Lancaster Street Welcome Center was a mural site for POW! WOW! Worcester 2017—creating a different kind of connection. During the 10-day, citywide event, visitors from around the region watched as art transformed the city. Massachusetts artists, Josie Morway and Scott Listfield, created two dramatic landscapes murals as our visitors watched.
Rediscovering an American Community of Color: The Photographs of William Bullard, which opened in October, has connected a community not only with art, but to each other. The images have brought a forgotten neighborhood back to life, one story at a time, as researchers connected with descendants of Bullard sitters. A Clark University student involved with the exhibition said, “There was nothing more rewarding than showing my research to the grandsons of Raymond Schuyler. Listening to their family stories over a cup of coffee reminded me how these narratives are not just in the past, but rather are timeless, living histories.”
We know that experiences such as these enhance our own lives and the lives of our community. In addition, your support, enthusiasm, and appreciation for the Worcester Art Museum—whether by visiting often, becoming a member, or offering financial support—are so important.
On behalf of all of us at WAM, I thank you for all of the ways you are involved and invite you to share our passion for connecting people, communities, and cultures through the experience of art.
Matthias Waschek C. Jean and Myles McDonough Director
WORCESTER ART MUSEUM
Board of Trustees 2017
Lisa Kirby Gibbs, President James C. Donnelly, Jr., Vice President Phyllis Pollack, Vice President John Savickas, Vice President James E. Collins, Treasurer Herbert S. Alexander Susan M. Bassick Sarah G. Berry Karin I. Branscombe Catherine M. Colinvaux Susan M. Foley Mark W. Fuller Gabriele M. Goszcz Abraham W. Haddad Andrew T. Jay Rachel Kaminsky William D. Kelleher, Jr. Dana R. Levenson Ronald L. Lombard Patricia S. Lotuff Lisa H. McDonough Philip R. Morgan Marc S. Plonskier Malcolm A. Rogers Anne-Marie Soulliere Matthias Waschek (ex-officio)
Valid through Annual Meeting on November 28, 2017
4
Learn more at worcesterart.org
Shih Chieh Huang, Organic Concept, July 20, 2017, Worcester Art Museum
Exhibitions
Coming Away: Winslow Homer and England November 11, 2017 – February 4, 2018
W
inslow Homer, whose well-loved paintings range from scenes of modern American life to rugged coastlines and stormy seas, is often called the quintessential American artist. Yet, it was a transformational sojourn in the English fishing village of Cullercoats from March 1881 through November 1882 that led to some of his best and most celebrated works. This crucial period in Homer’s life is explored in a new exhibition at the Worcester Art Museum from November 11, 2017 through February 4, 2018.
Coming Away: Winslow Homer and England explores how the landscape of England, the artists Homer met there, and the reviews his work received while abroad all had a profound impact on his career. Organized in collaboration with the Milwaukee Art Museum, the exhibition features 50 works by Homer—including many of his watercolors from that time—as well as paintings by English artists and photographers.
Already a successful and acclaimed artist in the United States, Homer was most likely inspired to visit England, in part, by the growing interest in British art at home. Once in England, Homer studied the work of masters, such as Joseph Mallord William Turner and Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, as well as artists from Cullercoats, where he established a studio. He also developed an interest in photography and purchased two cameras.
Coming Away centers on two of Homer’s major paintings from this period drawn from the organizing museums’ collections: the Milwaukee Art Museum’s Hark! The Lark (1882) and the Worcester Art Museum’s The Gale (1883-93). Homer considered Hark! The Lark the most important and best picture he ever painted. The Gale was the first major painting he completed following his return to the United States, after working on it for a decade while processing and reflecting on his time in England. When the Museum acquired the work in in 1916, it set a record for the sale of an American painting at $30,000.
While Homer’s earlier works often used nature as a backdrop for the presentation of his subjects, his paintings during his time in England emphasize instead the dynamic struggle between humanity and the natural world. Homer’s brushwork during this period also became more vigorous, in keeping with the power of the North Sea and the ruggedness of the people who lived and worked along its coast. While the core of the exhibition is dedicated to sketches, watercolors, and oil paintings created in England, Coming Away also includes both earlier and later works, showing the considerable and lasting influence of Homer’s time in England on his career.
Co-curated by Elizabeth Athens, Assistant Curator of American Art at the Worcester Art Museum, and Brandon Ruud, Abert Family Curator of American Art at the Milwaukee Art Museum, Coming Away travels to Milwaukee from March 2 through May 10, 2018.
Left: Winslow Homer, The Gale, 1883‒93, oil on canvas, Worcester Art Museum, Museum Purchase, 1916.48
An exhibition catalog, co-published by the Yale University Press, the Worcester Art Museum, and the Milwaukee Art Museum, features new scholarship by Athens and Ruud, as well as by Martha Tedeschi, the Elizabeth and John Moors Cabot Director at the Harvard Art Museums. The catalog can be purchased from the Museum Shop. For information, call 508.793.4355.
Coming Away: Winslow Homer and England is co-organized by the Worcester Art Museum and the Milwaukee Art Museum. This exhibition is made possible through support from the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Lunder Foundation, and The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation. Additional support is provided by The Richard A. Heald Fund, the Michie Family Curatorial Fund, and the John and Ruth Adam, Jr. Exhibition Fund. This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. The accompanying catalogue is supported by the Henry Luce Foundation and the Wyeth Foundation for American Art. Sponsored by:
Media Partners:
RELATED EVENTS
Salisbury Society Sneak Preview Thursday, November 9, 5:30-8:30pm Call 508.793.4325 for information.
Members’ Opening Event Friday, November 10, 5-8pm A special celebration for Museum members and their guests, featuring tours of the exhibition and cash bar. $10 members; $20 guests
Third Thursday Master Series: Winslow Homer, The Gale Thursday, November 16, 6pm Judith C. Walsh, Professor Emerita of Paper Conservation at Buffalo State College, gives a presentation about Winslow Homer’s painting, The Gale. A reception in the Museum’s Renaissance Court, with cash bar and live music, follows. Free with Museum admission.
See pages 22 - 23 for the full schedule of Master Series Third Thursdays events.
Symposium Friday, December 8, 6pm Dr. Sarah Burns, Ruth N. Halls Professor Emerita of Art History at Indiana University, Bloomington, presents the keynote lecture, examining Winslow Homer’s time in England. Saturday, December 9, 9:30am-5:30pm A day of talks by scholars of American and British art. Both events are free and open to the public. Registration is required and can be made by calling 508.793.4317. For more information, visit worcesterart.org. Made possible through the support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Connect with us
fln
7
Exhibitions Rediscovering an American Community of Color: The Photographs of William Bullard October 14, 2017 – February 25, 2018
P
ortraits of Worcester’s people of color taken by itinerant photographer William Bullard are shown for the first time in a special exhibition at the Worcester Art Museum. Rediscovering an American Community of Color, on view through February 25, 2018, provides an invaluable window on a transitional period of American history— capturing the post-emancipation generation, their children, and grandchildren on the cusp of a new century. Bullard’s photographs document their achievements and reflect their aspirations and confidence in the future. Moreover, his images demonstrate the ways the camera provided people of color the power of self-representation to challenge cruel racial stereotypes and caricatures that permeated the culture.
A white resident of Worcester’s Beaver Brook neighborhood, Bullard amassed over 5,400 glass negatives in his 20-year career. His portraits of people of color, most of which were taken in his home neighborhood, are especially valuable for two reasons. First, due to the fortunate survival of Bullard’s logbook, most of his sitters can be identified, allowing us to uncover the rich family histories that contextualize the portraits. Second, as an itinerant photographer, Bullard typically photographed men, women, and children in their own settings—on their porches and in their own backyards and parlors, in ways that they chose to represent themselves. Beaver Brook and the American Dream
At the time Bullard made his portraits, Worcester, like many industrial cities, drew migrants and immigrants to the city in search of good jobs and decent housing. Beaver Brook, on the city’s west side, was a rapidly developing neighborhood with a mix of industries and affordable housing. Black migrants from the South—from Camden, South Carolina, New Bern, North Carolina, and northern and eastern Virginia— clustered in the neighborhood alongside immigrants from at least 12 countries, including Irish, Norwegians, Swedes,
Rediscovering an American Community of Color was organized in partnership with, and with support from, Clark University. The Museum extends its gratitude to Mass Humanities, the McMillan Stewart Foundation, and Stephen J. Javaras and Robert A. Collins for their financial support. This project is also funded in part by the Hall and Kate Peterson Fund. In addition, Frank J. Morill generously provided the Museum with the Bullard negatives and years of dedicated research. Finally, the Museum thanks the members of the community and descendants of Bullard’s sitters who offered advice, told stores and filled in crucial gaps that deepened the power of these portraits.
8
Learn more at worcesterart.org
French Canadians, Armenians, and Jews from the Russian Empire. At the same time, people from the New England countryside also flocked to Beaver Brook. They included Nipmuc and Narragansett people who left tribal lands for jobs in the city, people of both Native American and AfricanAmerican descent, and white families, like the Bullard family, with roots in North Brookfield, Massachusetts. While making up only about one percent of the city’s population in 1900, people of color made up approximately 12 percent of the neighborhood’s population and lived on the same streets and blocks—and sometimes in the same multi-family housing— as their white neighbors.
Roaming his neighborhood with his camera, Bullard seems to have found enthusiastic customers among his AfricanAmerican and Native American neighbors, who make up over 30 percent of his portraits. His portraits capture a community of color in the process of constructing itself from diverse elements, as it melded refugees from the South, old black Yankee families, and Native Americans, into a dynamic entity. For Southern migrants, family portraits celebrated the resilience of kinship ties reestablished in the North and documented their accomplishments since emancipation. The collection contains images of church and fraternal organizations, musicians and ministers, and firemen, as well as people at work and play. Portraits, such as Spanish American War veteran Reuben Griffin, not only made a statement of pride in military service and black manhood but also made a claim for full citizenship in an era of eroding civil rights. Numerous portraits of children attest to the value placed on family life and hope in the future. Above all, Bullard’s subjects presented themselves as upstanding, respectable members of society, using the camera to reimagine and represent themselves as they wished, in ways that subverted racial stereotypes.
—Janette Thomas Greenwood, Ph.D., Professor of History, Clark University
Sponsored by: Media Partner: William Bullard, David T. Oswell with His Viola, about 1900, printed 2016, archival inkjet print on Epson Hot Press natural paper. Facsimile produced from glass plate negatives lent by Mr. Frank Morrill
“There are stories I never knew until these photographs triggered conversation. It’s all a blessing to me.”
— Benetta Kuffour, descendant of the Jackson children, photographed by William Bullard in 1900.
From l-r: Nancy Kathryn Burns, Associate Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Worcester Art Museum; Emily Art, Clark University Class of 2017; Frank Morrill; Benetta Kuffour; Janette Thomas Greenwood, Professor of History, Clark University. Ms. Kuffour is a descendant of the Jackson children, shown in the framed photograph by William Bullard.
Reconstructing a neighborhood – one story at a time
Who was William Bullard?
In the spring of 2017, 10 Clark University students participated in a special seminar co-taught by the exhibition curators, Nancy Kathryn Burns, the Worcester Art Museum’s Associate Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, and Janette Thomas Greenwood. The undergraduates helped research the photographs and prepare the exhibition, meeting with descendants and gathering family stories that give context to the photographs. They contributed essays about their work to a website, www.bullardphotos.org, which provides supplemental information for the exhibition and serves as a permanent virtual display of the Bullard photographs.
Bullard’s photographs and glass negatives reflect a high level of skill, but his training remains a mystery. He may have apprenticed with an established photographer, but more likely Bullard gained most of his photographic knowledge from one of the many readily available pamphlets distributed by companies such as Eastman Kodak. Unlike most of his fellow photographers, Bullard fastidiously catalogued over 980 of his negatives in a surviving logbook. This has made it possible to identify most of his sitters, connect with many of their descendants, and gather valuable oral histories that bring to life this rediscovered community of color.
Rediscovering an American Community of Color: The Photographs of William Bullard brought together scholars, students, descendants of Bullard portrait sitters, and community members in a collaborative effort to reconstruct a Worcester neighborhood, one story at a time. Working with Frank Morrill, owner of the Bullard collection of negatives and logbook, Janette Thomas Greenwood, Professor of History at Clark University, connected with many living descendants of the portrait sitters, compiling valuable oral histories. They were assisted by an advisory board of local descendants and community leaders, who served as an important resource for the project.
A century after William Bullard photographed his Worcester neighbors, his impeccably preserved negatives and records have emerged as an unexpected gift to a new generation. Story by story they have brought a forgotten community of color back to life.
An exhibition catalog, edited by Nancy Kathryn Burns and Janette Thomas Greenwood, is available at the Museum Shop. For information, please call 508.793.4355.
10
Learn more at worcesterart.org
William Bullard, who lived from 1876 to 1918, was a prolific photographer, capturing over 5,400 people, places, streets, and landscapes during his relatively short career. In 1894, at the age of 18, he moved with his brothers and recently separated mother to 5 Mayfield Street (now Maple Tree Lane) in Worcester’s Beaver Brook neighborhood and began his foray into photography. Like most photography enthusiasts, Bullard focused his lens on the people and places closest to him. However, he also transported his camera to nearby towns where he documented businesses, streets, homes, and local residents. Eventually he traveled by train, wagon, and trolley to photograph additional towns and cities in New England, venturing as far as Buffalo, New York.
In 1908 Bullard relocated to his family’s farm in North Brookfield. His later photographs focus more on his own family, parades in Worcester, and streetscapes of the Brookfields. Despondent over his mother’s death and reportedly suffering from ill health himself, William Bullard took his own life in April 1918 at the age of 41. He is buried in Putnam, Connecticut. —Frank Morrill (owner of the William Bullard collection of glass negatives)
William Bullard, Thomas A. and Margaret Dillon Family, about 1904, printed 2016, archival inkjet print on Epson Hot Press Natural paper. Facsimile produced from glass plate negatives lent by Mr. Frank Morrill.
Connect with us
fln
11
Exhibitions Dangerous Liaisons Revisited January 20 – April 22, 2018
A tragic love story inspires art and music for over 1,000 years.
A
cclaimed for her legendary beauty and intelligence, she has been often blamed for the downfall of one of the world’s greatest empires. Killed because of her remarkable power at court that sparked a revolution, she has been an iconic figure and muse to generations of poets, playwrights, artists, and filmmakers.
No, she is not Cleopatra or Marie Antoinette. She is Yang Guifei, the beloved eighth-century consort of the emperor at the Chinese Tang court, whose tragic story has been a creative inspiration for centuries and is the focus of a new exhibition at WAM. Dangerous Liaisons Revisited, opening in January, revolves around an exquisite 14th- to 17th-century Ming period Chinese handscroll painting, Ming Huang and Yang Guifei Listening to Music. The exhibition features approximately 25 works of art from the 14th century to the present, as well as actual historical musical instruments depicted in the works.
The centerpiece handscroll portrays the ill-fated lovers Ming Huang, one of the greatest and longest reigning emperors of the Tang dynasty, and Yang Guifei as they listen to an all-female orchestra at court. Yang Guifei had entered the imperial court at the age of 17 as the consort of the emperor’s son. She later annulled the marriage and became a nun, so she could remarry as the emperor’s consort. When they wed, Yang Guifei was 27 years old and Ming Huang, who had already ruled for more than 30 years, was 61.
During the Tang period (618-906), considered to be China’s golden age, the Middle Kingdom was the most powerful and developed country on earth. Ming Huang’s reign (r. 712-756) was marked by prosperity, cosmopolitanism, and a flowering of Chinese poetry, music, and the arts, including the founding of the imperial music academy. Yet his rule ended in national crisis when— after a series of catastrophes—his affections for Yang Guifei were blamed for his negligence of duties, and his generals rebelled. As the emperor and Yang Guifei fled the capital, his remaining followers also mutinied by killing Yang Guifei. While the Tang Dynasty never regained its former splendor, the tragic love between the
12
Learn more at worcesterart.org
emperor and the renowned beauty became immortalized in the long poem, “The Song of Everlasting Sorrow,” by the famous Tang poet Bai Juyi.
Through the circulation of Bai Juyi’s classic poem, the story of Yang Guifei has remained one of the most popular topics since the ninth century—not only in Chinese but also Japanese literature. The story has produced a robust body of literary and visual artworks. The world’s first novel and classic of Japanese literature, the 11th-century Tale of Genji, was inspired by Ming Huang and Yang Guifei’s story of lost love and melancholy. The figure of Yang Guifei became the object of both scorn and sympathy, such as the virtuous beauty in Takemiya Koun’s 19th-century painting Yokihi (Yang Guifei). Other interpretations were based less on Yang Guifei as an historical figure, such as portrayals of her as a celestial being sought after by the grief-stricken emperor in the afterlife.
Ming Huang and Yang Guifei’s tale of pathos endures into contemporary times, such as in Peng Wei’s multipanel ink painting, Coming Full Circle (2015). This work recreates the popular landscape subject of Ming Huang’s escape through the mountains with Yang Guifei after he abdicated his throne to rebel forces. However, in her painted landscape Peng Wei also includes excerpts from the historical correspondence between the early 20th-century literary luminaries Boris Pasternak, Marina Tsvetayeva, and Rainer Rilke in the summer of 1926. The juxtaposition of the landscape imagery representing Ming Huang’s and Yang Guifei’s escape in the eighth century with the letters exchanged between Pasternak alienated in Stalinist Russia, Tsvetayeva exiled and impoverished in France, and Rilke suffering from leukemia in Switzerland creates new layers of meaning for the narratives separated by more than a millennium. Yang Guifei’s legend persists in its reflection of the human condition that transcends time and space.
—Vivian Li, Assistant Curator of Asian Art
Exhibition support is provided by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Don and Mary Melville Contemporary Art Fund and the John M. Nelson Fund.
Chinese, Ming Huang and Yang Guifei Listening to Music (detail), Early Ming Dynasty, 1368 – 1400, ink and light color on silk, Museum Purchase, 1936.4
The Mystery of Worcester’s Leonardo March 10 – June 3, 2018
W
e are a little closer to understanding the genius of Leonardo da Vinci, thanks to recent research on the Worcester Art Museum’s painting, A Miracle of Saint Donatus of Arezzo. Once part of a church altarpiece in Pistoia, Italy, the painting is now considered to be a collaboration between Leonardo and his fellow pupil Lorenzo di Credi. It is the centerpiece of a thought-provoking exhibition, The Mystery of Worcester’s Leonardo, opening at the Museum in March.
“Where did Leonardo first learn to paint?” asks WAM Chief Conservator Rita Albertson about Leonardo’s superlative talents and innovative techniques. “We know he was apprenticed in the 1460s to the master painter, sculptor, and goldsmith Andrea del Verrocchio, whose Florentine studio was one of the most industrious, successful, and influential workshops of the Renaissance,” she explains. “It was here that Verrocchio likely taught Leonardo to paint in the traditional egg tempera technique. We also know Leonardo was a pupil and assistant in Verrocchio’s workshop when the Pistoia altarpiece was created.”
14
Learn more at worcesterart.org
Insights revealed through collaborative
The Mystery of Worcester’s Leonardo explores this and other vexing questions about the artist, such as how he transitioned from painting with egg tempera to oil; how he acquired skills that exceeded other workshop artists, including Verrocchio himself; and how the collaborative nature of the Verrocchio workshop influenced his work. “Leonardo had a scientific mind, keen observational skills, and a penchant for experimentation,” says Albertson, who also is the exhibition curator. “While his contemporaries in Italy were using egg tempera, Leonardo sought to express himself with oil paint. Painting with egg requires a linear approach more akin to drawing, while painting with oil allows greater expressiveness and experimentation.”
The Pistoia altarpiece originally included a predella, a long, horizontal wooden panel, located below the main painting depicting The Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Donatus. Worcester’s A Miracle of Saint Donatus is one of three painted scenes of the predella, which were separated from the main altarpiece in the 19th century. A second panel, The Annunciation, belongs to the Musée du Louvre and also will be exhibited at WAM. The third scene, considered lost, would likely have depicted St. John the Baptist.
Exhibitions
Attributed to Leonardo da Vinci and Lorenzo di Credi, The Annunciation, about 1475-1478, painting on wood, Musée du Louvre, copyright C2RMFJean-Louis Bellec/Musée du Louvre
research among WAM, Musée du Louvre, and Yale University When WAM acquired A Miracle of Saint Donatus in 1940, the painting had already been published as an early work by Leonardo da Vinci. Some 30 years later, the work was re-attributed to Lorenzo di Credi, who was six years younger than Leonardo. A more recent collaboration among colleagues at Yale University, the Louvre, and WAM reopened the question of authorship. Technical analyses conducted by the late WAM scientist and conservator Philip Klausmeyer were key to untangling the painting styles of these two different artists, who worked side-by-side in Verrocchio’s workshop. The result is new insight into each artist’s contribution to the painting.
The Mystery of Worcester’s Leonardo features a third work, also titled The Annunciation by Lorenzo di Credi, inviting further comparison between the two artists—along with analysis of the collaborative research done at WAM, Yale, and the Louvre. This intimate, focused exhibition allows visitors to experience, as others have over the centuries, the fascination with Leonardo da Vinci and to draw their own conclusions about who painted the works.
Re-uniting A Miracle of Saint Donatus and The Annunciation for the first time in 200 years will generate renewed interest in
these astonishingly beautiful paintings, as they reach wider international audiences. Following the Worcester Art Museum show, A Miracle of Saint Donatus and The Annunciation will be featured in exhibitions in New Haven and Florence, Italy.
With three works, The Mystery of Worcester’s Leonardo offers an unusual treat for 21st-century museum-goers: the opportunity to slow down and observe, much as Leonardo must have done in his own lifetime. “We encourage visitors to take their time and really savor each work,” says Albertson. “In our daily lives, we are bombarded with images, many of them short-lived. This exhibition challenges us to look with the imagination of a Renaissance artist—one who never encountered a photograph or a television, and who experienced the world through a very different lens than we do today.” This show, ultimately, is a tribute to the genius and sophistication of Leonardo da Vinci.
This exhibition is made possible through support from The Robert Lehman Foundation. Additional program support is provided by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation.
Curator’s Tour: Wednesday, May 2, 2018, 11am Rita Albertson, chief conservator and curator of The Mystery of Worcester’s Leonardo, leads a tour of the exhibition. Connect with us
fln
15
Exhibitions
Radiance Rediscovered: Stained Glass by Tiffany and La Farge June 30, 2018 – April 21, 2019
A
fter more than forty years locked in total darkness, four large and luminous stained glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany and John La Farge will once again transform light into shimmering art.
The windows, which once graced Boston’s Mount Vernon Congregational Church, will be featured in Radiance Rediscovered: Stained Glass by Tiffany and La Farge from June 30, 2018 to April 21, 2019. The exhibition will give space, brilliance, and context to these works by two of the most important stained glass innovators at the beginning of the 20th century, as well as highlight the importance of this art form.
The story of Radiance Rediscovered begins with a happy discovery in WAM’s cavernous basement. In 2015, soon after assuming her role as assistant curator of American art, Elizabeth Athens decided to familiarize herself with the Museum’s holdings in American art. While reading through the collections data, she realized that two large crates she had noticed deep in the basement held stained glass windows given to WAM in 1975. The gift had been made when the Mount Vernon Congregational Church abandoned its building and entered into a covenant with Boston’s Old South Church.
After unpacking the windows, Museum staff assessed their condition. Both sets required conservation. The two Tiffany panels—The Angel of the Resurrection, completed in 1899—are 7 1/2 feet tall and just over 3 feet wide. And while they were in excellent structural shape, they were covered in dirt and grime. The La Farge windows are taller, at about 11 feet tall and 2 1/2 feet wide. Titled The Pool at Bethesda and completed in 1898, these windows required significant restoration, as pieces of glass had begun to slip out of the structural grid.
Serendipitously, the Luce Foundation approached WAM not long after Athens discovered the windows. “They were developing a grant program for overlooked aspects of a museum’s American Art collection,” she explains. “The grant was designed to support conservation, interpretation, and exhibition over a three-year period.” It was exactly what the Museum needed to bring these important objects out of storage.
With funding from the Luce Foundation secured, the windows were then transported to conservator Diane Rousseau’s studio in North Adams. She recalls the surprise
16
Learn more at worcesterart.org
when the windows arrived. “Oh, my gosh!” she says. “Everything was there—all the original material. Nothing was lost when removing the windows from the church and storing them. And everything was well documented.”
The La Farge windows beautifully exemplify the artist’s ambitious approach. He had been asked to design windows in memory of Dr. James B. Ayer, a beloved church deacon and esteemed physician who died after a prolonged illness. For the memorial, La Farge created a scene from the New Testament in which an angel stirs healing waters in a pool. To study water’s reflections and refractions, La Farge actually built a pool in his studio.
The 11-foot-high windows present viewers with two life-size figures. “I was very struck by the sense of waiting and tension in the face of the person who is ill,” says Rousseau. “These lancets read to me as enormous, glowing paintings.” The folds in the robes are elaborately designed to resemble real folds and the work appears dimensional. “It’s fiendishly complicated, a tour de force of color and design,” she says, adding that to express the water’s movements in the pool, La Farge layered the glass, creating a stunning effect.
Rousseau dyed epoxy to repair breaks, cleaned the lead matrix, and disassembled parts of the windows to restore the structure’s integrity. “I intervene minimally and only make structural changes on the reverse. Loaded with heavy glass within the structural lines, the window would likely obey the law of physics once again. To avoid that future slumping, I have to correct it in an invisible way.” The Angel of the Resurrection windows are signature Tiffany design, with a field of lilies and golden-haired angel in the center. “There was much less restoration work to do on those,” says Rousseau. “They were just incredibly dirty.”
To display the windows, the Museum’s Contemporary Gallery will be transformed into a specially lit, meditative space where visitors can sit, experience the ways windows transform light, and explore aspects of the conservation work as shown in an informational video. Following the exhibition, both sets of windows—restored to brilliance after 40 years of darkness in the basement— will be put on long-term display in the Museum galleries.
Radiance Rediscovered: Stained Glass by Tiffany and La Farge is generously supported by the Henry Luce Foundation and the Sherman Fairchild Foundation.
Collection WAM Goes Medieval
W
AM began 2017 with a fresh new look in its reinstalled Medieval Galleries. The previous galleries emphasized a dark, contemplative version of the Middle Ages, but the new installation invites visitors to rediscover the era as a period of light, color, and vibrancy. The Middle Ages were the days of soaring cathedrals, merchant caravans travelling the Silk Roads, and the pageantry of the tournament. Thanks to the 2014 acquisition of arms and armor collected by John Woodman Higgins for the Higgins Armory Museum, we can now display WAM’s excellent preexisting collection of medieval religious artworks in the company of secular arms and armor. This allows us to tell a new and dynamic story about a time that continues to excite the popular imagination.
During the reinstallation, the exhibition team studied best practices in making museums friendly to visitors with disabilities. Our major takeaway was that designing for accessibility benefits all visitors. One example is seating: not only does seating make the museum experience easier for people with limited mobility, it also helps families with children and makes the space more inviting to everyone who enters. Seating in the Spanish Ceiling gallery provided a place for floor lamps that also light the ceiling. Many people have told me they’d never actually seen it until now! The comfortable chairs also offer an excellent spot from which to admire the ceiling’s brilliant colors and intricate foliage.
The installation also features a wide variety of media to help visitors of all ages to explore the objects in ways of their own choosing. A myth-or-fact mini-quiz on an iPad lets you “test your knightly knowledge.” In-depth audio stops provide verbal descriptions for the visually impaired, as well as guidedlooking opportunities for other visitors. Oversized laminates in English and Spanish offer a chance to explore the details of selected objects. And a series of hands-on stations allow visitors to discover how medieval craftsmen forged iron, carved stone, and inlaid enamel.
With the reinstallation I was able to display objects that had been hidden in storage. A pair of 14th-century panel paintings by Giovanni del Biondo, donated in 2012, offer a rare glimpse into the home of a medieval family. A ceiling tile from Spain features a bull that might have been drawn by Picasso, amidst a background of winding tendrils that bear witness to the influence of Islamic art on medieval Europe. A rotating installation of works on paper makes it possible to share rarely seen treasures from the Museum’s collection of prints. The deep gouges in the neck of a heavy German jousting armor evoke the full-impact drama of the medieval tournament.
The response to the new Medieval Galleries has been very rewarding. Sometimes I bring my work and sit in one of the window seats, while the stained glass above me catches the shifting light of day. I love seeing the bright, clean look of the gallery, and how it brings out the beauty of the objects. Above all, I enjoy seeing how visitors now love to linger in the gallery, exploring the objects, trying out an interactive, or putting on armor at an Art Cart. The excitement and wonder I see in their faces reminds me why I love working at WAM.
—Jeffrey L. Forgeng, Curator of Arms & Armor and Medieval Art
Arms and Armor in the Galleries
One of the most exciting aspects of the integration of the Higgins Collection at WAM is the opportunity to display arms and armor with other forms of art. During its heyday, armor was one aspect of a multifaceted and highly developed court culture. The patrons who commissioned artworks were also the warriors who wore suits of armor on the battlefield; prominent artists produced designs for decorating armor; and aristocratic collections of art and arms evolved in tandem over the course of the Renaissance. By integrating armor with other artworks we are able to tell a more complete story about both.
The process has already begun, and will continue into 2018. Look to find a hoplite’s bronze helmet in the Greek gallery; a 17th-century French armor keeping company with Rigaud’s portrait of the Marquis de Louville; the earl of Pembroke’s exquisitely tailored Milanese armor near the Elizabethan portrait of Sir John Farnham; and a samurai helmet in the shape of a conch shell juxtaposed with Japanese metalwork of the 19th and 20th centuries. We hope that these pairings will encourage armor enthusiasts to discover other kinds of artworks, and art lovers to appreciate the beauty, sophistication, and drama of steel armor.
Italian, The Last Supper, (detail), about 1300, fresco transferred to canvas, Museum Purchase 1924.24
Connect with us
fln
19
Ongoing / upcoming Last Defense: The Genius of Japanese Meiji Metalwork
© 2017 Worcester Art Museum
Japanese Gallery September 13, 2017 - September 2, 2018 This exquisite show celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Meiji Restoration (18681912), when a political revolution restored power to the emperor from the samurai class. The display of 14 works from the Museum's Higgins Collection, as well as a special selection of loans, focuses on the genius and versatility of metalworkers during this transitional moment in Japanese history. With the decline of the samurai class and its privileges, armor makers applied their exemplary skills and artistry to develop new types of metal products, from toys to decorative art.
Exploring the Myths of James Dye
Lower Hiatt Gallery April 7 - September 2, 2018 A collaboration with ArtsWorcester, this exhibition presents work by James Dye, winner of Best in Show at the 2017 ArtsWorcester Biennial. Using India ink and wash, the Massachusetts-based artist creates worlds within worlds in myth-inspired and immensely detailed dip pen and ink drawings. A selection of these works, including the Best in Show winner, are featured in this solo presentation. A reception with the artist will be held on Thursday, April 19 from 5:30 to 8pm. Media Partners:
(detail) © James Dye
Southeast Asia Artist-in-Residence
The Son Nguyen, Carrying the Carriers - an Impossible Mission in Hanoi?, 2016, courtesy of the artist
20
Learn more at worcesterart.org
Higgins Education Wing August 21 – September 21, 2018 This summer, the Worcester Art Museum launches a new Southeast Asia Artist-in-Residence Program, designed to introduce the next generation of emerging artists working in Southeast Asia today. This inaugural program features two contemporary artists from Vietnam, The Son Nguyen and To Lan Nguyen. Co-organized with the Indochina Arts Partnership and the Southeast Asian Coalition of Massachusetts, the residency will include studio space for the artists and public programs.
Education and experience
Keeping the Body in the Museum Experience
V
isiting an art museum is primarily a visual experience. We walk through galleries and gaze at paintings, photographs, and sculptures while keeping our hands to ourselves. Yet, we know that people often learn better through hands-on experiences. In fact, many museums started as cabinets of curiosities! At the Worcester Art Museum, we are working to satisfy this capacity for curiosity in our audiences by bringing the body back into the museum visit—while still protecting the art for future generations.
A leader in the field of education since it was founded in 1896, WAM has always cared about how varied audiences learn about and interact with its 50 centuries of art from around the world. Early forms of education included drawing in the galleries, classes for adults and children, and lectures— experiences that are still offered here today. The way we think about the Museum experience, however, has recently changed dramatically and is the focus of our new Education and Experience department.
In 2014, when the Museum opened the Knights! exhibition and began to integrate arms and armor from the John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection into our own, we dedicated ourselves to engaging all our audiences in new ways. One of our challenges was incorporating the hands-on, familyfocused Higgins Armory Museum into our traditional, encyclopedic museum of art. We wanted to find better ways to recognize the basic sensory needs we all have to touch and physically experience things, while also respecting and protecting the art objects. We knew the Museum had to become a place for integrating all the senses, if it was to keep the body in the experience.
We adopted a mascot, Helmutt the dog, from the Higgins Armory Museum and began to create interactive and handson opportunities throughout our galleries, including Art Carts, a drawing cart and drawing bags, arms and armor demonstrations, stroller tours, and more. In the recently reinstalled medieval galleries, we stretched ourselves in new directions by creating a whole host of multisensory and interactive approaches to satisfy our visitors’ curiosity about the art. These include open storage of arms and armor, audio descriptions, interactive iPads, and touch stations for learning about the materials used to create the art.
Although we began with a specific focus on the needs of families in the Museum, we soon discovered that whatever we did for families was enjoyed by all audiences, from the youngest to the oldest. As we created new points of entry for understanding and experiencing art, we also realized that we were doing a better job overall of serving whole people—with minds and bodies. Today, as we watch our many audiences use these new tools to enjoy all of our art, we are gratified and recommit ourselves to keeping the body in the Museum to create broad and accessible opportunities for learning of all kinds.
—Marcia Lagerwey, Senior Curator of Education, Education and Experience Department
MASTER SERIES THIRD THURSDAYS Hosted by the Worcester Art Museum Members Council
The Worcester Art Museum's Master Series highlights selected works of art in galleries throughout the Museum. Each work is also the focus of a Third Thursday art talk presented by a scholar in the field, allowing for more indepth appreciation of the piece and artist.
Learn more about this year’s Master Series works by joining the WAM Members Council for an illustrated art talk, followed by music, cash bar, and conversation with other art enthusiasts in the Renaissance Court. Free with Museum admission. Free for college students with current / valid I.D.
Winslow Homer, The Gale Program: Thursday, November 16, 2017 Art Talk: 6pm, Conference Room Reception: 5-8pm, Renaissance Court Speaker: Judith Walsh, Professor Emerita of Paper Conservation, SUNY Buffalo State College
Often called the quintessential American artist, Winslow Homer produced some of his best and most celebrated works after a year-long sojourn, from 1881-1882, in Cullercoats, England. Looking at Homer’s English work for changes in color and line, Judith Walsh will show that this period was critical to his later success as demonstrated in the painting, The Gale. Assyrian (Nimrud), A Winged Genius Program: Thursday, February 15, 2018 Art Talk: 6pm, Conference Room Reception: 5-8pm, Renaissance Court Speaker: Ada Cohen, Ph.D, Professor of Art History, Dartmouth College
The Assyrian kings, who ruled in Mesopotamia from the 9th through the 7th century B.C., projected an image of themselves as all-powerful, divinely sanctioned monarchs. They adorned their palaces with monumental friezes that displayed their authority and wealth. Professor Cohen examines WAM's winged “genius,” or protective being, in the context of the palace of the 9th-century BCE Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II at Nimrud in modern-day Iraq, where it was one of many such figures. Early Ming Dynasty, Ming Huang and Yang Guifei Listening to Music Program: Thursday, March 15, 2018 Performance: 6pm, Conference Room Reception: 5-8pm, Renaissance Court Performer: Jan Müller-Szeraws, Cellist, with Shirish Korde, Composer, College of the Holy Cross
Learn about traditional Chinese music in a talk by Shirish Korde, followed by a performance featuring acclaimed cellist Jan Mϋller-Szeraws. The program will include the premiere of a new solo work for cello by Korde, inspired by ancient Chinese melodies originally composed for the qin, a traditional Chinese instrument. Byron Kim, Emmett at Ten Years Program: Thursday, April 19, 2018 Art Talk: 6pm, Conference Room Reception: 5-8pm, Renaissance Court Speaker: Byron Kim, Contemporary Artist
(detail) © Byron Kim
22
Learn more at worcesterart.org
Hear about issues in contemporary art and learn about Byron Kim’s captivating life and work, including his unique approach to portraiture.
Programs
T H I R D T H U R S D AY S
MASTER
SERIES hosted by worcester art museum
Attributed to Leonardo da Vinci and Lorenzo di Credi, A Miracle of Saint Donatus of Arezzo, about 1479-85, Painting on panel, Theodore T. and Mary G. Ellis Collection, 1940.29
members council Attributed to Leonardo da Vinci and Lorenzo di Credi, A Miracle of Saint Donatus of Arezzo Program: Thursday, May 17, 2018 Art Talk: 6pm, Conference Room Reception: 5-8pm, Renaissance Court Speaker: Laurence Kanter, Ph.D, Chief Curator and Lionel Goldfrank III Curator of European Art, Yale University Art Gallery
Laurence Kanter, who did collaborative research on A Miracle of Saint Donatus of Arezzo with conservators at WAM and Musée du Louvre, delves into the fascinating story behind this panel painting in WAM’s collection and how it has helped us better understand the genius of Leonardo da Vinci. The Master Series is presented with support from the Bernard G. and Louise B. Palitz Fund and the Robert and Amelia Hutchinson Haley Lectures Fund. M ASTER S ER IE S S PON SOR
M ED IA PARTN ER
Connect with us
fln
23
Tours and Programs Drop-in Tours
Public tours begin in the Lancaster Welcome Center
Tours of the Month* First and third Saturday of the month, 2pm Get an in-depth look at the Museum’s collection in these special docent-led tours
November 4 and 18 Rediscovering an American Community of Color: The Photographs of William Bullard Meet an early 20th-century Worcester community of color in this exhibition of stunning portraits of people of AfricanAmerican and Native American descent.
December 2 and 16 Coming Away: Winslow Homer and England Explore the evolution of Homer’s subject choice and painting style during his 188182 stay in the English fishing village of Cullercoats.
January 6 and 20 Painting with Light: Medieval Stained Glass Examine many of the Museum’s fine examples of medieval stained glass; learn about the stories and symbolism reflected in the windows and how stained glass is created. February 3 and 17 S.T.E.A.M.: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math Tour the Museum paying special attention to how science and technology influence the making and conservation of art. We will use art to elucidate the complex role our brains play in vision. March 3 and 17 Dangerous Liaisons Revisited Join our Museum docent for a tour of this exhibition of paintings, prints, and musical instruments that show how court music shaped behavior and social roles during the Tang Dynasty.
April 7 and 21 The Art of Fashion Look beyond the surfaces of historical clothing styles that reveal much more than beauty or elegance, but also social status and personality. May 5 and 19 Last Defense: The Genius of Japanese Meiji Metalwork Explore the versatility of metalworking during the Meiji period (1868-1912) when the power of the samurai class declined and armor makers applied their skills to new pursuits.
Learn more at worcesterart.org 24
June 2 and 16 Art Since 1945 Follow the evolution from Abstract Art through Pop Art and the Figurative Revival, ending with examples of Contemporary Art of the 21st Century.
July 7 and 21 Techniques & Materials Take a closer look at how artwork is created and the different materials artists used to create their masterpieces in this focused tour.
August 4 and 18 Radiance Rediscovered: Stained Glass by Tiffany & La Farge Reflect on two sets of exquisite memorial windows made by two of the 19th-century’s stained glass innovators; explore the artists' design methods and aesthetic influences.
Please check website for Tour of the Month topics for the rest of the year.
Zip Tours* Saturdays, 1pm Delve into one artist or work of art in these fast-paced, 20-minute tours.
Sunday Tours* Sundays, 1-2pm Join one of our docents for an overview of the Museum collection.
* Free with Museum admission
Group Tours
All tours meet in the Lancaster Welcome Center
Adult Group Tours Private, docent-led group tours for 10 or more can be arranged by calling 508.793.4338. Adult tour groups pay Museum admission and a $2 service fee per person.
Youth/Student Group Tours WAM special exhibitions and permanent collections can be used to support your curriculum through tours, hands-on workshops, teacher resources, and other events. Guided by trained volunteer docents, tours are tailored to meet your specific needs, goals, and interests. Tours are $5 per student for prearranged school tour groups on either docent-led or self-guided tours.* Chaperones are free. Admission is free for Worcester Public School students and their chaperones. For more information and to book a tour, call 508.793.4338, or visit worcesterart.org/events/grouptours.
* Includes Museum admission
Family Programs
Art Carts: Family Fun in the Galleries Wednesdays through Sundays Get hands-on with a stop at one of our interactive Art Carts, located throughout the Museum. Touch materials, draw, create mosaics, and discover the answers to these questions and more. Check our website for schedule. Family Tour First Saturdays, 10:30-11am Explore the Museum galleries with your family on a docent-guided discovery tour. Hear fun facts, stories, and enjoy sharing observations and time together.
Stroller Tours First and third Wednesdays, 10:30-11:15am Our special gallery experience engages caretakers and their infants and toddlers with art and stories focused on different themes. Stay for snacks and socializing after your tour.
Scout Group Tours Programs for Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Brownies, and Girl Scouts include tours and gallery studio workshops designed to complement Merit Badges, patches, and scout interests. To schedule a tour, contact Jan Ewick at 508.793.4338 or janewick@worcesterart.org.
Adult Programs
Community Events
Nude Drawing Thursdays, 2-4pm Try your hand at drawing a nude life model with expert guidance among masterworks by Veronese, El Greco, and Rembrandt.
Programs for All Ages
Arms + Armor Demonstrations First Saturday of the month 11:30am and 2pm Join us for this fun interactive program, and learn all about different kinds of arms and armor used by knights and soldiers, including Roman soldiers, Medieval knights and beyond! Visit our website for schedule.
Homeschool Programs WAM welcomes homeschool groups with tours and gallery studio workshops designed to complement home-based learning for ages 5 and up. Call or email Jan Ewick at 508.793.4338 or janewick@ worcesterart.org to schedule your homeschool visit today! Please schedule at least three weeks in advance.
Holidays @ WAM Sundays, December 10 and 17, 2pm Revel in holiday performances by the Salisbury Singers (12/10) and the Merrimack Valley Ringers (12/17) in the Renaissance Court. During the month, Members enjoy a double discount in the Museum Shop. Media Partner:
Heroes and Villains Community Day Sunday, April 15, 10am-4pm Connect with your inner superhero (or villain!) during our annual spring community day. Enjoy a full day of programs, demonstrations, and activities that span centuries—and galaxies!
School Vacation Workshops School vacation workshops provide creative hands-on experiences that are rooted in the Museum’s collection and exhibitions. Half or full day sessions for ages 3-17 are designed to build skills, confidence, and a life-long connection to art. Learn more and register at worcesterart.org/classes. Feb Fun: Who Are You? Tuesday–Friday, February 20–23 Discover how faces and places can be expressed through you and your world. April Art: Makin’ Music! Tuesday–Friday, April 17–20 Oh, the art and sounds you’ll create! Let your unique artistic voice be heard.
Summer Art for Youth Stay creative all summer and explore new skills in our week-long art classes for kids. Registration begins in January.
Free August Free admission throughout the month of August. Sponsored by The Kirby Foundation.
Media Partners:
All programs listed are free with Museum admission, unless otherwise noted. Admission is free from 10am – 12pm on the first Saturday of each month. Information subject to change; please visit worcesterart.org before visiting. Connect with us
fln
25
Flora Winter in
january 25-28, 2018
The Worcester Art Museum presents the 16th annual Flora in Winter, a four-day extravaganza when the Museum blooms with flower arrangements inspired by works of arts. Top floral arrangers from across the region showcase their skills with captivating and imaginative interpretations, filling virtually every gallery with the beauty and fragrance of fresh flowers. Demonstrations, lectures, guided tours, and activities for children take place throughout Flora in Winter. For the complete schedule, please visit worcesterart.org/flora. Members enjoy free admission to Flora in Winter, except for Flora Preview Reception. Admission for non-members is $22 for adults and $6 for youth. 2018 Flora in Winter Chairs: Kim Cutler, Kathy Michie, and Sarah Ribeiro
Flora in Winter is sponsored by People’s United Bank and Imperial Distributors, Inc. Media Partner:
Flora Preview Reception Thursday, January 25 5:30-8pm Be among the first to experience this year’s Flora in Winter! Enjoy beautiful blooms, live music, and cash bar. Reserve early by January 15 for discount: $20 WAM Members; $30 non-members; $10 students; $5 youth. After January 15 or at the door: $25 WAM Members; $35 non-members; $15 students; $5 member youth; $6 non-member youth Valet available at both Lancaster and Salisbury Streets: $5 per car. To buy tickets: Call 1.800.838.3006 or go to worcesterart.org/flora
In Memoriam
I
n 2017, we were saddened to lose a number of former Board members, two Salisbury Award recipients, and a Museum director, all of whom left their mark on the Worcester Art Museum and the community through their philanthropy and commitment.
The Worcester Art Museum lost a true leader with the passing of Donald R. Melville on April 22, 2017. Known for his business acumen and stewardship of Norton Company, Don donated his talents and passion for art as a WAM Trustee, President of the Board, Trustee Emeritus, Corporator, and on the Members Council. Don and Mary, his widow, were extremely generous to the Museum over many decades. Most notably, they established and funded the Don and Mary Melville Contemporary Art Fund, which will support contemporary projects and exhibitions in perpetuity and be an enduring legacy for their enthusiasm for art and community. For his service, philanthropy, and vision, Don was presented with the Salisbury Society Award in 1996.
Bruce Anthony King, who passed away on May 13, 2017, was a man of many talents: successful business owner, community volunteer, author, mentor, nature enthusiast, and distinguished photographer. Tony began his love affair with photography as a child when given a camera by his mother. Through his lens, he captured the beauty, magnificence, and meaning of life. Tony served as a Worcester Art Museum Trustee in the 1970s. With a mutual interest in supporting the arts, he and his wife, Judy, have been dedicated supporters and patrons of the Museum. Tony’s works have been featured in a variety of WAM exhibitions and several of his photographs are in the Museum’s permanent collection. This ensures that we will be able to continue to share Tony’s insightful perspective on life and nature.
Marianne Shellabarger Jeppson, who passed away on May 21, 2017, was a lifelong contributor and volunteer at WAM, first serving on the Members Council, and then supporting her husband John’s service as a Trustee and Corporator—even occasionally climbing a ladder in Stoddard Garden Court and using her horticultural knowledge to trim the trees! She and John felt strongly that the arts are vital to a community and should be shared with a wider audience. Hence, she and John donated several noteworthy art works, including Opal by Anders Zorn, to the Museum. Marianne and John were recognized for their years of commitment with the Salisbury Society Award in 2011 and with the re-naming of their gallery to the Jeppson Idea Lab in 2012.
B.A. King, Jenny’s Hand, 1967, gelatin silver print, Jerome Wheelock Fund, 1970.50. © Estate of B.A. King
Charles H. Moser was an ardent supporter of the visual and performing arts. Charlie served as a Corporator for ten years and as a Trustee of the Museum from 2008 until 2014. He and his wife, Nydia, gave generously as Salisbury Society members and sponsored the Chamber Music Series at WAM. In addition, he and Nydia never missed a Flora Euphoria celebration, always arriving in coordinated floral attire. Ever partners in life, Charlie died on May 31, 2017, and Nydia, in failing health, passed away one month later on June 30.
Richard S. Teitz, who began his career at WAM as a Ford Fellow, directed the Museum from 1970 to 1981. As a fellow he curated a well-received Etruscan exhibition and influenced the acquisition of the bronze portrait bust of a Roman Lady. During his years as director, Dick added several curatorial positions, introduced the Museum’s volunteer docent program, and significantly grew the Museum’s permanent collection. Major works were added to the European collection, particularly paintings from the Baroque period, including Hyacinthe Rigaud’s Marquis de Louville. Dick’s interest in late 20th-century art helped bring the Museum’s extensive collection of works on paper up to date with works by leading artists, including Jasper Johns, Frank Stella, Sol LeWitt, Roy Lichtenstein, and Robert Rauschenberg. He also acquired Beverly Pepper’s major sculpture, Double Pyramid. While Dick also directed the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College, the Denver Art Museum, and the Alamo, he always valued his formative years in Worcester. With his passing on June 19, 2017, the Museum was honored to learn that Dick left a legacy gift to preserve art and culture in our community for years to come.
Connect with us
fln
27
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 who intend to leave a legacy gift and have made WAM a priority during their lifetime and beyond: Mrs. Margery A. Adams Mr. and Mrs. William C. Arthur, Jr. Philip and Elaine W. Beals* Allen and Sarah Berry Mrs. Howard M. Booth* Philip H. Brewer Karl and Dorothy Briel* Dr. Elaine M. Bukowiecki Elizabeth Burguet Douglas P. Butler* Isabel B. Carleton* William R. Carrick* Alexandra Cleworth and Gary Staab Paula H. Connolly Susan C. Courtemanche Fairman C. and Martha A. Cowan* Jeanne Y. Curtis* Robert and Mary S. Cushman*
Mr. and Mrs. Bruce G. Daniels* Dix and Sarah Davis Patricia and Richard Desplaines, Jr. Henry B. and Jane K. Dewey Maria and John Dirlam Andrea N. Driscoll Shirley L. Dunbar* Mr. and Mrs. I. R. Freelander* Esther and Howard Freeman* Daniel Grim and Irene Browne-Grim Robert D. Harrington, Jr.* Mrs. Milton P. Higgins* Dr. James and Kathleen Hogan Prof. Louis J. Iandoli Frances and Howard Jacobson Peter Jefts John and Marianne Jeppson* Sarah Bramson Kupchik
Irving and Marie Lepore* James E. Lowell* Dr. Paul J. Mahon Patricia F. Mallard* Carl A. Mangano* Jodie and David Martinson Mr.* and Mrs. Robert K. Massey Myles* and C. Jean McDonough Ellen E. McGrail* Dr. and Mrs. Glenn A. Meltzer Don and Mary Melville* Mrs. David J. Milliken* Linda and John* Nelson Viola M. Niemi* Edward J. Osowski Mrs. Mae I. Palmgren* Richard Prouty* Sarah and Joe Ribeiro
Mr.* and Mrs. Chapin Riley Blake Robinson* Mrs. Elijah B. Romanoff* Mr. and Mrs. Henry B. Rose Mr.* and Mrs. Sidney Rose Mr. Norman L. Sharfman* Dr. Shirley S. Siff and Robert M. Siff Mary Skousgaard Dr. Ivan M.Spear* Helen M. and Thomas B. Stinson* Helen E. Stoddard* Madeline Tear* Richard S. Teitz* Mr. and Mrs. Jack Tobin* Grace Van Tassel* Hester N. Wetherell* Irving N. Wolfson, M.D.* Mrs. Ledlie L. Woolsey*
* Deceased
If you are interested in naming the Worcester Art Museum in your will or estate plans, please contact the Development office by calling 508.793.4313 or emailing us at plannedgiving@worcesterart.org.
What’s your legacy? Paul J. Mahon, Ph.D
Paul Mahon had a long career in Worcester as a biochemist and professor. During his career, he travelled frequently to China and became interested in Asian art. About 10 years ago, Paul retired and was looking for a new challenge. Combining his interest in art and his experience teaching, he became a docent. Since then, he has developed fascinating, science-based tours, using the collection to explore various scientific themes including the role of the brain in seeing. Paul became a member of the Worcester Art Museum Legacy Society by making the Museum one of the beneficiaries of his IRA.
28
Learn more at worcesterart.org
“I am very devoted to the Museum. As a Docent, I have the privilege of meeting so many different people including Worcester Public School students, as well as groups from social service organizations and community groups. I truly believe that art is not for the elite, but for everyone. I made this gift because I want to do all I can to help make the Museum accessible to everyone.” — WAM Member and Docent Paul J. Mahon, Ph.D.
Ways to support the Worcester Art Museum A WAM Fund challenge from The Kirby Foundation The Kirby Foundation believes in the Worcester Art Museum and how important it is for the Museum to receive support from its visitors, members, neighbors, and friends. Acting on that belief, The Kirby Foundation is challenging all of you who love and value WAM to show your support. From November 1 – December 31, 2017 all new and increased gifts to the Museum’s WAM Fund will be doubled for up to $50,000! This is vital not only to the Museum, but also to our community that is enriched by all that WAM offers.
Please help and show your support by making a new or increased gift. Double your impact and help the Worcester Art Museum provide its transformative exhibits, programs, classes, and events. Make your gift at worcesterart.org/give or by calling 508.793.4325.
Charitable Gift Annuity Receive a steady income stream and benefit the Worcester Art Museum. It is a simple contract between you and the Worcester Art Museum. In exchange for a gift of $10,000 or more, the Museum will provide guaranteed fixed payments to you for life. Other benefits include the following:
· You support the Worcester Art Museum with a substantial gift
· Payments you receive are partially tax free for a period of time · You receive a charitable deduction in the year of your gift
How much income will I receive with a gift of $10,000?
Age
Annuity Rate
Annual Income
Charitable Deduction
60
4.4%
$440
$2,410
65
4.7%
$470
$3,096
70
5.1%
$510
$3,798
75
5.8%
$580
$4,348
*Please note that this information is for illustrative purposes and is not intended as tax or legal advice. Rates are subject to change and are based on rates suggested by the American Council on Gift Annuities.
For more information on how you can leave WAM a legacy, please call the Development Office at 508.793.4313 or email us at plannedgiving@worcesterart.org
Connect with us
fln
29
Membership
Dear Members,
During my almost two years working at the Worcester Art Museum, I have been able to interact with thousands of WAM Members as they visited the institution. I have come to appreciate that our Members are the backbone of this great Museum. Without you and your support, WAM would surely not be the thriving institution we are today. I am proud to serve you now as the new Membership Manager.
As a non-profit, the Worcester Art Museum serves the community in so many important ways. I want to thank you for your commitment to the institution and for allowing us to continue our important work. During the next year we will be making some exciting advancements in Membership. You will find that we have added a Members-Only Opening Party for the Coming Away: Winslow Homer and England exhibition in our programming for November. Don’t forget, admission to Flora in Winter is free for Members. Coming soon, Members will have the option to auto-renew their Memberships online. This is part of an overall web portal that will greatly improve your experience. If you are not yet a Member, I encourage you to join, visit the Museum often, and participate in all of our incredible programs and events.
Lastly, should you ever need my assistance or just want to reach out to give me your thoughts, it would be my pleasure to speak with you. Feel free to email me at BrianScurio@worcesterart.org. Sincerely,
Brian Scurio Membership Manager
join/
renew
today
Salisbury Society— Enjoy access and art! Salisbury Society Members have made WAM and art and culture in this community a priority. Their unrestricted gifts to the Annual Fund of $1,250 or more provide essential support to all areas of the Museum. Under the leadership of Lisa Bernat and Chris Collins, the Society has welcomed over 50 new Members in the last three years. Because of their philanthropy and commitment, Salisbury Members are treated to a full array of benefits and exclusive programming: • Free admission and reciprocal member benefits at over 900 museums around the country • Unique access to Curators and the Director • Salisbury Art Series, including sneak previews • Salisbury Art Travel program in the fall and spring each year • Salisbury Society Evening with a world-renowned speaker
Salisbury Programs
September Salisbury Art Travel: Yale University Art Gallery and Yale Center for British Art featuring Winslow Homer and J. M. W. Turner
November January February March
May July
Salisbury Society Evening with Homer/Sneak Preview: Coming Away: Winslow Homer and England Salisbury Art Series: Flora in Winter Chairman’s Tour and Reception
Behind-the-Scenes tour for new Salisbury Members
Salisbury and Benefactor Event/Sneak Preview: The Mystery of Worcester’s Leonardo Salisbury Art Travel Program Salisbury Art Series
For questions or information about joining the Salisbury Society, contact NancyJeppson@worcesterart.org or 508.793.4325.
Connect with us
fln
31
Thank You
Business Partners!
Together we make a difference for our community SPONSORS
$10,000+ AbbVie Cole Contracting, Inc. Fallon Health The Hanover Insurance Group Foundation People's United Bank Saint-Gobain Skinner Auctioneers Taipei Cultural Center in New York Unum
$5,000+ Bowditch and Dewey, LLP FLEXcon Company Inc. Imperial Distributors, Inc. Interstate Specialty Products, Inc. MassLive Rand-Whitney Container Reliant Medical Group UniBank United Bank Foundation Massachusetts Webster Five WinnCompanies Worcester Business Journal
DONORS $2,500+ J.J. Bafaro, Inc. Herbert E. Berg Florist, Inc. The Boston Globe CCR Wealth Management, LLC Christie's Commerce Bank Country Bank Davis Publications, Inc. Fletcher Tilton PC Foley Incorporated Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Haven Country Club iHeart Radio, 961 SRS & WTAG Miles Press, Inc. Mirick O’Connell Niche Hospitality Group Perfect Focus Eyecare / Goswick Eye Rotmans Spectrum Health Systems, Inc. Waters Corporation WorkCentral MEMBERS $1,000+ AAFCPAs Avidia Bank Bartholomew & Company, Inc. Bay State Savings Bank The Berry Group of Wells Fargo Advisors
Blue Hive Strategic Environments Central One Federal Credit Union Columbia Tech Cornerstone Bank Cutler Capital Management, LLC Data Source, Inc. Fidelity Bank Fiduciary Investment Advisors, LLC Green Leaf Construction Greenberg, Rosenblatt, Kull & Bitsoli, P.C. Greenwood Industries Kelleher and Sadowsky Associates, Inc. Leadership Transitions, LLC Mercier Electric Company, Inc. Merrill Lynch / The O'Brien Group Russell Morin Fine Catering MSW Financial Partners J.S. Mortimer, Inc. New England Disposal Technologies, Inc. Nitsch Engineering PENTA Communications, Inc. Peppers Artful Events Risk Strategies Company Carol Seager Associates Seder and Chandler, LLP Sentinel Benefits & Financial Group Southgate at Shrewsbury St. Mary's Credit Union Sullivan Benefits Sunshine Sign Company, Inc. Thomas J. Woods Insurance Agency, Inc. Wings Over Worcester FRIENDS $500+ Burr Insurance Agency, Inc. Butler-Dearden Callahan Fay Caswell Funeral Home Coghlin Electrical Contractors, Inc. Cryogenic Institute of New England, Inc. Eagle Hill School George's Coney Island Grimes and Company F.W. Madigan Company, Inc. Franklin Realty Advisors, Inc. Marr Oil Heat Co., Inc. Marsh & McLennan Agency Company Janice G. Marsh, LLC NAI Glickman, Kovago & Jacobs Northwood Insurance Agency, Inc. Quaker Special Risk Scavone Plumbing & Heating Seven Hills Foundation Joffrey Smith Financial Group Sotheby's Struck Catering Sullivan, Garrity & Donnelly Insurance Agency, Inc. The Willows at Worcester As of September 30, 2017
Business Partner Spotlight
The Art of Business We’re proud to be celebrating 100+ Business Partners this year! These companies know that supporting the arts means good business for them. We thank them for their support and welcome two of our newest Business Partners: Niche Hospitality Group and WinnCompanies.
“Niche Hospitality Group is proud to be a Business Partner of the Worcester Art Museum. It is a cornerstone of our community and a huge asset to the city of Worcester. WAM brings art, history and culture from around the world to our children and families. At Niche we believe in working together to make our community stronger.” Michael Covino President Niche Hospitality Group www.nichehospitality.com
wa M Karmen Bogdesic; John Savickas (Chair), Interstate Specialty Products, Inc.; and Lori E. Kelly, Cornerstone Bank
Institutional Members
Anna Maria College Assumption College Bancroft School Becker College Clark University College of the Holy Cross Horace Mann Educational Associates MCPHS University The TEC Schools Worcester Academy Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester State University
Join us!
business pa r t n e r
“WinnCompanies has been a champion of the quality of life in Worcester for more than three decades, providing homes for hundreds of residents. We are pleased to partner with the Worcester Art Museum and honor their excellence in presenting the arts while serving as a community gathering place and diverse cultural center.”
BECOME A BUSINESS PARTNER Contact Karmen Bogdesic: 508.793.4326 KarmenBogdesic@worcesterart.org worcesterart.org/business-partners
Michael O’Brien Executive Vice President WinnCompanies www.winncompanies.com
Connect with us
fln
33
SAVE THE DATE SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 2018
C O R P O R ATO R S B A L L WORCESTER ART MUSEUM
SALUTE TO SPONSORS
The Worcester Art Museum is grateful to our corporate sponsors for understanding the value of making the Museum’s exhibitions, projects, and programs possible.
AUCTIONEERS
For more information about how your company can co-brand with WAM through a business partnership or sponsorship, contact Karmen Bogdesic at 508.793.4326 or KarmenBogdesic@worcesterart.org.
EXPERIENCE THE
Difference We believe we’re a little different from other independent schools. We are a student-centered community where you can be you. Through rigorous academics, strong leadership opportunities, competitive athletics, and inspiring arts programs, we are focused on helping students become the best versions of themselves. We are real…and it’s in our DNA. The best way to discover all our school has to offer is to visit. Explore our campus, meet our community, and experience the difference of Worcester Academy. Visit worcesteracademy.org or call 508-459-5841.
Make your celebration a
masterpiece
ERIC LIMÓN PHOTOGRAPHY
For more information about renting the Museum for your event, visit worcesterart.org/events or call 508.793.4327
shop
the museum
Café The Museum
Lunch with us.
We’re sure to enchant you with our seasonal specials.
Featuring items inspired by art in the Museum’s collection and current exhibitions.
3f^S`W S\QS ]c` eSZ Q][W \U Q][[c\W bg eVS`S a[O`b YW Ra ]e\ bVSW ` Z SO`\W \U 1OZ Z B]ROg T ]` O 1O[^ca B]c` # & &#" ' %
* OTQJ SJ OH (FOFS BUJ POT PG "SUJ TUT 1S F, o / Q][[W b [S\b b ] Q` SOb W dS Sf^` SaaW ]\ b V` ]cUV b VS O` b a VOa PSS\ O VOZ Z [O` Y Ob 0O\Q` ]T b AQV]]Z aW \QS '
eee PO\Q` ]T b aQV]]Z ]` U AV]` S 2` W dS E]` QSab S` ;/ # & &#" ' %
Exploring. Growing. Learning.
AMENITIES Ň“ Ń ĐżĐżŇŠ. / /# /- 2$/# ' *)4 Ň“ 0'' . -1$ # '/# '0 Ň“ / $) **- .2$(($)" +**' Ň“ -/. Đž - !/.Ň?2** 2*-&$)" .#*+ Ň“ -$1 / Ń‚ŇŠ - + -&
I’M FRAMED!
SERVICES Ň“ *0. & +$)" ) $)/ ) ) -1$ Ň“ $) ) .0 ' $)$)" Ň“ # 0!! 0- /- ).+*-/ /$*) Ň“ 0'/0- ' ) 0 /$*) +-*"- (.
Please visit us at www.SouthgateatShrewsbury.com
studio art classes *- '' Ń„ĐżŃ‡ŇŠŃ‡ŃƒŃ ŇŠŃ‡Ń‚Ń‚Ń€Ńś /*'' !- Ń€ŇŠŃ‡ĐżĐżŇŠŃƒŃˆŃ ŇŠŃ‡Ń‚Ń‚Ń€
Exploring. Growing. Learning.
for all ages WORCESTER ART MUSEUM
Try something new! Enroll today! worcesterart.org/classes
Pam Flint-D ub e O wner,, Hot S et Hair Studioo wearing M agay & Barron framess
M A G AY & BARRON
est. 1912
460 Lincoln Street • Worcesster - Located next to Hanover Insurance
Magay.com • 508.852.3760 • For all your eye exam and eyewear needss.
Share the Joy of Broadway, Music & More!
Take a class at our conservatory to foster your love for the performing arts.
New shows added all the time. Check our website for current listings.
877.571.SHOW (7469) • TheHanoverTheatre.org Worcester Center for Performing Arts is a registered not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, which owns and operates The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts. All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.
WORCESTER ART M U SEU M fifty-five salisbury street worcester, massachusetts 01 6 0 9 WORCESTERART. ORG
ADMISSION Members: Free / Adults: $16 Seniors and Students: $14 Youth 4-17: $6 / Children under 4: Free First Saturday Mornings 10am-noon: Free (The first Saturday of each month.) 3rd Thursdays: Free for college students with ID EBT card holders: $2/person GALLERY HOURS Wednesday – Sunday 10am-4pm 3rd Thursday 10am-8pm Closed Mondays, Tuesdays, and Holidays THE MUSEUM CAFÉ 508.793.4357 Wednesday-Saturday 11:30am-2pm THE MUSEUM SHOP 508.793.4355 Open during gallery hours We partner with
SOCIAL & CORPORATE EVENTS RENTAL 508.793.4327 specialevents@worcesterart.org
LIBRARY 508.793.4382 library@worcesterart.org Wednesday – Saturday 10am-4pm CLASSES Higgins Education Wing transactions@worcesterart.org Registration: 508.793.4333
GROUP TOURS 508.793.4338 JanEwick@worcesterart.org
MEMBERSHIP 508.793.4300 membership@worcesterart.org
SALISBURY SOCIETY & BENEFACTOR MEMBERSHIP / ANNUAL FUND 508.793.4325 NancyJeppson@worcesterart.org
BUSINESS PARTNERS / SPONSORSHIPS INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS 508.793.4326 KarmenBogdesic@worcesterart.org GUEST SERVICES 508.793.4362 guestservices@worcesterart.org
ACCESSIBILITY For barrier-free access to the Museum, please park in the Tuckerman Street lot and enter via the Stoddard Garden Court or park in the Salisbury Street lot and enter via the access bridge. The Garden entrance is open during Museum hours and while classes are in session. The Salisbury Street access bridge is open during Museum hours only. Wheelchairs and walkers are available on a first-come, first-serve basis for loan. Please request upon arrival. p 508.799.4406 / f 508.798.5646
f ln
Unless otherwise stated, all images © Worcester Art Museum, all rights reserved.