Connecticut

The Lebanon Historical Society has purchased the circa 1765 Jonathan Trumbull Jr. House Museum from the Town of Lebanon. The House, home of Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. (1740-1809), his wife and daughters will be open on Saturday afternoons from mid-May to mid-October. Trumbull served during the American Revolution as first comptroller of the United States and later as George Washington's military secretary.  He later served as a member of Congress, Speaker of the House, United States Senator and Governor of Connecticut.  The House retains its ornate panel interior made by Isaac Fitch in the 1770s.

The Connecticut Art Trail is celebrating 25 years of guiding art aficionados across the state on a journey that includes 22 world-class museums and historic sites. Originally launched in 1995 as the Connecticut Impressionist Art Trail, encompassing 10 museums, today the Trail includes more than double that number. To celebrate, the Trail is presenting “Made in Connecticut,” a collaborative exhibition hosted by the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, which will include over 40 works relating to the theme lent by the member museums. James Prosek, American artist, writer, naturalist, and current Artist-in-Residence at the Yale University Art Gallery is the independent curator for the exhibition, which will open to the public on Thursday, June 25 and run through Sunday, September 20, 2020.

Westport Museum is honored to announce that it will be naming its main exhibit hall after local philanthropist Daniel E. Offutt, III following a significant donation from the Daniel E. Offutt, III Charitable Trust. Mr. Offutt, who lived in Weston, was a generous donor to many local nonprofits both during his lifetime and via his estate. The gift is the largest single donation ever received by the museum. The main exhibit hall was formerly named after Ralph & Betty Sheffer, longtime supporters of the museum who provided the major funding to complete the space in 2002. The gift will enable the museum to make much needed upgrades to its main exhibit hall, in keeping with national museum standards to provide quality experiences with universal access to the widest audience. The goal of upgrading exhibit spaces at the museum is part of a multi-year strategic initiative to create a world class regional museum in Westport.

CT Humanities recently awarded a total of more than $199,000 to 9 Connecticut organizations for applications submitted at the November 1, 2019 deadline for the Capacity, Implementation, Planning, and Partnership grant lines.  Congratulations to the following: Russell Library Company (Middletown), Future-Ready for Middletown: A Strategic Planning Process for the Russell Library; Silvermine Guild of Artists, Inc. (New Canaan), The Golden Door: Exploring the American Experience of Immigration and Migration; Norwalk Historical Society (Norwalk), Norwalk’s Changing Communities Before 1835; An Exhibition That Explores the Norwalk Community; Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum (Norwalk), Health, Healing, & Addiction in 19th Century America; Connecticut Forum, Inc. (Hartford), Debating Immigration; The Barnum Museum (Bridgeport), Creating the Online Exhibition, New Ways to Face History: An Egyptian Mummy and Coffin Reveal Their Stories; New Haven International Festival of Arts & Ideas (New Haven), International Festival of Arts & Ideas - IDEAS on Democracy; Litchfield Historical Society (Litchfield), "To Come to a Land of Milk and Honey": Litchfield and the Connecticut Western Reserve; Elizabeth Park Conservancy (Hartford), Preparing Historical and Humanities Content for the New Elizabeth Park Visitor's Center. For more information, visit cthumanities.org/grants.

The Mystic Museum of Art galleries recently went under renovations. A new adopt-a-painting gallery was being created and a museum store was being installed — the first store the site has had. Last year, MMoA received a gift from an anonymous donor of $100,000, and that money made it possible to renovate the Davis and Halsey galleries.

Maine

The Rufus Porter Museum was one of twelve recognized organizations at Maine Preservation’s Honor Awards ceremony on November 20th. Maine Preservation is a nonprofit member-based, statewide historic preservation organization that promotes and preserves historic places, buildings, downtowns and neighborhoods, strengthening the cultural and economic vitality of Maine communities. The Rufus Porter Museum received their award for revitalizing the John and Maria Webb House in Bridgton, Maine. The museum acquired the Webb House in 2011 which suffered from long years of vacancy and fire damage. The building was veering close to condemnation when the museum set out to turn the house into what is now their administrative offices, museum store and exhibition space. Work included structural repairs, roof replacement, and clapboard repairment. The interior rehabilitation included drywall work, installation of an upgraded electrical system, a new HVAC system, and a fire and security system. The museum also built a handicapped accessible deck connecting the Webb house to its other structure, the Nathan Church House. The Nathan Church House has also undergone substantial rehabilitation work, including moving the structure to create a cohesive museum campus on Main Street. Much of the work was done at a discounted rate, in-kind or done by volunteers.

The Castine Historical Society is the caretaker of two historic buildings on Castine’s Town Common. The Abbott School is one of those buildings. The school, which the Society bought in 1994, houses the Society's permanent and temporary exhibits. The school was built in 1859 to help alleviate crowding in Castine’s Adam School, also on the Town Common. From 1867-1873, the Abbott School was the original location of the Eastern State Normal School, a teacher’s college in Castine until World War II. From 1873-1961, the Abbott School was Castine’s High School. Last year, the Historical Society raised funds to paint the school’s façade, window trim, ornate cupula, and south facing wall. The total cost for this project is over $30,000. Thanks to grants and private donations, the Society raised much of the money and will complete the project this summer. The funds came from multiple sources. The Historical Society received a grant for $11,715 from the Davis Family Foundation. In addition, a grant for $10,000 came from the Belvedere Historical Preservation fund of the Maine Community Foundation. Private donors provided additional funds to assist with the project. Thanks to the generosity of these granting organizations and individuals, the historic Abbott School will be preserved for future generations.

Maine Supreme Judicial Court decision has breathed new life into a lengthy battle between an antique auto museum on Mount Desert Island and the trust that owns the collection. In a 12-page decision, the state’s highest court reversed a lower court ruling that had found the Seal Cove Auto Museum was not a legal beneficiary of the Richard C. Paine Jr. Automobile Collection Charitable Trust. This decision allows the museum to refile a lawsuit against the trust that was dismissed in 2017 when a judge ruled the museum had no standing. Museum trustee David Glaser of Cape Elizabeth said that the high court decision was great news and that the museum plans to move forward with its complaint.

The Maine Mineral & Gem Museum, years in the making, opened on December 12, 2019.  The museum was founded by Larry Stifler and Mary McFadden, a Massachusetts couple who began coming to western Maine in the 1970s, became enamored of the area's rich mineral mining history and began collecting all manner of rocks, from precious gems to fallen meteorites. The 14,000-square-foot museum displays more than 100 gemstones, 2,000 minerals and 250 meteorites.

Massachusetts

The Paul Revere Memorial Association is pleased to announce that Mills Whitaker Architects won a 2019/2020 Boston Society of Architects Honor Award for Accessible Design for their creative design of the Paul Revere House Education and Visitor Center which opened in December of 2016.

The Crane Museum of Papermaking completed the renovation of their hands-on space. Including ‘barn door’ partitions made of reclaimed barn wood from North Adams, MA.

The Buttonwoods Museum is one of ten museums in the United States selected to participate in a Smithsonian pilot project to develop a unique humanities-based exhibition about local work history. The project is a hands-on opportunity for local cultural professionals to learn about the exhibition development process used by the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street (MoMS) program. The curatorial framework for the exhibition is provided by the Smithsonian and will be fleshed out by the Buttonwoods Museum using local historical images, art and artifacts, video clips and oral histories. The resulting exhibition will reflect the strong history and culture of Greater Haverhill. To assist with this project, the Buttonwoods Museum was awarded a $1200 Haverhill Cultural Council grant to support the upcoming exhibit “Work and the Way Women Work”.

MassArt Art Museum (MAAM), Boston’s newest contemporary art museum, opened on February 22, 2020. The inaugural exhibitions in the museum will be the U.S. premiere of internationally-renowned artist Joana Vasconcelos; a group exhibition titled Game Changers: Video Games & Contemporary Art; and a site-specific installation by artist duo Ghost of a Dream. MAAM, a non-collecting museum – or kunsthalle – will offer visitors free admission and programs, fulfilling its commitment to making contemporary art truly accessible to all. The recent renovation and expansion of the Bakalar & Paine Galleries as MassArt Art Museum was supported by MassArt’s UNBOUND capital campaign, which raised $12.5 million to fund the project. The museum will now be open year-round, and with expanded hours: Wednesday-Friday 12-6 pm; Thursday 12-8 pm; Saturday and Sunday 10 am-6 pm; and closed Monday and Tuesdays.

On Tuesday, January 21, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate premiered The Citizen’s Senate, a new educational program that features a combination of archival footage and live performance in order to highlight key moments in American history when citizens have compelled the U.S. Senate to act. The first installment examines the struggles and ultimate success of the final decade of the women’s suffrage movement.

Fuller Craft Museum recently received the 2020 Award of Distinction from the American Craft Council! Our board, staff, and volunteers are elated and humbled to be recognized as an institution that has made significant contributions to the craft field for over 25 years. This award comes from the prestigious American Craft Council, craft advocates and thought leaders for nearly 80 years.

The Clark Art Institute has launched a new program of year-long contemporary art exhibitions installed in its public spaces with an inaugural exhibition, Pia Camil:  Velo Revelo, presenting three works by Pia Camil (Mexican, b. 1980).

In 2019, the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) ushered in a new era when it opened a 40,000-square-foot wing designed by Ennead Architects. The $125M expansion -- which made Salem, Massachusetts one of the nation’s largest art museum destinations outside of a major urban center -- features 15,000-square-feet of new gallery space, a light-filled atrium, an entry for school and group tours, linkages to existing galleries and a 5,000-square-foot garden designed by Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects. The new wing and adjacent renovated galleries feature fresh installations of the museum’s collections and newly commissioned work by contemporary artists. Also in 2019, PEM welcomed Brian Kennedy, formerly of the Toledo Museum of Art, as its first new director and CEO in over 25 years following the retirement of Dan Monroe. Kennedy is leading PEM through a strategic planning process, the results of which will be shared online at: pem.org/newpem  

The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) has gratefully accepted a transformational gift of more than 1,600 works of photography from the Joy of Giving Something (JGS) Foundation. The JGS Foundation, a nonprofit formed in 1998, is renowned for work that explores the intersection of photography and social issues, as well as its support for emerging artists and arts education. This gift of photographs features the work of 123 artists, primarily those of East Asian descent or working in East Asia, from 1930 to the present day. The addition of these exceptional 20th-century artworks to PEM’s already strong collection of 19th-century photography makes PEM one of the leading institutions for Asian photography in the U.S. and Europe.

Boston Children’s Museum has announced the opening of a reimagined and redesigned PlaySpace, a permanent exhibit designed specifically to provide young children and their caregivers with a safe, comfortable environment for the play and exploration that is critical to physical and skills development. Unique in size and scope, PlaySpace is a joyful and playful collection of developmentally appropriate experiences where kids may develop and practice their social, emotional, cognitive, and physical skills. The exhibit is a staffed space within the museum where very young children can explore in their own way and at their own pace secluded from the energy and excitement of older children.

Boston Children’s Museum has received a $342,000 two-year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Research in the Formation of Engineers program. This grant, entitled Design and Development: Engineering and Empathy Pre-K/K, will support development and research of activities for prekindergarten (pre-K) and kindergarten (K) classrooms that integrate engineering and empathy.
Boston Children’s Museum has been awarded a Cooperative Agreement with the Institute of Museum and Library Services for expansion of its School Readiness through Partnerships program that has served as a model for organizing states around improving early childhood education. In collaboration with the BUILD Initiative, a national effort that advances state work on behalf of young children, families, and communities, BCM will expand the existing project over a 3-year timeline. Together with participating museums and libraries, the museum will maintain and improve Massachusetts’ existing networks; scale pilot efforts in South Carolina and Virginia; launch new grassroots museum and library networks in Iowa, Mississippi, and New Mexico; and develop methods for network sustainability within and among the states. By the end of 3 years, there will be six statewide networks in sustaining mode nationwide. BCM will work with museums and libraries through site visits, conference calls, webinars, and an annual leadership institute to bring states together to learn and share from each other. Individual institutions will strengthen their knowledge and skills for reaching out to and serving families, including low income and hard-to-reach families. The networks will develop and integrate systems and policies within their institutions to support this work going forward. Through the data gathered over the 3 years of the project, strategies for sustainability across various types of organizations from varied geographical settings will be identified and shared with all participants.

The Fitchburg Art Museum is pleased to announce significant grants from the Cathedral Fund and the Clementi Family Charitable Trust. The Cathedral Fund, a Boston-based self-described intergalactic/ interdimensional arts engagement foundation, will provide FAM with $200,000/year for three years to help sustain and expand FAM’s work in support of underserved populations, education, and community service. The Clementi Family Charitable Trust, a local foundation that supports education, health care, and the arts and culture, has donated $30,000/year for three years, to establish a new initiative at FAM: the Clementi Family Education Fellow. This Education Fellow program will provide training for emerging museum professionals while furthering our educational mission and providing important staff capacity for FAM’s Education Department.

Thanks to grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Truro Community Preservation Committee, the Highland House Museum (HHM) in Truro, MA, now has climate-controlled storage, an upgraded staff bathroom and kitchenette, recessed lighting, and ceiling fans in the main gallery. In 2020, the Museum will become ADA compliant with the installation of an elevator. The HHM is housed in a 1907 building that was a popular resort hotel until the 1960s. The Truro Historical Society established the museum in 1969, and the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. Throughout the 2020 season, the museum will commemorate the 400th anniversary of the landing of the Mayflower with a new exhibition on the history and culture of the Native people who lived in the region many years before the arrival of the Pilgrims. The museum is also collaborating with the Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill on an outdoor sculpture exhibition that will reflect on the meaning of this milestone historic event. Artwork will be installed outside of the museum and at its Cobb Archive in Truro Center, as well as at Castle Hill’s main campus and its Edgewood Farm site. The sculptures will be on view from May through September.  

In the 1980’s the Acton Historical Society saved an 1822 barn in Barnstead, NH from destruction. It was taken apart and reconstructed on the Jonathan Hosmer House (1760) campus in Acton, MA. It is currently used for storing a collection of early farm implements and is not open to the public. This year the AHS is planning to update and clean the interior and create a three-season museum to showcase its collection of 19th century farming tools; horse-drawn carriages, and horse collars, bridles, and tack. They hope to showcase their progress at their May 17 Open House and then open it to the public later in the year.

The Nantucket Historical Association (NHA) is excited to announce the launch of a new way of searching their collections of books, manuscripts and artifacts. The NHA has committed $250,000 over two years to this major initiative. Connie and Tom Cigarran of Nashville and Nantucket spearheaded the fundraising efforts. The online catalog contains more than 70,000 collection records which are now accessible through a single search.

The Nantucket Historical Association recently announced the acquisition of a rare first edition of the earliest navigational chart of Cape Cod and the Islands, created by Dutch cartographer Arent Roggeveen in 1675. A generous gift from the Friends of the Nantucket Historical Association, this chart is the first detailed mapping of the area around Cape Cod, extending from Rhode Island up to Plymouth. This is an exciting start to 2020 and fills a hole in the NHA’s map collection, as identified by a collections survey conducted in 2019.

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center has been awarded a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to redevelop the Center’s permanent exhibit. More Than a Job: Work and Community in New Bedford’s Commercial Fishing Industry will build on the Center’s inaugural exhibit, From Boat to Table, which introduced visitors to all aspects of the fishing industry.  The new exhibit will continue to provide the visitor with an introduction to the workings of the fishing industry while also exploring themes of labor history, immigration, and the changing nature of work and community. Digital storytelling will be incorporated throughout to present the lives, skills and experiences of fishermen, shoreside workers, their families, and the larger community. The revamped exhibit is slated to open in Winter of 2021.

The EcoTarium has successfully reached one third of their fundraising goal for planetarium upgrade from the George I. Alden Trust. The project is expected to begin in late 2020.

The Massachusetts Air and Space Museum is preparing to open its doors in Hyannis. Keith Young, a member of the museum’s board of directors, explained that a soft opening is “targeted” for February 15. Founded in 2007 as a nonprofit organization, the museum initially looked at Hanscom Field in Bedford as the site for their exhibits, due to how close it is to Boston. However, the location at Capetown Plaza on Route 132 met the needs for the museum. Features at the museum will include a scaled Aeronca C-2 plane as well as an F-106 flight simulator and virtual reality experiences. Exhibits will dive into topics such as women in aviation and the experience of living at the International Space Station. More exhibits and offerings will be added over time. The museum, when opened, will be looking for public comments to gauge what visitors would like to see added. A grand opening ceremony will occur in May.

The Rose Art Museum is pleased to announce the gift of 50 works on paper from Baltimore-based collector Stephen Salny. This gift includes pieces by some of today’s leading artists and significantly includes a number of works by Ellsworth Kelly, as well as pieces by Anni Albers, Josef Albers, Sonia Delaunay, Helen Frankenthaler, Damien Hirst, Jasper Johns, Alex Katz, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Motherwell, Richard Serra, and Frank Stella. Many of the works enrich already existing clusters of work by the same artists while others are new to the Rose’s permanent collection.

New Hampshire

The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire received a recent donation of $6,076 from the Kittery, Maine, resale boutique The Fabulous Find. Each month The Fabulous Find gives the proceeds of its sales to three different area nonprofits. The UNH Marine Docents program and the Seacoast Mental Health Center were also recipients of January 2020 profits.

Rhode Island

The RISD Museum is pleased to announce a significant gift of 66 contemporary artworks from collectors Avo Samuelian and Manuel Gonzalez. Thirty-three works were brought into the collection in December 2019 joining a similar gift to the museum of 33 works in 2017. Both gifts expand the museum’s Contemporary Art and Prints, Drawings, and Photographs collections considerably, introducing works by Uri Aran, Jessica Jackson Hutchins, Lothar Hempel, Jordan Nassar, and Paul P; additional works by Karla Black, Jim Lambie, and Tony Feher strengthen the RISD Museum’s commitment to artists already in the collection. Also of note are works by RISD alumni and faculty including David Scanavino, David Benjamin Sherry, and Patricia Treib that further develop the museum’s representation of figures who have helped define the school’s reputation.

The RISD Museum recently announced a new sponsorship of programing and events presented by Chase. With Chase’s support, the RISD Museum will be able to continue three critically important community programs, including free admission to visitors on Sunday, starting March 8th. Additionally, the RISD Museum will offer programming and free admission on the Third Thursday evening of each month starting in March, and its popular annual summer event, Design the Night in July.

On Jan. 1, 2020, Old Sturbridge Village (OSV) in Sturbridge, M.A., and the Coggeshall Farm Museum in Bristol, R.I. launched a transformational partnership intended to sustain and expand living history in the New England area. Under the agreement, Old Sturbridge Village will manage the Coggeshall Farm Museum, handling all back-office functions, supporting day-to-day activities, bringing new programming to the Farm and positioning OSV President and CEO Jim Donahue as Executive Director at the R.I.-based museum. Through this partnership, Coggeshall Farm Museum will benefit from the proven success and knowledgeable staff at Old Sturbridge Village - expanding opportunities for reach and visitation. The two entities will work collaboratively to rebuild the successful agricultural and horticultural programs that the Farm is known for, while introducing new programs and experiences that have seen past success at OSV. Two full-time employees from the Village will be stationed at the Farm year-round to oversee new and existing operations, supervised and supported by the team at Old Sturbridge Village.

Vermont

The Vermont Historical Society recently received the donation of a modern-era mural from Maryanne and Jeffrey Larkin of Waterbury, VT. Created by artist Sarah-Lee Terrat, the mural originally adorned the walls at Arvads Grill & Pub in Waterbury. It depicts a fictional gathering of famous Vermonters throughout the state’s history, from Calvin Coolidge to Bernie Sanders, to the first Morgan horse. Extensive restoration was completed by the Larkins and the artist after the mural was unexpectedly painted over. It is now on view in the Community Room at the Vermont History Center in Barre.

Middletown Springs Historical Society, recently celebrated its 50th Anniversary (1969-2019) by engaging in a Strategic Planning process with Anne Ackerson of Troy, N.Y., funded by a grant from the Vermont Community Foundation.  We also received a grant from Preservation Trust of Vermont to evaluate an antique building for storing and displaying our collection of 19th C. horse-powered treadmills, threshers, and saws, manufactured in Middletown by A.W. Gray & Sons.  We received an award from the Vt. League of Local Historical Societies for our recent publication, Middletown Springs Historic District.