Access Magazine Spring | Fall 2024

Member Magazine Spring / Summer 2024

The Worcester Art Museum’s access magazine is an opportunity for our close community of supporters to dive deeper into what we do. As a Member, you receive this not only as a thank-you for your support, but as an invitation to continue to get excited about art.

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Sign on for another year of exciting art experiences while supporting the power of creativity to connect.

There’s always room to come closer to art, artists, and the ideas they spark.

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Contribute to our mission at any time. Right now, we are undergoing an ambitious transformation in facilities, programming, and sustainability. Join us as we take the Museum on a Bold Step Forward with our most comprehensive capital campaign ever. Learn more at worcesterart.org/bold-step-forward.

George

Carmen

Cover:

access magazine is a publication of the Worcester Art Museum and funded in large part by the Herron-Dresser Publications Fund. All rights reserved. Information subject to change.

Editor: Jack Gallagher

Design: Kim Noonan

Photography: Stephen Briggs, Dany Pelletier, Troy B. Thompson

Malcolm A. Rogers

Kent Russell

Jonathan R. Sigel

Anne-Marie Soullière

Cynthia L. Strauss

W. Tetler

D. Vazquez

Christina Villena

Ex Officio – Matthias Waschek,

Jean and Myles McDonough Director of the Worcester Art Museum Worcester Art Museum worcesterart.org

From the Director

How far we’ve come…

As we approach the halfway point of our strategic plan, it’s time to celebrate the bold steps we have taken together—and those we will take—to reinvent the Worcester Art Museum as a forward-thinking beacon of creativity and inclusion, supported by our Members and our comprehensive campaign, A Bold Step Forward

You may have already noticed improvements to our campus, such as the 2021 Lancaster Street entrance, recently honored with a 2024 Worcester Preservation Award, which was an important step to make the building fully accessible. One year ago, our art library moved to the Higgins Education Wing. In its former location, we are looking forward to the opening of our Arms and Armor Galleries in late 2025. The conversion of 5,000 square feet for the new galleries has already begun (pages 16–17). While this work is ongoing, both public facing and behind the scenes, we hope the excitement about our makeover will outweigh the temporary disturbances and noise. Although challenging at times, these are all signs of progress. Wide-ranging exhibitions, upcoming gallery improvements, and engaging programs will ensure there is always something new to discover.

One wonderfully productive outcome of construction is the incentive to create exhibitions that travel to other museums around the country and the world. The Worcester Art Museum’s collection is extraordinary. For a museum of our size, to be able to generate national and international excitement for our collection is remarkable. Our Frontiers of Impressionism exhibition, which many of you saw last year at WAM, attracted more than 300,000 visitors at the Metropolitan Museum in Tokyo, the first venue of an international tour. The Floating World: Masterpieces of Edo Japan is now on view at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, TX, and The Age of Armor: Treasures from the Higgins Armory Collection recently ended its national tour at the San Antonio Museum of Art.

Worcester Art Museum Board of Trustees 2024

Dorothy Chen-Courtin - President

Kent Russell - Vice President

George W. Tetler III - Vice President

Sarah G. Berry - Treasurer

Susan M. Bassick - Clerk

Lawrence H. Curtis

Jennifer Davis Carey

James C. Donnelly, Jr.

Michael B. Fox

Mark W. Fuller

Jennifer C. Glowik-Adams

John J. Herron

Karen M. Keane

Mary Beth Leonard

Barry M. Maloney

Sohail Masood

John H. McCabe

Thomas S. Michie

Carl D. Rapp

Malcolm A. Rogers

Anne-Marie Soullière

Cynthia L. Strauss

Carmen D. Vazquez

Christina Villena

Ex Officio — Matthias Waschek,

Jean and Myles McDonough Director

…How far we’re going.

With a revitalized campus and expanded global reputation, we are reaching more people near and far. Our exhibitions and programs work to inspire in new ways, connecting the local and the global.

New Terrain: 21st-Century Landscape Photography (pages 8–9) is currently on view at the Museum, offering a bold example of our focus on innovation and new ways of looking at and responding to landscapes. Opening this fall, Im/Perfect Modernisms: Asian Art and Identity Since 1945 will demonstrate the range and originality of modernist styles created across Asia, through works in the Museum’s collection. And over the coming months, you will see new contemporary art installed throughout the Museum by both internationally and locally recognized artists. Additionally, I would like to welcome two recent hires in the area of collections care. Matthew Cushman, our new Conservator in Charge, brings a long-range, strategic vision to conservation, and Daniel Healey, our new Provenance Research Specialist, will further research and share the history of artworks in the collection.

All the stories you will read in this issue of access demonstrate in one way or another how bold our efforts are in bringing our strategic plan to fruition. The Board of Trustees, the Museum staff, and I would like to thank you for your membership and belief in the value of the Worcester Art Museum.

Matthias Waschek

Jean and Myles McDonough Director

What’s on

This season, there are many reasons to visit, and even more to return! Here are some of the highlights. Visit worcesterart.org to view our full calendar and learn more.

April 6–July 7, 2024

EXHIBITION

New Terrain: 21st-Century Landscape

Photography Page 8–9

June 16, 2024

TALK

Curator Talk: Preview of the Arms and Armor Galleries

Page 16–17

May 8–November 3, 2024

ARTWORK

Central Massachusetts Artist Initiative: John Vo © John Vo

Saturdays, through July 7, 2024 TOUR

Tour of New Terrain

Tours and demonstrations

Find a new favorite artist or artwork with free tours, offered every week. Come closer to the art and learn through interactive demonstrations, art carts, and more.

June 1–September 1, 2024

EXHIBITION

Jakob Fioole: The Sally Bishop Prize

Page 10–11

October 15–25, 2024

SALISBURY GIVING SOCIETY TRAVEL

The Japanese Roots of Impressionism: A Colorful Autumn Journey through Tokyo, Hakone, and Kyoto

Studio art classes

Discover a new skill or refine your specialty in studio art classes for adults and kids. Members receive 10% off.

As a Member, you receive free Museum admission year-round as well as advance, free, or discounted tickets to events.

October 5, 2024–January 20, 2025

EXHIBITION

Im/Perfect Modernisms: Asian Art and Identity Since 1945

© Masami Teraoka. Photo courtesy of the artist and Catharine Clark Gallery.

December 13, 2024

MEMBER EVENT

After-Hours: Champagne, Chocolate, and Shopping

November 3, 2024

EVENT Diwali Celebration

Ongoing EXHIBITION

Arms and Armor Galleries in the Making

Higgins Education Wing exhibitions

There’s always something special down the hall! Explore exhibitions from students of all ages, community partners, and more in the education wing.

November 30, 2024–January 5, 2025

EVENT SERIES Winter at WAM

Ongoing CONSERVATION IN ACTION

Arms and Armor with Bill MacMillan

For teens

Do you know a teenager interested in art and museums? Learn about internships and the WAM Teen Council at worcesterart.org/teen-programs.

FIVE questions for Wu Chi-Tsung

New Terrain: 21st-Century Landscape Photography, on view through July 7, 2024, focuses on 21st-century artists who use photographic processes to explore concepts of landscape and place. Nancy Burns, the Museum's Stoddard Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, who curated New Terrain, interviewed artist Wu Chi-Tsung, whose Cyano-Collage 191 is featured in the exhibition. His work uses 19th-century cyanotype photography methods to explore chance, modernity, and ancient ink painting techniques. Wu's responses were translated by a colleague and edited for length and clarity.

ONE.

We’re excited to have acquired Cyano-Collage 191, which perfectly captures the idea behind the New Terrain exhibition. You use cyanotype, one of the oldest photographic processes, to create something new. Why?

I started experimenting with cyanotype photography because I was dissatisfied with digital photography. I want to use an older, more traditional method to explore new ideas.

TWO.

I’ve read that you feel that embracing chance is central to creating your collages. Could you elaborate?

Cyanotype photography has a technical transparency that allows me a direct view of the process. While exposing cyanotype to sunlight, numerous variables come into play, such as wind, clouds, fluctuations in light, a random act of crumpling the handmade xuan paper I use. It’s always different. It stimulates reflection on chance and how humans interact with the world and nature.

THREE.

Another aspect of your work is the connection to traditional Chinese shan shui ink painting. Tell us about how these collages reflect and diverge from that practice.

The Cyano-Collage series was originally conceived as an exploration of a Chinese ink painting tradition called shan shui (mountain-and-water painting). The process combines sensitive paper, a flexible brush, and water-based ink in a highly variable mix that is challenging to master. I continue to incorporate many of the goals of shan shui in my work even as I move toward more conceptual ideas that highlight underlying technical aspects of the process.

Photography at the Worcester Art Museum is supported by the Ed Esleeck Photography Fund to support research, travel, and curatorial care of the collection. Established by Cathleen C. Esleeck, the Fund is named after/in memory of her son Edwin (Ed) Esleeck, a professional photographer who taught photography at the Museum.

FOUR.

A throughline I see in all your work is a connection to the landscape, often seascapes. Could you tell us why you feel drawn to landscape?

As is common in Taiwan, my training includes both Eastern and Western artistic traditions. My work strives to bridge the gap between the two, between tradition and modernity. While depicting landscapes is fundamental to the shan shui tradition, I am also experimenting with photography to expand the artistic concept of landscapes.

In Eastern cultures familiar with ink painting traditions, people often see in my work landscapes resembling those of the ancient shan shui masters. Western viewers often see seascapes or abstract imagery. I am delighted by these diverse interpretations.

FIVE.

Is there anything else you’d like people to know about CyanoCollage 191?

The dimensions of Cyano-Collage 191 are consistent with the size of a traditional Chinese hanging scroll painting. This proportion allows for a natural composition reminiscent of Song dynasty landscape paintings.

In this piece, the deep blue tones were achieved by a process discovered quite by accident. Once, while exposing the paper, I accidentally dripped sweat onto it and noticed a change in how the paper reacted with the chemicals. Since then, I sometimes intentionally spray water on the paper and repeat the process multiple times to create a stronger and deeper blue color.

I am deeply intrigued by randomness.

New Terrain: 21st-Century Landscape Photography is generously supported by the Fletcher Foundation. It is also funded in part by the Hall and Kate Peterson Fund and WAM Exhibition Fund.

Right: Wu Chi-Tsung, Cyano-Collage 191, 2023, cyanotype photography, Xuan paper, acrylic gel, acrylic, mounted on brushed aluminum, panel: 225 × 60 cm (88 9/16 × 23 5/8 in.) © Wu Chi-Tsung Studio. Courtesy: the Wu Chi-Tsung Studio and Sean Kelly, New York/Los Angeles

Photograph Jason Wyche Courtesy: the artist and Sean Kelly, New York/Los Angeles

Jakob Fioole, carry home, 2023, oil on linen, 90 x 120 cm, 35.5 x 47 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Making room for the imagination

Jakob Fioole: The Sally Bishop Prize, a solo exhibition of new work by the winner of the top honor at the 2023 ArtsWorcester Biennial, comprises 18 paintings by Worcester-area artist Jakob Fioole. Organized by Worcester Art Museum Curator of Contemporary Art Samantha Cataldo and ArtsWorcester, the exhibition will be on view through September 1, 2024. Samantha Cataldo recently interviewed Mr. Fioole to learn more about his fascinating imagination-scapes.

Why do you make art? What drives you?

Creating something is a powerful activity in many ways. There are a lot of things that move me in this world, and I find painting to be the most interesting way to investigate and reflect. It allows me to show you something I can hardly put in words. There’s a complexity and pleasant resistance in working with oil paint that almost symbolically counters the speed of today’s endless overload of digital media and encourages me to stick with such a traditional medium.

What brought you to the United States and to joining ArtsWorcester?

My spouse and I have been traveling a lot between the U.S. and the Netherlands because of her work. We decided to move here, and leaving my European network behind made me feel invisible in some way, which was quite liberating. I had been working in my studio a lot without showing anything until around 2022 when ArtsWorcester hosted an open call for Go Big, and I made it into that show. At the opening I met some great people and rediscovered the importance of getting your work out there!

Your paintings in recent years all seem to depict the same reality. Can you talk more about your world-building and the common elements in your paintings?

Sometimes I feel like I’m documenting a town or city, each painting showing another part of it. In these places I can share what I’ve been thinking about; they’re the homes of my subjects. This idea may be related to discovering various aspects of the U.S. while visiting and living here. The enormous size of this country and its different environments and communities make me think a lot about the idea of home and belonging or being away, travel, and history. My interest in technical equipment and constructions is broadly present in my work as well. Their complexity and visual characteristics, and also their impact on our lives is very interesting to me.

What influences your work in terms of literature, film, popular culture, etc.?

There are many things that inspire me as an artist. Interactions with friends, music, news reports, family photo albums, childhood memories, movies, books, and more. These cues are rarely literal or strictly visual though. Most often it’s a strong mood or atmosphere that fascinates me. I’m more interested in the meaning or motivation behind things—what do they represent to who and why? Connecting different elements from those sources helps me find new perspectives and parallels as I try to make sense of this world. By combining elements together in one painting I’m creating a visual experience that carries a new meaning to the viewer altogether.

You’ve said that the work is meant to be ambiguous, to allow for multiple interpretations. Why is that important for you?

People observe things differently. That’s okay and in my opinion inevitable, essential even, since we all have different backgrounds and some of my themes touch on topics bigger than any one person. Because we live in a time where all aspects of society become more polarized every day, I believe it’s especially important that there’s room for imagination. My painting process itself matches this idea, as it’s more about being curious than finding answers. As I work, I study and investigate, responding to problems as they arise on the canvas. A lot of that process is still visible in various layers of the painting, leaving visual clues to navigate and discover.

This exhibition is organized in partnership with ArtsWorcester. It is funded in part by the Hoche-Scofield Foundation.

Jakob Fioole with his work, I go where you go (Amerika No2), 2024. Courtesy of the artist.

Recent acquisitions

Jeffrey Gibson (Choctaw/Cherokee, b. 1972)

INFINITE INDIGENOUS QUEER LOVE

2020

Acrylic on canvas, glass beads, and artificial sinew, inset into wood frame

Jeffrey Gibson’s vibrant multimedia work explores the intersections within his own identity as a queer Native American artist. The beadwork and geometric patterning reflect the visual culture of his Choctaw and Cherokee heritage, while the text is a deeply personal declaration. One of the most respected artists working today, Gibson was selected by the U.S. State Department to represent the country at the 2024 Venice Biennale; he is the first Indigenous artist to have a solo exhibition in the U.S. Pavilion.

Käthe Kollwitz (German, 1867–1945)

Mutter mit Kind über der Schulter (Die Darbietung) (Mother with Child over her Shoulder (The Presentation))

Before 1917/1961

Bronze

Best known as a printmaker, Käthe Kollwitz began sculpting in her thirties, some years after completing a course in Paris in 1904. She created this early sculpture following her younger son Peter’s death at the beginning World War I. Her work from this period frequently features a mother and child, and is often associated with her grieving process. This sculpture was very important to Kollwitz; the plaster was in her room when she died. Many of her sculptures were not cast until after her death. Kollwitz’s estate authorized Berlin’s Noack foundry to produce this bronze along with nine others.

Jeffrey Gibson, INFINITE INDIGENOUS QUEER LOVE, 2020, acrylic on canvas, glass beads, and artificial sinew, inset into wood frame, Museum Purchase through the Gift of Jean McDonough, 2024.6. © Jeffrey Gibson

Käthe Kollwitz, Mutter mit Kind über der Schulter, before 1917/1961, bronze, Museum purchase through the Gift of Jean McDonough, 2023.36

Elman Mansimov (American, born Azerbaijan, b. 1996)

A stop sign flying in blue skies from alignDRAW 2015, printed 2023

Computer software generated archival pigment prints

Elman Mansimov (b. 1996) is an American computer scientist from Azerbaijan credited with creating the first text-to-image artificial-intelligence model in 2015. The Worcester Art Museum's collection includes several milestone images in photography history, including Eadweard Muybridge’s groundbreaking Animal Locomotion (1887–88), a series of stop-motion images animated by a zoopraxiscope. Mansimov’s work represents the Museum’s commitment to collecting and sharing works by pioneering innovators in photography.

Dread Scott (American, b. 1965)

Obliterated Power (Supreme Court) 2022

Screenprint over archival inkjet print

American activist and interdisciplinary artist Dread Scott (b. 1965) focuses on oppression and racism. Works in his Obliterated Power series include altered images of the US Capitol, Pentagon, and Supreme Court. Supreme Court joins two other images by Scott acquired by the Museum in 2021. Because it features screen printing, Obliterated Power also connects photography with printmaking, which makes this acquisition a useful teaching tool for local college-level photography courses.

Dread Scott, Obliterated Power (Supreme Court), 2022, screenprint over archival inkjet print, Museum purchase through the Ruth and Loring Holmes Dodd Fund, 2023.46. Courtesy of the Artist and Cristin Tierney Gallery, New York.

Elman Mansimov, A stop sign flying in blue skies from alignDRAW, 2015, computer software generated archival pigment prints, Purchase made possible with funds from James E. Hogan in memory of Jean C. McDonough, 2024.3

A new look for arms and armor

Something new is coming. New for the Worcester Art Museum, new for our visitors, and new for the Museum’s magnificent Higgins Armory Collection, the second largest in the Americas. The Museum’s new Arms and Armor Galleries, currently under construction and opening in late 2025, will completely change the way we look at the world’s arms and armor—the art, the craft, and its ever-advancing technologies.

The new galleries, designed by the award-winning architecture and exhibition design firm TSKP x IKD and the Museum’s curators, will span 5,000 square feet and put more of the collection on display than ever before with new installations and an innovative open storage system. In all, more than 1,000 objects—from medieval and renaissance Europe, ancient Greece, Egypt, Japan, India, and beyond—will showcase the collection’s global and historical breadth. The galleries will also include non-arms artworks to provide deeper context and draw connections across cultures and history.

Centrally located on the Museum’s second floor, the new Arms and Armor Galleries will occupy the area where the Museum’s library was previously located before it was moved to a newly renovated space in the Museum’s Higgins Education Wing in 2023. The front room, with 16-foot-high ceilings, will provide an open, spacious gallery for visitors. Upon entering, audiences will engage with dramatic arms and armor displays with star objects from the collection. Further exploration will lead visitors into a second gallery. With the look and feel of open storage, this space takes visitors behind the scenes for a glimpse into how curators preserve and present museum objects.

The creation of the Arms and Armor Galleries provided the team working on this project an opportunity to rethink traditional ideas for accessibility in ways that support WAM’s strategic priority of increasing equity, inclusivity, and diversity at the Museum. This includes deploying a range of interpretive modes to engage an array of interests, learning styles, and abilities. The galleries will feature hands-on, tactile interactives, giving visitors a chance to discover for themselves, for example, the weight and feel of armor. Digital tools will offer in-depth information on objects in the open storage gallery. Wall maps will highlight global centers of armor production and use. Reimagined in-gallery seating and relaxing locations will encourage visitors to spend more time with the objects.

The new galleries will present a global narrative that explores the power of these objects in the various cultures that produced them, a power that still resonates for visitors whenever they see a suit of armor. Underscoring the Museum’s role as a place of learning, inspiration, and profound reflection, the new presentation will connect the artistry, culture, and technology of arms and armor with contemporary issues.

Left and above: Concept design renderings for the Worcester Art Museum’s forthcoming Arms and Armor Galleries. Courtesy TSKP x IKD.

This is just the beginning. Stay tuned to worcesterart.org, social media @worcesterartmuseum, and your Member emails for more news about the future of arms and armor.

The Arms and Armor Galleries are supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as numerous other funders, consultants, and partners. A full list is available at worcesterart.org/arms-and-armor-gallery.

This project is part of the Museum’s ongoing fundraising campaign, A Bold Step Forward, which seeks to raise $125 million by 2028 to modernize facilities, strengthen programming, ensure long-term financial strength, help the Museum connect with new audiences, and broaden the narratives told through art. We’re more than halfway to the goal. Learn more at worcesterart.org/join-give/bold-step-forward.

Above and left: Concept design renderings for the Worcester Art Museum's forthcoming Arms and Armor Galleries. Courtesy TSKP x IKD.

What does the Museum mean to you?

Edward Yasuna

Retired educator Edward Yasuna recalls a joyous childhood in Worcester. So, it should come as no surprise that this Worcester Art Museum supporter, Salisbury Giving Society Member, Legacy Society donor, and avid art collector has long held a passion for making the Museum more accessible to children. In fact, Ed Yasuna has recently created an endowed fund, the Yasuna Family Youth Admission Fund, to provide funding in support of the Museum’s longstanding policy of providing free admission for children. Fond childhood memories fuel his ongoing support.

“Ice skating and sledding at Elm Park. Walking a mile to Midland Street School, with obligatory stops at Jollie’s to look at the toys in the window, and later to buy baseball cards. A Bookmobile on Vassar Street. Taking the bus downtown for trumpet lessons with Mr. Yodzonis, then on to Ephraim's Book Store, the public library with its endless stairs, and the stamp store on Pearl Street. Baseball at Flagg Street School in summers until it was too dark to see the ball.

“Eating out at Hong Fong on Main Street, Italian dinners at Lena's. Knights in armor at the Higgins Armory on field trips. Biking to Chandler Street Junior High when there were junior highs. Occasional sightings of Bob Cousy at a Holy Cross game. Tennis at Clark University in the summer. Special family dinners at El Morocco, the place in town. Lots of paintings in my home; my parents were collectors. I did not have artistic talent, but I was surrounded by art.

“That's the Worcester of my youth. It was another time, another place. But really, it wasn't. It was childhood and early teen-time in a good city. I had access to that. I'd like young people to always have access to such times and places, or similar ones, and being able to go to the Museum is an essential part of that. That’s what Worcester Art Museum means to me.”

Thomas Del Mar Olympia Auctions

I first visited Worcester around 25 years ago. The Worcester Art Museum has invariably been a highlight of my trips. My interest in the history of art from its beginning through to the modern period is very well represented at the Museum. As an auctioneer, I have a particular interest in antique arms and armor, along with interests in renaissance art, paintings, and tapestries. The breathtaking mosaic in the Renaissance Court has always been a highlight, a portent of the treasure that lies in the galleries beyond. Being a student of armor, I am a huge fan of the German jousting armor, the various full armors currently displayed in different galleries, the immense range of helmets and the related metalwork so attractively displayed. I am equally impressed with the Museum’s online presence and the publications I receive from the Museum, which truly make the collections more widely available to us all. I am excited about the new Arms and Armor Galleries and look forward to visiting it in 2025.

Museums outside the principal capital cities in the United States and Europe are a frequent source of rich material for study, and the Worcester Art Museum is no exception. Great collections, thoughtful exhibitions, excellent publications— that’s what the Museum means to me.

Edward Yasuna

Thomas Del Mar

A legacy of support

Joan Klimann

Joan Klimann’s legacy of support for the Worcester Art Museum goes back more than four decades. She has been closely involved with the Museum as a Collections Committee member from 1993 to 1997, a Corporator from 1987 to 1997, and a Legacy Society participant since 2017. In 2022, she deepened that relationship even further with a major gift of 18 artworks, adding to several previous gifts and loans dating back to the late 1970s.

A long-time Massachusetts resident and frequent WAM visitor, she ran the Joan Peterson Gallery in Boston until 1981, and collaborated frequently with her husband Gustav, an art conservator. Together with Gus, who passed away in 1982, Joan has made it a point to prioritize the Museum through her active support of the collection.

Landscape with Saint Anthony (early 1500s), given to the Museum by Joan in 2013, is currently on view in a recently reinstalled gallery on the second floor. Now displayed in context with other works from the early 16th century, this diminutive panel demonstrates the exquisite detail with which Northern Renaissance painters executed their compositions. Some scholars believe it was painted by Joachim Patenir (Flemish, 1483–1524), who is celebrated for his innovations in landscapes— particularly the use of color to create the illusion

of spatial recession. In her most recent gift, Joan donated two grass-seated chairs by the designer George Nakashima (American, born in Japan, 1905–1990). They can be seen in the fourth–floor Donnelly Gallery with other works of modern art and design.

Joan’s enduring support and meaningful contributions to the Worcester Art Museum continue to make a lasting impact. The next time you are in the galleries, be sure to seek out the artworks that are on view thanks to her generosity.

Joan Klimann with James Welu, Director Emeritus

Landscape with Saint Anthony, early 1500s, oil on panel, Gift of Gustav D. and Joan Peterson Klimann, 2013.51

In memoriam

George Hecker

George Hecker supported the Worcester Art Museum and its collection for decades. A trustee emeritus, he served on the Board of Trustees from 2002 to 2011 and was a member of the Salisbury Giving Society since the mid-1990s. With his discerning eye and passion for art, he was a valued member of the Collections Committee since 1996, including several years as its chair, and was honored with emeritus status in 2021.

A collector himself, George helped shape the Museum’s collection, particularly works on paper, through thoughtful guidance and generous artwork donations. George had art in his blood; he was the grandson of German artists and Berlin Secession art movement members Lovis and Charlotte Corinth. Lovis Corinth was known for his signature blend of impressionism and expressionism, and George donated to the Museum 58 artworks by his grandfather, bringing the total number of Corinth works to 116. Pictured above is Corinth's painting Vor dem Spiegel (At the Mirror), featured in the Museum’s exhibition Frontiers of Impressionism, currently on tour in Japan. According to Director Emeritus Jim Welu, George made the Museum one of America’s most important holders of Lovis Corinth’s work.

In addition to his interest in the arts, George was a renowned engineer with degrees from Yale University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A nationally recognized expert in hydraulic engineering, he was co-inventor of multiple patents in his field.

The Worcester Art Museum community fondly remembers George as a focused and dedicated advisor who respected the expertise and opinions of staff at all levels. George passed away on September 11, 2023, but his legacy will live on through his meaningful contributions to the Museum and its collection.

Henry B. “Harry” Dewey

Harry Dewey’s passion for the arts and Worcester Art Museum were truly a lifelong affair. This distinguished lawyer, civic leader, and cultural advocate had a multi-generational connection to the Worcester Art Museum going back to its founding. Harry's father Francis H. Dewey, Jr. was a Museum Trustee, and his grandfather Francis H. Dewey was the Museum’s third Board President, as well as lawyer for Museum founder Stephen Salisbury III. Harry’s family even appears in the Museum’s collection, in a portrait of his grandmother Lizzie Bliss Dewey painted by John Singer Sargent in 1890.

Harry carried on the family tradition of involvement with the Worcester Art Museum. He joined the Board of Trustees in 1966 and remained for three decades, rising to the office of President. His other volunteer roles included serving as a Corporator, on the Members’ Council, and on numerous committees. He received the Museum’s Volunteer of the Year Award in 1997.

Harry was enthusiastically dedicated to Worcester’s cultural scene, and his impressive resume included Trustee of the Higgins Armory Museum, co-founder of the Greater Worcester Community Foundation, and 2002 recipient of the Isaiah Thomas Award for distinguished community service, among many other involvements.

His love of the Worcester Art Museum always remained. Just one month before he died on October 23, 2023, at the age of 99, he and his wife Jane renewed their Salisbury Giving Society membership. The city of Worcester and the Worcester Art Museum will greatly miss Harry and his lifelong contributions to the entire community.

Henry B. “Harry” Dewey

Lovis Corinth, Vor dem Spiegel (At the Mirror), 1912, oil on canvas, Stoddard Acquisition Fund, 2005.1

George Hecker

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College of the Holy Cross Fay School

Grafton Job Corps Center

New England Innovation Academy

Quinsigamond Community College

Saint John’s High School

The T.E.C. Schools

Worcester Academy

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Worcester State University

As of March 5, 2024

Foundations and Government Partners

The Worcester Art Museum gratefully acknowledges the following foundations and government agencies for their support during fiscal years 2023 and 2024 (as of March 1, 2024).

We are grateful to the many local and national funders that make our work possible and sustain the Museum’s innovative exhibitions, public programs, and educational and community endeavors, as well as maintain and improve our facilities. To learn more about WAM’s institutional priorities and ways that foundations and government agencies might assist, please contact Christine Proffitt, Senior Manager of Institutional Giving, at ChristineProffitt@worcesterart.org.

George I. Alden Trust

American Endowment Foundation

The Americana Foundation

Anonymous

Art Bridges

Bank of America Charitable Gift Fund

Barr Foundation

Bassick Family Foundation

Patrick and Aimee Butler Family Foundation

E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation

Cricket Foundation

Jeanne Y. Curtis Trust

The Melvin S. Cutler Charitable Foundation

Dirlam Charitable Trust

Ruth H. and Warren A. Ellsworth Foundation

J. Irving England & Jane L. England Charitable Trust

Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund

Fidelity Foundation

FJC Foundation

Fletcher Foundation

George F. and Sybil H. Fuller Foundation

Albert J. Gifford Charitable Trust

Greater Worcester Community Foundation

The Richard A. Heald Fund

Bradley C. Higgins Foundation

John W. & Clara C. Higgins Foundation

Hoche-Scofield Foundation

Institute of Museum and Library Services

Rita J. & Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation, Inc.

Ellsworth Kelly Foundation

The Judy and Tony King Foundation

The Kirby Foundation

The Klarman Family Foundation

Carl Lesnor Family Foundation

Henry Luce Foundation

The Manton Foundation

Mass Cultural Council

Cultural Facilities Fund

Cultural Investment Portfolio

Cultural Sector Recovery for Organizations

Universal Participation Initiative

MassDevelopment

Jean and Myles McDonough Charitable Foundation

Mildred H. McEvoy Foundation

National Endowment for the Arts

National Endowment for the Humanities

Paine Charitable Trust

Amelia Peabody Charitable Fund

Joseph Persky Foundation

Schwab Charitable Fund

The Schwartz Charitable Foundation

Stoddard Charitable Trust

Terra Foundation for American Art

TIAA Charitable Gift Fund

United Way of Central Massachusetts

Worcester Arts Council

Worcester Educational Development Foundation, Inc.

Wyman-Gordon Foundation

Legacy Society

The Worcester Art Museum Legacy Society recognizes those individuals who have included the Museum in their will or estate plans. Legacy Society gifts ensure that the Museum continues to be a vibrant center for culture, art, and learning for future generations. The Worcester Art Museum is grateful for the vital support provided by those indebted to its future; those who have left a planned gift and those who have provided documentation that they have included the Museum in their estate plans.

Anonymous (x4)

Toni Begman

Sarah and Allen Berry

Heath Drury Boote

Philip H. Brewer

Dr. Elaine and Mr. Robert* Bukowiecki

Susan C. Courtemanche

Dix and Sarah Davis

Brenda Verduin Dean and Dr. Herbert M. Dean

Margery Dearborn

Robert A. DeLuca

Patricia and Richard Desplaines, Jr.

Henry B.* and Jane K. Dewey

Maria* and John Dirlam

Andrea N. Driscoll

Dr. James and Kathleen M. Hogan

Frances* and Howard Jacobson

Peter Jefts

Lisa Kirby Gibbs and Peter Gibbs

Joan Peterson Klimann

David* and Barbara Krashes

Marcia Lagerwey and Loren Hoekzema

Claude M. Lee III

Dr. Paul J. Mahon

Jodie and David Martinson

Dr. and Mrs. Glenn A. Meltzer

Philip and Gale Morgan

Linda and John* Nelson

Edward J. Osowski

Sarah and Joe Ribeiro

Malcolm Rogers

Mr. and Mrs. Henry B. Rose

Mr.* and Mrs. Sidney Rose

Ruth R. Rubin

Dr. Peter B. Schneider

Dr. Shirley S. Siff and Robert M.* Siff

Mary Skousgaard

Mr.* and Ms. Jack Tobin

Ruth S. Westheimer, M.D.

Dr. Edward C. Yasuna

*Deceased

Those who live on through their generous gift

Anonymous

Mrs. Margery A. Adams

Mr. and Mrs. William C. Arthur Jr.

Ruth A. Ault

Ann Baumann

Mr. and Mrs. Howard M. Booth

Karl and Dorothy Briel

Eleanor H. Burke

Douglas P. Butler

Dr. and Mrs. William T. Carleton

William R. Carrick

Mrs. Fairman C. Cowan

Jeanne Y. Curtis

Mary S. Cushman

Paul Czerny

Janet B. Daniels

Eleanor Daniels Bronson Hodge

Shirley Look Dunbar

Michael E. Economos

Cathleen C. Esleeck

Mr. and Mrs. I. R. Freelander

Esther and Howard Freeman

Eleanor M. Garvey

Judith S. Gerrish

Thomas F. Gilmartin

Robert D. Harrington, Jr.

Mrs. Milton P. Higgins

Maurice I. Hurwitz

John and Marianne Jeppson

Britta Dorothy Jeppson

Sarah Bramson Kupchik

Saundra B. Lane

Irving and Marie Lepore

Anne Lewis

James E. Lowell

Sara Mallard

Myles and Jean McDonough

Ellen E. McGrail

Henry T. Michie

Jean H. Miles

Mrs. David J. Milliken

Mrs. Anne (Nancy) Morgan

Haim G. Nagirner

Viola M. Niemi

Mary Ann Horner Pervier

Marilyn E. Plue

Richard Prouty

Mr. and Mrs. Chapin Riley

Blake Robinson

Robert Rohner

Louise and Elijah Romanoff

Agnes B. Russfield

Edith Safford

Leonard B. Safford

Katharine Sawyer

John R. Scarborough

Norman L. Sharfman

Hope and Ivan Spear

Helen E. Stoddard

Lois Tarlow

Madeleine Tear

Richard S. Teitz

James A. Tellin

Hester N. Wetherell

Margaret Ray Whitney

Irving N. Wolfson, M.D.

Mrs. Ledlie L. Woolsey

Elton Yasuna

As of March 1, 2024

While you’re here

Café

Open during Museum hours

Enjoy a coffee or grab lunch in the Museum’s Renaissance Court, surrounded by art and inspiration. Members receive 10% off.

Shop

Open during Museum hours

Take a memory of the Museum home with you. Members receive 10% off, with a 20% holiday discount in December.

Classes

Get creative!

Sign up for art classes for all ages and all experience levels, including vacation-week camps for kids. Members receive 10% off.

Library

Open Thursday–Saturday, noon–4 pm

Dive deeper with your favorite art, artists, and exhibitions at the largest art research library in Central Massachusetts. Free and open to the public.

Nevena

Voyager, 2023, detail, acrylic paint on wall, approximately 20 x 16 feet, courtesy of the artist and M+B, Los Angeles. © Nevena Prijic, 2023

magazine is a publication of the Worcester Art Museum and funded in large part by the Herron-Dresser Publications Fund.

rights reserved. Information subject to change.

operating support is provided by the Barr Foundation, Mass Cultural Council, Patrick and Aimee Butler Family Foundation, Carl Lesnor Family Foundation, Paine Charitable Trust, Jeppson Memorial Fund, J. Irving England & Jane L. England Charitable Trust, and Wyman-Gordon Foundation.

Cover:

Prijic,

55 Salisbury Street Worcester, MA 01609

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