“Modernism in Action: The Russel and Mary Wright Design Gallery at Manitoga”

Allison Cross

Executive Director

Manitoga/The Russel Wright Design Center, Garrison, NY 

The award-winning Russel & Mary Wright Design Gallery at Manitoga, a modernist National Historic Landmark house and landscape, opened in 2021. The exhibition tells the story of how the Wrights shaped modern American lifestyle from early experiments in spun aluminum in the 1930s to Japanese-inspired patterns and textures decades later. At Manitoga, former domestic spaces were transformed into a state-of-the art exhibition gallery to highlight myriad collections. With more than 200 objects on display, this is the only permanent, in-depth public exhibition anywhere of these life-style visionaries’ product designs. These new exhibit areas are physically connected to the interpretive rooms of the historic house with views towards exterior features the couple also designed.

“Edward Hopper’s Boyhood on the Hudson River & Emerging Artistic Vision: An Exhibition Recentering Hopper in Nyack “

Kathleen Motes Bennewitz

Executive Director
Edward Hopper House Museum and Study Center, Nyack, NY 

The Edward Hopper House Museum recently presented the exhibition Edward Hopper’s Boyhood on the Hudson River & Emerging Artistic Vision concurrent with Edward Hopper’s New York at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The exhibition highlighted the early artistic vision of Hopper, and how it coalesced during his adolescence and young adulthood in Nyack, before he moved to New York City in 1908 to pursue his career. The artist’s drawings, school notebooks, art supplies, and boat models were displayed in the galleries alongside artworks by family members. Together, these objects provided new insights into Hopper’s early years, the influence of his proximity to the town’s thriving waterfront and commercial districts, as well as his family’s support of his developing artistic talent and ambitions.

“Picturing New Connections: A Memory Loss Program”

Michelle Crow-Dolby

Education and Communications Manager
Gari Melchers Home and Studio, Falmouth, VA

Inspired by the groundbreaking Meet Me at MoMA program and fueled by her desire to offer museum programming for underserved audiences, Crow-Dolby created Picturing New Connections for Gari Melchers Home and Studio in 2019. This small, welcoming museum program for people with memory loss, their families, or care partners is one of only a handful offered in Virginia. These interactive tours include guided discussion in the gallery space, followed by snacks, and a relaxed hands-on art experience. Emphasis is placed on engaging participants through music, touch, taste, and smell. The museum partners with the Alzheimer’s Association Greater Richmond Chapter for staff training and on-site participant support. 

“Tactile Transmissions at the Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation”

Sasha Davis

Executive director
The Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation, New York, NY

Tactile Transmissions, a free 90-minute program is geared toward visitors who are blind or partially sighted. With consulting editors, the Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation first developed this signature program in 2018 in conjunction with the temporary exhibition Teaching Through Touch: Works by Chaim Gross. Relaunched in 2022, this updated program features verbal description, touch, and creation. Educators lead participants in drawing with a variety of techniques and materials, and those joining the in-person sessions engage closely with the home and studio of the Grosses. This unique environment allows for supervised handling of sculpture, tools, and works in progress from Chaim’s studio.

“Take Your Show on the Road: Traveling Exhibitions and Expanding Your Audience”

Rick Kendall

Superintendent
Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park, Cornish, NH  

Traveling exhibitions have proven to be a successful way to introduce the creative output of historic artists as well as their remarkable homes and studios to new audiences. To this end, Chesterwood, the home and studio of sculptor Daniel Chester French, and the Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park, the creative estate of sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, have partnered with the American Federation of Arts to plan the first joint exhibition and accompanying catalogue, of the artwork of these two kindred sculptors. Despite the initial challenges of large-scale exhibition planning, including travel logistics, Kendall explains how such a “show on the road” was key to successfully expanding awareness about the two sites as well as their brands to a wider constituency.

“The House Stands Firm: The Creation of Poem of Stone & Bone“

Carletta Carrington Wilson

Literary and Visual Artist, Former Artist in Resident
Dr. James and Janie Washington Cultural Center, Seattle, WA

Join literary and visual artist Wilson as she recounts her time as the artist in residence at the home and studio of eminent African American sculptor and painter James Washington. Her inspiration came from Mr. Washington’s images, creative process, and rich library which formed his visionary work. From time spent in the studio, on the grounds, or in the house she witnessed layers of rich and resonant links to the past. Her resulting creation and March 2023 publication, Poem of Stone & Bone, honored the legacy of James and Janie Washington, Memorial Day, and the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. The work features four installations that revived key aspects of the sculptor’s artistic lineage—melding geography, spirituality, forces of nature, and intellect into a journey across a landscape of time.