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CAMPAIGN CO-CHAIRS
Barbara M. Barrett Sakurako D. Fisher David M. Rubenstein Alan G. Spoon
ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF ADVANCEMENT
Virginia B. Clark [email protected]
CAMPAIGN DIRECTOR
Cynthia Brandt Stover [email protected]
YOUR IMPACT is published by the Smithsonian Campaign. Read more at smithsoniancampaign.org.
WWW.SMITHSONIANCAMPAIGN.ORG
Scientists at the National Zoo and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute are studying the reproduction of cheetahs to help save them from extinction. Through a generous gift from Diane and Hal Brierley, the zoo has expanded its cheetah facility in Virginia. “Conservation may be the least understood work of the National Zoo,” says Hal Brierley. “We hope our gift will serve as a catalyst to inspire additional giving.”
Zazi with her seven-week-old cub.
NEWS FROM THE SMITHSONIAN CAMPAIGN SmithsonianCampaign
YOUR IMPACT News from the Smithsonian Campaign
MARCH 2016 | VOL. 2 | NO. 1 SmithsonianCampaign
Through a gift from the Grable Foundation,
the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital
Access is bringing the Smithsonian into Pittsburgh
classrooms. The center is training middle school
teachers to integrate the Smithsonian’s online
assets — videos, publications and digital images —
into their teaching. “When students can examine
and research an object, their understanding
deepens,” says Tracey Armant, a program associate
at Grable.
Grable Foundation Trains Educators
FORD FUND CELEBRATES
YOUNG AMBASSADORS
The Ford Motor Company Fund promotes
promising young Latino leaders through
its support of the award-winning Young
Ambassadors Program. The Smithsonian
Latino Center pairs high school graduates
with Latino experts and places them in
internships nationwide. “We are driving a
brighter future,” says Joe Ávila, community
outreach manager for the fund. Ford
funded the program’s anniversary
celebration last summer.
Barbara and Craig Barrett Lead Smithsonian Academy As founding chairs of the Smithsonian Academy, we recognize and thank donors who have given $1 million or more to the Smithsonian’s museums, research, educational and other facilities.
The Smithsonian Academy’s inaugural gathering on Sunday, April 10 in Washington, D.C., will be hosted by the Smithsonian Regents and offer a sampler of Smithsonianexperiencestocome for Academy members.
Our inaugural topic will be cultural recovery and the Smithsonian’s quest to save the past from the present. Stepping behind the scenes, we will learn firsthand how the Smithsonian helps preserve the heritage of Nepal, Haiti, Syria, Iraq and other global cultures. That evening, we will dine with other Smithsonian leaders at the newlyrenovated Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery.
In the coming year, Smithsonian Academy members will explore the ideas, discoveries and new knowledge that make the Smithsonian a vibrant national treasure. Members will have an atyourservice concierge: 202.633.5877, [email protected]. Laura Gobbi, director of programming and stewardship, will answer your questions and help you connect with the Smithsonian’s best.
Smithsonian Academy members, welcome to a new era in your Smithsonian connection!
— Craig and Barbara Barrett
SECRETARY’S LETTER
Creativity is Our Foundation
E very day I marvel at the boundless creativity of our
Smithsonian curators in every discipline. One of
their great accomplishments is on display at our
newly reopened Smithsonian American Art Museum’s
Renwick Gallery. The beautifully renovated 19thcentury
building is one of the latest milestones of the Smithsonian
Campaign. The new Renwick’s premiere exhibition, WONDER, showcases the genius of
craft through gallerysized installations by nine contemporary artists. The inspiring
exhibition was created by Nicholas R. Bell, The Fleur and Charles Bresler Senior
Curator of American Craft and Decorative Art.
In this issue of YOUR IMPACT, we highlight art. Through the Smithsonian Campaign, our art museums aim to raise a combined $528 million, more than a third of our overall campaign goal. This newsletter shows the impact of your campaign contributions on our museums for curators, exhibitions and programs.
Our programs would not exist, and our impact could not be felt across all fields of study, without our curators, conservators, scientists and researchers. This is why, as my first priority, I am launching the Smithsonian Secretary’s Scholars, a $25million initiative to grow our ranks, bringing in promising leaders in humanities, art and science. They will infuse new energy into the creative work of the Smithsonian, accelerate the pace of discovery and build a pipeline of intellectual leaders for the future.
The initiative has stirred excitement here. We have received more than 100 requests for scholars from our museums and research centers. Many of those are crossdisciplinary requests to foster emerging fields of study for which the Smithsonian’s wideranging collections are ideally suited.
I am thankful two couples have stepped forward with generous gifts to fund six scholars positions already. Ed and Helen Hintz have led the charge by generously funding five new positions (see their profile on page 3). Dennis Keller, chair of the Smithsonian National Board’s advancement committee, and his wife Connie Keller, have also funded a position, which will bring us that much closer to hiring 15 scholars by this fall, and ultimately 40 or more.
Finding, nurturing and growing talent is a competitive challenge. It takes unwavering attention and generous investments. I look forward to working with you to launch the next generation of scholars who will redefine science, art and the humanities and amplify our global impact well into the future.
—David J. Skorton
top John Grade, Middle Fork (Cascades), 2015, site-specific installation in the Renwick Gallery’s WONDER exhibition.
right Detail of a damaged mosaic in Syria. The Smithsonian works with Syrian and Iraqi museum and cultural professionals to provide training, equipment and technical support for the protection and preservation of cultural heritage.
SmithsonianCampaign
Videos projected on the exterior of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in November 2015 marked the countdown to the museum’s grand opening September 24, 2016 and commemorated the ratification of the 13th Amendment, end of the Civil War and passage of the Voting Rights Act.
Giving is a Lewis Family Tradition
As the façade of the National Museum of African American History and Culture was transformed into a three
dimensional canvas (see below), Loida Nicolas Lewis (above, center) sat in the audience in awe. The New York lawyer was so inspired that she made a second Founding Donor gift to the museum. The first came through her family foundation, the Reginald F. Lewis Foundation. The second is in her name and the names of her two daughters, Leslie Lewis and Christina Lewis Halpern (left and right, above). “This is my contribution to my nation,” Lewis says. “The museum shows America at its finest. It recognizes the rich history of a people who have overcome so much and have reached the highest power in the land.”
Ensuring the Future of Amphibians Brian Gratwicke, a scientist with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI), is racing to save tropical amphibians from a deadly fungus. “Brian’s passion and unbridled belief that he will find a solution is why we support him,” says Susan Mars. “He helped me understand that if all the frogs die, we will have bigger problems.” She and her husband Frank Mars have invested in Gratwicke’s research through SCBI in the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project. It safeguards some of the world’s most vulnerable amphibians and will reintroduce them into the wild once a solution is found. “I look forward to being on hand that day,” Frank Mars says.
Art Thrives Across the Smithsonian
Your campaign gifts are transforming
the arts across the Smithsonian
by commissioning new works,
expanding collections, opening
exhibitions and revitalizing museums.
GALAS DAZZLE IN DC AND NYC
National Portrait Gallery
The first American Portrait Gala hosted in the
Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard honored
Hank Aaron, Corporal Kyle Carpenter, Aretha
Franklin, Carolina Herrera and Maya Lin.
Attendees contributed $1.7 million toward
the museum’s $5 million goal to create an
exhibition endowment.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
hosted its 40th anniversary gala in New York
City (bottom, opposite page) to celebrate
contemporary artists such as Chuck Close,
Christo, Shirin Neshat and Maggie Michael.
The evening raised more than $1.5 million
for museum programming.
top Gabriel Dawe, Plexus A1, 2015 and Patrick Dougherty, Shindig, 2015, installations in the Renwick Gallery’s WONDER exhibition
BETTIE RUBENSTEIN HONORED AT THE RENWICK
As Bettie Rubenstein (above, right) toured
the newly renovated Renwick Gallery of the
Smithsonian American Art Museum with
her son, philanthropist David Rubenstein
(above, left), she looked up before stepping
into the Grand Salon. There, above the entryway,
she saw her name “to her complete shock —
and pleasure,” her son says. Rubenstein’s
gift to the Renwick helped renew the historic
Washington landmark. “I was delighted to
honor my mother by having the main gallery
named for her, and I was particularly delighted
to surprise her with the naming.”
SUPPORTING INNOVATION AT THE PORTRAIT GALLERY
A gift from Amy and Gary Perlin (below) to
the National Portrait Gallery established the
Director’s Visionary Fund, providing seed
money for Director Kim Sajet (below, right)
to innovate. The fund helped Sajet commission
Out of Many, One, a bold portrait on six acres
of the National Mall, and translate exhibition
guides into Spanish. “Kim has vision,” says
Gary Perlin. “She celebrates the diversity of
American culture and highlights promising,
upandcoming artists.”
CURATOR BRINGS NEW VIGOR TO FREER GALLERY Through an endowment established by an anonymous donor, the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery appointed Jan Stuart (left) the Melvin R. Seiden Curator of Chinese Art. Here, Stuart reflects on her position as the museum’s first named curator.
The donor is interested in promoting greater understanding of Chinese art and culture
at the national and international level. As the Seiden Curator, some of my first major
acts were to identify and acquire an important, early 15thcentury Ming dynasty
copperred glazed dish, and to work with donor Shirley Johnson on the gift of her
fabulous imperial Qing dynasty formal court robe. I also am curating a twoobject
show with the dish and a Mark Rothko painting, exploring the power of red. This is
unexpected. No one associates Rothko with the Freer Sackler. —Jan Stuart
JOHNSON DONATES ART FROM HIS COLLECTION
“Music has to be heard. Art has to
be seen,” says Robert Johnson,
founder of the RLJ Companies
and Black Entertainment
Television. With this in mind,
he donated paintings from
his collection to the National
Museum of African American
History and Culture including
works by Frederick C. Flemister,
Romare Bearden and Archibald
John Motley, Jr. “Art tells a story,”
Johnson says. “These pieces
show the role African Americans
played and continue to play in
the United States.”
INVESTING IN DESIGN AND SCHOLARSHIP
“We have endless curiosity and the
Smithsonian is endlessly fascinating,”
says Ed Hintz, Smithsonian National
Board member. Inspired by people
and programs, Ed and Helen Hintz
(above) have invested in five
Smithsonian Secretary’s Scholars
positions and three projects at
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design
Museum. (See Secretary Skorton’s
letter on page 1.) Their gifts to the
Scholar’s initiative will build the
intellectual workforce. At Cooper
Hewitt, they have supported the
museum’s Harlem Design Center,
the groundbreaking exhibition of
designer Thomas Heatherwick and
the museum’s fifth installment of
the popular contemporary design
exhibition series, Beauty — Cooper
Hewitt Design Triennial, which runs
through August 21, 2016.
top Frederick C. Flemister, Self-Portrait (detail), 1941, and Archibald John Motley, Jr., The Argument (detail), 1940. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Gifts of Robert L. Johnson.
middle At Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Provocations: The Architecture and Design of Heatherwick Studio introduced the imaginative work of British designer, Thomas Heatherwick.
bottom Hirshhorn Director Melissa Chiu (standing), Hirshhorn Trustee Emeritus Barbara Levine (left), gallery owner Sean Kelly (center) and artist Marina Abramović (far right) at the museum’s 40th anniversary gala.
