QUARTERLY - Vero Beach Museum of Art

Donor Profile
LYN ADAMS
Growing up in Rhode Island, Lyn Adams
liked music, math, and making mud pies. “I
liked to take things apart, see how they
worked, and then put them together to
make something else.” She shared her
family’s interest in the performing arts.
“Everyone in my family seemed to play an
instrument, sing-along at the piano or roll
up the rug and dance. Visits to our NYC
cousins also meant concerts and Saturday
afternoon opera.” But it was only after an
Lyn Adams
orientation visit to the National Gallery of
Art as a Trinity College freshman that she was immediately hooked on
art. “I haunted DC galleries, museums (and jazz clubs) as a balance to
all that physics and math in class…it all came together.” Fresh with her
physics degree from Trinity, Lyn lived in Oxford as a research fellow at
the UK Atomic Energy Establishment’s high energy physics lab. Her
eyes were opened to old and new art and architecture as she cycled
through ancient streets.
Physics had to wait for several years while Lyn lived in Japan as a Navy
spouse where the Eastern aesthetic revealed itself. After returning to the
US, Lyn earned a Rutgers University MS in particle physics, then joined
AT&T’s Western Electric where she managed the development of new
technologies as they migrated from Bell Labs into manufactured products.
“Being part of a superb team taught me that great things never
happen solo. Different styles and viewpoints strengthen any project, as
long as there is a clear goal.” In the late 1980s, Lyn left AT&T to found
her own technology development company in Paris. Following the fall
of the Berlin wall and her move to Geneva, her company focused on
identifying and transferring technologies from newly available resources
in eastern Europe and the former USSR. In 1996, a collaboration
between Lyn’s company and the National High Magnetic Field Lab
brought her to Tallahassee.
During frequent visits to Florida, Lyn and her husband, John Cusick,
discovered Vero Beach. “Vero had the live oak charm of old Florida,
but the open ocean that a Rhode Islander craves.” They began wintering
here in 2001. On a bike ride to the (then) Center for the Arts,
they liked the neo-classical building and really liked what they found
inside. Neighbors soon persuaded them to join the Chairman’s Club
and chair the upcoming season’s Beaux Arts Ball. “John and I thought
it would be an amazing way to meet people…and we were right!”
She’s been a Friends board member ever since, including two terms as
President. “I can’t tell you the pleasure I’ve received from volunteering
with such bright and creative women.” John and Lyn continue to volunteer
at the Children’s Art Festival and other community events, their
favorite assignments. “Our Museum opens a window into the wide
world to anyone who walks through its doors,” Lyn says. “We want every
one of our neighbors to feel welcome here.”
Lyn Adams has just been named Chair of the new Friends Council,
organized to bring years of the Friends best practices to all VBMA volunteers.
“Everyone knows that our Museum could not function as fully
as it does without its volunteers. As the VBMA improves the excellence
of its collections, facility, professional staff and programming, we must
also continue to raise our standards of excellence as volunteers.” Lyn and
her new Friends Council team want to ensure that the entire Museum
community is aware of the many volunteer opportunities open to them
and how much insight, experience and camaraderie is available to all
volunteers who want to be part of Friends.
When the economic downturn threatened VBMA’s signature Community
Engagement programs, Lyn helped spearhead formation of the
Circle of Friends to bolster support. “Our outreach programs for all ages
are high-impact experiences for our entire community. Circle members
encounter first-hand the effect on the lives of program participants
through program site visits. When donors see that look of magical
awakening in the faces of children so engrossed, they realize how art can
transform lives.”
10
Welcome New Members and Upgrades
(from 2/4/11 – 5/4/11) *for Benefactor and above categories only
Chairman’s Club
Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Babicka
Mr. and Mrs. S. Vanzandt Schreiber
Mr. and Mrs. Orin Smith
Chairman's Circle
Mr. and Mrs. Edward V. Lahey Jr.
Chairman's Club
Mrs. Mary Ellen Brophy
Dr. and Mrs. Robert P. Christopher
Mr. and Mrs. Jim Cotter
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Devos
Mr. and Mrs. Luke Fichthorn III
Ms. Kristine L. Green
Mr. and Mrs. Peter M. Mortimer
Mr. and Mrs. Bruce G. Murphy
Mr. and Mrs. Paul F. Nezi
Mr. and Mrs. George Phillips
Mr. and Mrs. H.C. Bowen Smith
Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Struthers
Ms. Pamela B. Stuart
Mr. Rollin D. Weary Jr.
Patron
Mr. and Mrs. Herbert F. Aspbury
Mrs. Elaine Heile
Mr. and Mrs. William E. Macdonald III
Mr. and Mrs. Hans Van Zonneveld
Donor
Ms. Samantha J. Baita
Mrs. Odessa Bourne
and William P. Bourne
Mr. and Mrs. Peter W. Bridgford
Dr. and Mrs. M. Arthur Budden
Mr. and Mrs. E. Eugene Cooke
Mr. and Mrs. Dennis J. Duckett
Mr. and Mrs. John N. Fix
Mr. and Mrs. George Kausler
Mr. and Mrs. William J. Kealy
Priscilla J. Lamond
Sally Mitchell and Crispin Spencer
Mrs. Mariana Nowinski
Mr. and Mrs. Robert D. Reisman
Mr. and Mrs. C. G. Rogers
Mr. and Mrs. David J. Strupp
Benefactor
Mrs. Katherine Ader
Mr. and Mrs. Roland Anderson
Mr. and Mrs. Ben F. Bailey III
Dr. Rick Baker and Dr. Nancy Baker
Mr. and Mrs. Richard R. Bradley
Galen and Hathaway Brewster
Mr. Dana R. Burns
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur H. Burton Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. James Byrnes
Mrs. Patricia M. Callahan
Mr. and Mrs. Loring Catlin
Barbara B. Clemson
Mr. and Mrs. James W. Dodds
Martha Downes and Peter Conley
Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Emmons Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Stanford Erickson
Mr. and Mrs. Gary Fox
Mr. Stuart Goldsmith
Mr. and Mrs. Dudley C. Gray
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Grover
Joanna and John Hamby
Mr. and Mrs. Dale Hamilton
Dr. and Mrs. Morton Harshman
Mrs. Sandy Herman
Mrs. Grace S. Hinkley
Pam Hogen and Murray Vande Velde
W. P. Hypes
Mr. and Mrs. Dale Jacobs
Mr. and Mrs. R. A. Jacobus III
Mr. and Mrs. John Jaeger
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph R. Kane Jr.
Mrs. Jessie Latter
Mr. and Mrs. Dan J. Lautenbach
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Lewis Jr.
Mrs. Marcia P. Lunka
Ms. Jana Maher and Mr. Kevin Maher
Mrs. Garnet P. Martinez
Mr. and Mrs. Richard D. Mercer
Mr. and Mrs. Socrates H. Mihalakos
Dr. and Mrs. Richard Milsten
Mr. M.J. Morell
Mr. Carroll F. Palmer
Mr. and Mrs. Vernon W. Petty
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis T. Polk Jr.
Mrs. Shirley H. Reid
Mr. and Mrs. John Rhodes
Mrs. Janet F. Riley
Mr. and Mrs. Byron Roth
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Rowe
Ms. Kay T. Ruma
Mr. and Mrs. John G. Rutenis
Mr. and Mrs. Warren Schauer
Mr. and Mrs. William C. Schrader
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Schulman
Mr. and Mrs. Roger A. Schwartz
Susan and Ron Shelby
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas F. Siebert
Mr. and Mrs. David P. Smith Jr.
Mickey and Robert Stein
Mr. Bud L. Sterling
and Ms. Susi Gardner
Mr. and Mrs. Bradley R. Thayer
Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Thorne
Mrs. Helene P. Victor
Ms. Roma R. Wehde
Mr. and Mrs. Jack Weisbaum
Mr. Lester V. Whiddon Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Wiltshire
Ms. Nancy G. Winter
Mr. and Mrs. Ron Zunk
Business Patron
Moulton Layne Architects, P.L.
Business Benefactor
The Admiralty Gallery
Treasure Coast Sotheby's
International Realty
MEMORIALS
(from 2/4/11 – 5/4/11)
Joan Dalton
Gift to the Jean Johnson Endowment
for Docent Programs
Martha and Arland Phelps
Virginia Damerow
Joan and Allen Edwards
Sandy Freshour
Gift to the Jean Johnson Endowment
for Docent Programs
Pat Gabaldon
Matthew J. Hennessey
Mrs. Lois W. Appleby
Lucinda H. Gedeon
and Francis Sprout
Grace R. Post
Gift of Memorial Bench in Beckwith
North Plaza Park
Jackie Farrell
Willie Quade
Martha and Richard Pine
Dana Warren
Lucinda H. Gedeon
and Francis Sprout
Leonor Lobo de Gonzalez
TRIBUTES
(from 2/4/11 – 5/4/11)
Jean Armstrong Warren
Gift to the Armstrong Endowment Fund
Martha Breeden
* The Museum does everything it can to ensure the accuracy of its membership list. Please call Development Assistant Julie Chapman at (772) 231-0707, ext.123 about any inaccuracies so we may correct our records. Thank you for your understanding.