WADSWoRTH ATHENEUM MUSEUM oF ART - The Wadsworth ...

4
R EPO R T
from the President and Director
As an anchoring institution in a city with one of the largest concentrations of
arts and culture in the nation, the Wadsworth Atheneum is ideally positioned
to play a leadership role in the exciting transformations happening throughout
Hartford. As a central asset in the innovative iQuilt initiative, which aims to
weave together the city’s major cultural attractions, the museum is a catalyst
for economic growth and cultural tourism. While the museum kept pace with
broader citywide revitalization efforts this past year, we also managed our
own program of profound transformation.
As part of the museum’s mission to “hold its collection in trust for
all people,” we continued to transform our historic five-building campus.
With phase one of the renovation completed on time and on budget, plans are
now being finalized for commencement of phase two, which will include the
renovation and restoration of some of the museum’s most important galleries,
several of which have been closed for a decade or more. We are grateful to
the State of Connecticut for a recent $2 million grant, which we were
awarded to assist with the museum’s ongoing renewal.
Our exciting transformation was evident not just in our physical
spaces but also in our innovative programs and critically acclaimed exhibitions.
We presented seventeen exhibitions this past fiscal year, including “Patti
Smith: Camera Solo.” The show opened with a sold-out performance by Patti
Smith, received publicity around the world, and is now traveling to a number
of museums in the United States and Canada.
Our other major exhibition, “Andrew Wyeth: Looking Beyond,” centered
on three superb works in our collection by the iconic American artist,
painted between 1950 and 1956. These works, Northern Point (1950), April
Wind (1952), and Chambered Nautilus (1956), were complemented by related
loans, including several from the Wyeth family collection. Scholarly, handsomely
designed catalogues accompanied both exhibitions.
In addition, “Colts & Quilts: The Civil War Remembered” provided
an opportunity to collaborate with The Amistad Center for Art & Culture
and was presented in conjunction with their exhibition “War Prizes: The