Philadelphia gallery receives $2 million gift
The Center for Art in Wood in Philadelphia opened a $5 million fundraising campaign with a $2 million gift from the Windgate Charitable Foundation.
Half of the funds will endow the center’s annual residency program, which has been renamed the Windgate ITE International Residency. The remainder of the gift will be used for operations, exhibitions, publications, programming outreach and staffing.
Board of Trustees president Richard R. Goldberg announced the gift at a November event honoring the center’s founders, Albert and Alan LeCoff. Tributes were paid in remarks by Charles H. Hummel, director emeritus of decorative arts at Winterthur Museum; artists Michelle and David Holzapfel; and John Kelsey.
“The idea to honor our founders, Albert and Alan LeCoff, not only received unanimous board support but the enthusiasm of the center leadership was extraordinary,” Goldberg said in a statement. “Indeed, Albert is the heart and soul of our efforts and very much responsible for creating appreciation of contemporary wood art throughout the world.
“Albert converted his personal interest in wood turning and wood art into a series of symposia which studied the field and helped greatly to give it credibility. Ultimately the exhibition with Yale, Wood Turning in North America since 1930, allowed the discipline to stand on equal footing with the other emerging art forms generally known as craft.
“Alan has always been an avid supporter of both the art form and especially his brother Albert. Alan stood shoulder to shoulder with Albert in helping to develop the many activities that the center has engaged in since its formation and the activities in connection with wood art before the center came on the scene.”
Winter Show in N.H.
The New Hampshire Furniture Masters Association is presenting its Winter Show through March 10 at the Furniture Master Gallery in Concord, N.H.
The exhibition features a sampling of works by a cross-section of the guild’s membership and the installation will change periodically during the course of the show.
The opening-day lineup includes pieces by Aurelio Bolognesi of Hardwick, Mass., Jon Brooks of New Boston, N.H.; Greg Brown of Deerfield, N.H.; Thomas Latourelle of Norwich, Vt.; David Masury of Kittery Point, Maine; Sam Norris of Burlington, Vt.; Richard Oedel of Boston; and Jeff Roberts of Unity, N.H.
Contacts
• Center for Art in Wood, 141 N. 3rd St., Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 215-923-8000. www.centerforartinwood.org
• New Hampshire Furniture Masters Association, P.O. Box 5733, Manchester, NH 03108. Tel: 603-566-6368. www.furnituremasters.org
This article originally appeared in the January 2014 issue.
