Thank you, thank you, thank you!
During this season of Thanksgiving, the BMAC staff extends our heartfelt thanks to all the volunteers, Board members, and supporters who make the Museum healthy and strong. Here are just a few of them...
Erin Jenkins thanks Cindy Hutcheson!
We have an extraordinary group of volunteers, board members, and staff who give so much of themselves for BMAC. There are many people I'd love to thank, whose devotion is integral to our success—Chelsea Osborne, Kay Curtis, Bettina Krampetz, Cindy Shulga, Pamela Simmons, Rhiannon Greywolf, Abby Shuey, Emily Whitworth.
Someone I particularly want to single out is one of the very first volunteers I met when I started at the Museum five and a half years ago, Cindy Hutcheson. Cindy has been involved with the Museum for well over a decade. She volunteers as a Gallery Greeter, heads and orchestrates the Special Events Committee (which handles the baking/organizing/preparing of food for most of our larger events), and was on the Board of Trustees prior to that. And I would be remiss not to mention Cindy's unrivaled spinach squares, which you may have had at one of our exhibit openings.
Cindy does so much for us, is a wonderful friend to the Museum, truly cares about being involved, is always interested and wants to be informed about our goings-on, and is always willing to lend a helping hand. Covid has changed a lot of things this year, including what our volunteer program looks like, but it hasn't stopped Cindy from being an amazing advocate for all that we do. We are SO LUCKY and so grateful to have her help and continued friendship.
— Erin Jenkins, Gallery Manager & Marketing Coordinator
Danny Lichtenfeld thanks Chris Chapman!
This Thanksgiving season, just like last year’s and the several before that, I am giving thanks on behalf of BMAC to our dear friend Chris Chapman. Chris agreed to become President of our Board of Trustees in 2015, a position he went on to hold for four years. He had only joined the Board a year earlier, and I know he hadn’t planned on taking the helm so soon, but we needed him, so he answered the call, because that's the kind of person he is.
The transformation that took place here during Chris’s tenure as President—artistically, financially, and especially aspirationally—was not coincidental. Chris led us to where we are today by his powerful example, with unmatched enthusiasm and generosity. He has inspired me and all of us who had the pleasure of working with him to fulfill our roles with the utmost dedication to each other and to the Museum.
Chris was born and raised in Brattleboro, and his father Ralph Chapman was one of the original incorporators of the Museum. There is a handrail alongside the steps just outside my office door, and on the wall next to it is a photo of the elder Chapman and a small engraved placard that says "Ralph’s Rail." I know that Chris’s dedication to the Museum stems from his desire to honor his father’s legacy of community-mindedness. He has done that and then some.
In recognition of Chris’s extraordinary leadership and generosity, the Board recently named Chris BMAC's fifth-ever Honorary Trustee. We don't actually have specific criteria for Honorary Trusteeship, but we feel sure that whatever they might be, Chris has exceeded them. And it will be our honor to have his name associated with the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center for as long as it continues to exist—perhaps even on a handrail of his own :)
— Danny Lichtenfeld, Director
Jessica Nelson thanks Brenda Seitz!
While I find myself extremely thankful at the end of every event for the Museum’s amazing events staff and volunteers, I am especially thankful for volunteer Brenda Seitz. If there is a way for her to fit an event into her schedule, she will, even if it means rushing over after work, rushing from the event to play practice, or volunteering during a pandemic! She has even occasionally missed part of a Patriots game for us! All jokes aside, she is literally up for almost any task I throw at her, from lugging around tables and chairs to working in key security positions for major events, and she always does it with a smile. She is a true team player.
My favorite memory of Brenda in my short tenure at BMAC was during last year's LEGO registration. I accidentally dropped my own daughter's submission, and it was in pieces. It had been a long day, and I was pretty ready to throw the towel in at that point. Seeing my distress, Brenda appeared by me side to pick up the pieces, then very gently and calmly talked me through reconstructing my 5-year-old's masterpiece. Her level-headedness in these moments has always been an asset to BMAC events. With the few in-person events we have been fortunate to host this fall, I have found myself deeply humbled by Brenda and the events staff’s commitment to BMAC. They are what make this organization what it is.
— Jessica Nelson, Events Manager
Sarah Freeman thanks Christie Herbert!
Ever since joining BMAC in 2015, I have been grateful for Christie Herbert's presence on the BMAC Board. Christie is a very engaged and supportive Board member. Whether it is serving as a judge for the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, sitting on and chairing Board committees, or donating some of her beautiful ceramic pieces for various auctions, Christie is always happy to participate in the life of the Museum, and she has a great understanding of all the work that goes into the many different moving parts of what we do. She is a great person to bounce ideas off of, and I always appreciate her insight and thoughts about how BMAC can be a vital part of our community. We love it when Christie brings her students from Landmark College to visit the exhibits, and we are very lucky that she has also connected us with some of our amazing student interns. Thank you, Christie, for all of your support and enthusiasm. BMAC is a better place because of you.
— Sarah Freeman, Exhibitions Manager & Coordinator of Education Programs
Michelle Pizzo thanks Linda Whelihan!
Linda Whelihan, BMAC’s former Education Curator, is deserving of abundant thanks and praise. Linda is one of the most reliable, dedicated, and thoughtful people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Although Linda’s tenure at the museum ended in June, she continues to assist with education-related endeavors and beyond, lending her expertise and wisdom whenever she can. In the weeks and days leading up to Linda’s departure from BMAC, she never ceased to engage fully in every meeting, discussion, and task. She is truly an exceptional, exemplary museum educator. Beyond everything she has done for BMAC professionally, Linda is one of the loveliest people, and it is an honor to know her and call her a friend. From arranging craft-making days for volunteers and staff, to taking the time to go for a walk with a stressed-out coworker (me!), I am very thankful for Linda. She brings lightness, humor, and warmth to everything she does, and for that I am extremely grateful.
— Michelle Pizzo, Operations Manager
Mara Williams thanks Sarah Freeman and the BMAC installation crew!
Ed. note: Exhibitions Manager Sarah Freeman and her installation crew are not all volunteers, but they have gone above and beyond the call of duty in this strange year, and Mara insisted on thanking them for their efforts. Who are we to say no?
Changing over art exhibits is an exercise in logistics in the best of times. During the pandemic, it required infinitely more care to keep the entire production crew safe and healthy. At the center of the effort is the knowledgeable, professional, and good-humored Sarah Freeman. Forced to reshuffle the schedule, Sarah contacted the artists, collectors, and art galleries to reschedule more than 20 exhibitions. She then planned and executed how to keep multiple crew members safe while we packed and shipped six outgoing and six incoming exhibits under Covid-19 conditions and regulations. Her next act is plate spinning under the Big Top!
Essential to the endeavor is our talented installation crew, led by Tim Allen and including Josh Farr, Chelsea Osborne, Raf Cornel, and volunteers Nancy Shepherd and Karen Cribari, among others. This crack team transforms the Museum in record time, and I am consistently impressed and in awe of their problem-solving skills, creativity, and grace under pressure. Thank you, all!
— Mara Williams, Chief Curator
