St. Botolph Club

Volume 20 Number 3: Winter 2019

St. BotolphBulletin

From the Editor Bill Taylor

Suddenly it’s turned cold and dark outside. Can’t do much about the dark, but following the discussion at the Roundtable of MIT Professor Michael Golay, perhaps a large dose

of CO2 might mitigate the cold. Just kidding: a much better idea would Bill Taylor be the fireplace in the Library and a large dose of the single-malt scotch hidden behind the bar in what is possibly the worst-kept secret at the St. Botolph Club.

The Club did successfully pass through the autumnal equinox in September on its journey around the sun – the day on which the earth stands straight up and vertical relative to its orbit. Folk wisdom has it that on this day, the earth’s vertical orientation allows us to amaze children by carefully balancing an egg straight up on its end. However, as often happens, science spoils the fun: astrophysicists tell us that this trick is equally possible (or impossible) on any day of the Emerging Artist: Nafis White year. Nonetheless, experimental results show great success on this day by using a hardboiled egg and a judicious tap on the end of the egg with a heavy spoon. This procedure, of course, assures the vertical alignment of the egg, the earth and its orbit. Try it yourselves at the upcoming vernal equinox in March.

In June, eighteen award winners were A while ago in this column, we despaired of Botolphian selected, and each received a $3,000 grant. Samuel Eliot Morison sitting outside the Club in the dark without a necktie. Good news. While the dress code still New Voices, New Vision showcased the works remains, Sam will no longer sit in the dark. Thanks to contributions from neighbors and Botolphians, the Friends that their awards allowed them to pursue. of the Public Garden has installed permanent lighting and improved the landscape around the statue. At 6:00 PM on Tuesday December 3, we were all invited to join the Friends at a celebration across the street where Sam sits.

(Continued on page 3) IN THIS ISSUE:

1: From the Editor 5: Grea t Decisions in Foreign Policy 8: The Sixth nnualA 2: President ’s Letter 6: New Voices, New Visions – 10-Minut e Play Festival 3: From the Editor (Continued) Found ation on Parade 9-12: Phot o Gallery 4: From the Editor (Continued) 7: Visib ility and Invisibility in Contemporary Art

Acknowledgments Dear Fellow Botolphians, Editor Bill Taylor Autumn has seen a grand array of wonderful programs and activities at our club, and we’re about to careen into the Photographers traditional special holiday events. Coming soon are the Megan Spies Christmas concert that starts at Old South and finishes with Buell Hollister dinner back at 199, the sumptuous feast that is our famous Peter Van Demark Christmas lunch, the children’s program complete with child-friendly entertainment and cuisine (chicken fingers a la Botolph?), New Year’s Eve with its perfect 20-20 focus, Twelfth Contributors Michael Halperson Susan Ashbrook Night Revels, and all the private celebrations our members Anita Lincoln schedule for this time of year. The volunteer ad hoc decoration committee has been planning its work for weeks and is poised to deck our beautiful halls during the first week of December. In short, as wonderful as autumn has been, the transition to winter should be even more exciting. Be sure to make reservations early so you won’t be disappointed.

One of our defining activities is the Fellows program, and you might want to take a closer look at it. It provides the opportunity for emerging and established artists to be a vital part of our club and allows interaction among Fellows and the rest of the members. On the first Friday of each month, there’s a Fellows Lunch, which is a very convenient, congenial way to meet and learn about the Fellows and their artistic endeavors. It’s open to all members, and I urge you to join the group at the Long Table. One of the upcoming lunches will be turned into a supper to enable those of us who can’t attend a mid-day event to come instead in the early evening. Holly Handlin chairs the committee and would be glad to talk with any of us who would like to learn more about how the Announcements program works and how we might become involved. There’s been some confusion, particularly among some of our newer members, about how to Calling All propose people for membership in the club. Any members, whether they’ve been members Botolphians – for 4 weeks or 40 years, may propose suitable candidates for membership. There’s no “waiting We Need Reporters period.” The very best candidates come from among our friends and associates. The club is and Photographers! strengthened by the addition of new members who are “a comfortable fit” for our fellowship. The The editor welcomes stories process is straightforward, and any member of the Elections Committee, chaired by Tim Fulham, and articles from members. or the Board of Governors will be eager to assist you with a nomination. Please let us help; it’s vital Help us define and celebrate to our club, and it’s fun to see new faces among us. our Club with your contributions, both written and It will be a wonderful holiday season, and I look forward to our many gatherings over the coming pictorial. Give us your weeks. See you at the club! thoughts and suggestions. Email me at wtaylor276@ gmail.com. Sincerely, – Bill Taylor Editor Michael Halperson President

Club Attire Members are reminded that St. Botolph Club scarves, ties and other accoutrement are displayed in the Hawthorne Room.

2 | ST. BOTOLPH BULLETIN From the Editor (Continued from page 1)

To most of us 199 Commonwealth is a club house; to some of us, however, 199 was a home. On September 30, a Roundtable celebrated both the renovations and the remembrances that transformed the McKim, Mead, and White jewel into the Sprague family home and that home into the current Botolphian locus. Phil Poinelli, then a young draftsman for the 1971 renovation, outlined the alterations necessary to accommodate club life, and Shaw Sprague reminisced about visits to his grandmother’s house as a child. The combination of perspectives provided a fascinating look at what 199 was and how it changed to what we know and love today.

Speaking of changes, it was “curtains” at last for the curtains in the Music Room. Remember those? After an estimated 30 years of honorable service, the Pierre Deux curtains were replaced Music Room Curtains in July. Outlasted their maker by eight years (Pierre Deux went belly-up in 2011) and - except for dust and stains –could possibly have been recycled for use as napkins, tablecloths or club neckties.

There were many other third-quarter highlights. Here are some of mine, some with pictures to whet your appetites for more.

Two road trips. First to Magnolia on the Northshore on a hot July day where Carl and Barbara Berke hosted a lunch at their historic home and a visit to the Manship Artists Residency and Studios in Lanesville. Second to Lenox and Tanglewood in August for a stop at the Lenox Club (reciprocal with St. Botolph) and a concert at the Music Shed featuring Botolphian Yo-Yo Ma playing the Schuman cello concerto.

One not-quite road trip. More of a sidewalk trip, down to the Gibson House on Beacon Street. One of the first townhouses built in 1860 on land reclaimed from the tidal swamp of the Back Bay, the house remained intact through three generations Road Trip: Magnolia - Lanesville and seven Gibson family members and has been meticulously preserved along with its contents. It has been described as “a time capsule of domestic life from the mid-nineteenth to early-twentieth centuries” at least for distinguished Back Bay families. We explored the house and its history with Botolphians and Gibson House Board members Susan Ashbrook and Jackie Blombach and then returned to 199 Commonwealth for a Victorian dinner. Note that 199 was built thirty years after the Gibson House, evidence that the Back Bay fill project wound its way westward quite slowly.

More transcriptions from the Well-Tempered Clavier from the Borromeo Quartet, our ensemble-in-residence, followed for contrast by the first of the Beethoven Razumovsky quartets. We heard other Borromeo transcriptions from the WTC last spring, and they are endlessly fascinating: the intricacies of the original keyboard preludes and fugues made visible by splitting the lines across the quartet. Much more vivid than piano eight hands… (Continued on page 4)

Road Trip: Lenox Club - Tanglewood

VOLUME 20 NUMBER 3 | 3 From the Editor (Continued from page 3)

A nostalgic gastronomical trip through Boston restaurants that are no more. Specialties from Jimmy’s Harborside, Hammersley’s Bistro, L’Espalier, the Cafè Budapest, and more. While baked, stuffed lobster from Jasper’s was fine, some of us still miss the two- pound slab of rare prime rib from Durgin-Park. And the Indian pudding. Miss the surly wait staff, too.

Material from Professor and Botolphian Michael Golay’s popular MIT course “Sustainable Energy,” outlining the modifications in the composition of world energy consumption necessary to avoid catastrophic changes in the level and variation in global air and ocean temperatures and weather. Otherwise, we face droughts, floods and famines, extinctions of species and massive human emigration from unlivable environments. And if that were not enough, recall the 1958 B-movie “The Blob” in which a murderous alien gelatinous substance that could only be stopped (but not killed) by freezing, was neutralized by the military by Gibson House dumping it in the Arctic. At the very end of the picture, police lieutenant Dave says “At least, we’ve got it stopped” to which teenager Steve (Steve McQueen) presciently replies “Yeah, as long as the Arctic stays cold.” The movie was released 61 years ago. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

A summer soireé from the 1970s, featuring the songs of Burt Bacharach performed by the John Arcaro Trio, renowned Botolphian musicians and an enthusiastic audience. Extra credit question: in what movie did Burt Bacharach and Steve McQueen make their cinematic debuts? (Answer: “The Blob”).

Professor Bruce Owens’ fascinating anthropological peek at the changes wrought by modernization in the ceremonies and festivals in Nepal and Bhutan. For the past thirty-odd years, Professor Owens has observed and photographed the months- long chariot festival of Bungadya in the Kathmandu Valley which has taken place every 12 years for the past 1400 years. Loosely following the antics of various Buddhist and Hindu deities, the Bacharach Night festival participants construct and drag an immense 60-foot chariot over twenty miles of field and stream, stopping frequently at places associated with the legends. Changes in the festival reflect those in the wider world: secularization, participation of These events are just those that resonated with your editor. women, and incorporation of technology (e.g., steel cables and The distribution of tastes across the membership of the Club is cell phones). An accomplished photographer, Professor Owens legendary, and the above list of events surely omits some favorites showed some astonishing pictures, some of which are currently of yours. Whenever some particular evening speaks to you, feel on exhibit at the Patan Museum in Nepal. free to email me a paragraph for inclusion in the Bulletin and an impressive byline for your résumé! A recital by Ivan Gusev of Russian piano works, highlighted by the original piano version of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” Interestingly, the program showed the surviving Victor Hartman pictures from the memorial exhibition on which the music was based. The nuances, sonorities and colors of sound produced by Gusev’s ten fingers and one piano made the popular Ravel orchestration of the work essentially superfluous.

4 | ST. BOTOLPH BULLETIN Great Decisions in Foreign Policy

To date under Peter Van Demark’s direction, we have They select topics annually, provide a workbook for each topic, devoted three Roundtables to the Foreign Policy Association’s and PBS produces a high-quality video to supplement the ma- 2019 Great Decisions Programs. Each has been a boisterous terial. St. Botolph provides a volunteer moderator from its vast success. To remind you, the FPA is a century-old organization of storehouse of knowledgeable members. The format has proved academics and journalists whose goal is to foster to be ideal for a Roundtable setting. Less passive than a presen- learning, discussion and engagement in foreign relations tation, with a small amount of introductory material, the evening in the United States. is spent in debate and discussion, activities close to the hearts of many Botolphians.

Nicco Mele moderator with Anne Marie Gail Hano, Joe Berman moderator and Irv Plotkin moderator and wife Janet. Biernacki-Smith and Ken Smith Allan Green

September 17 October 10 November 19 Competition in Cyberspace The Rise of Populism in Europe The Middle East: How have the internet, social media and In Europe, not to mention the United Regional Disorder related cyber technologies altered the States, the political pendulum appears Irv Plotkin, retired Senior Managing relationships among world powers (the to be swinging away from the post-1945 Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, United States, Russia and China) and liberal democracies towards populist opened the evening with the following: among ideologies (liberal democracies, autocracies. Nationalism and populism nationalists, socialists and autocrats)? Not have given rise to trade wars, immigra- A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank to mention the Ukraine. The discussion tion restrictions, reduced international of the River Jordan. “Hello frog,” says the was moderated by Nicco Mele, currently cooperation (greenhouse gases, nuclear scorpion, “can you carry me on your back managing director at the Draper Richards proliferation) and threaten to fracture across the river?” “Certainly,” says the frog. Kaplan Foundation, ex-Director of the such bulwarks of the world order as NATO, Halfway across, the scorpion stings the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics the United Nations, the World Court and frog. “What did you do that for?” asks the and Public Policy at the Kennedy School the European Union. Despite “Europe” frog, “now we’ll both die.” “Yes,” explains and all-around guru at the intersection of in the title, the discussion, ably led by Joe the scorpion, “it’s the Middle East.” technology, politics and culture. Berman, General Counsel at the Massa- With that assessment in mind, Botol- chusetts Board of Bar Overseers, under- phians then pondered the changing alli- standably focused on populism closer to ances among the countries of the Middle home. While the mood was somber, your East, the non-countries (Palestinians, reporter left with a new appreciation for Kurds and ISIS), and interested parties December 3 the knowledge base in the Club and its (Russia, China and the United States). Decoding articulate expression in debate. Animated debate made eating a problem, US-China Trade but, alas, no simple solution was revealed. Possible guesses towards the US strat- Stay tuned. egy in the region were offered, but the discussion seemed to reflect the old poker aphorism that if the US doesn’t know the identity of the sucker in the game, it’s probably us.

VOLUME 20 NUMBER 3 | 5 The 2019 Emerging Artists Top to Bottom, Left to Right: Nafis White, Elaine Ng, Brooke Stewart, E.K. Ota, Jonathan Shin, Opal Gayle, Garrett Gould, Aishwarya Bhal, Grace Yun, Brianna Robinson, A.H. Jerroid Avant, Zahili Gonzalez Zamora, Margery Thomas Mueller, Jonah Ellsworth

New Voices, New Visions – Foundation on Parade Anita Lincoln

On October 23, the St. Botolph Club Foundation Cultural Elaine K. Ng explored the physical and psychological structures Fund presented New Voices, New Visions, the art exhibition, of site, and Ross Normandin, sculptor, works in casted silicone literary readings and musical recitals of the Emerging Artist rubber creating a variety of objects. Award winners in 2019. It was a spectacular evening, one that many members say is their favorite Club Night of the year as we Presenting in the music room, the literary winners read from their showcase the artistic stars of the future. This event highlights what manuscripts. A.H. Jerriod Avant read Pride, a poem about dealing Boston’s premier arts club is all about. with grief. E. K. Ota read from her story The Paper Artist, and Grace Yun offered a tale titled The John from Jongmyo Park. Opal Gayle In June, eighteen award winners were selected, and each received read from a memoir entitled A Heavy Load. a $3,000 grant. New Voices, New Vision showcased the works that their awards allowed them to pursue. They used their winnings for The music recitals included musicians and composers. Jonah such things as studio space, artist supplies, recording productions Ellsworth played works for cello by Ligeti and Bach, Zahili and babysitting. Fourteen of the eighteen winners were present Gonzalez Zamore, pianist and composer, played Cuban jazz. that night, and we were wowed by their performances. Brianna Robinson, soprano, sang an aria from Don Giovanni and pianist and composer Jonathan Shin accompanied Hannah On the stair gallery, Brooke Stewart’s paintings in vibrant colors Meloy, soprano, in his composition written for the Singapore address female identity, gender roles and sports. Aishwarya Bahl centennial, entitled The Other Merlion and Friends. showed works in photography, exploring relationships between place and people. Margery Thomas Mueller (Nellie Taft Award Winner in Painting) created large format pictures in abstract landscape. Garrett Gould, (Amelia Peabody Award Winner in Sculpture) is a sculptor of ordinary objects that he brings to life.

Thanks to all the members who donated to the Cultural Fund we are able to continue making a difference in the lives and development of these extraordinary artists.

6 | ST. BOTOLPH BULLETIN Visibility and Invisibility in Contemporary Art Susan Ashbrook

Institute of Contemporary Art make room-size abstract paintings Director Jill Medvedow spoke before and sculptures employing obsessively a well-attended Club Night on repeated forms, and took her art to September 24. In a talk titled Visibility the streets by staging participatory and Invisibility in Contemporary Art, (frequently nude) Happenings in she focused on two artists recently or highly visible public spaces such as currently exhibited at the ICA, John Central Park and the Brooklyn Bridge. Akomfrah and Yayoi Kusama, in order Suffering from nervous exhaustion, to investigate the question: whose she returned to Japan in 1973 and now stories are told and who gets to tell lives in a Tokyo mental institution but, them? She described Akomfrah and still devoted to her art, spends each Kusama as representing marginalized day painting in her studio. communities and noted that both received recognition relatively late in Medvedow argued that Kusama is an their careers. Japanese artist Kusama under-recognized pioneer in key art at age 90, whose ICA exhibition Love movements of the latter half of the is Calling had opened a few days 20th century: her signature “Infinity earlier, is now a global superstar, with Net” and polka dot paintings show a large audiences queuing to enter her keen understanding of seriality and Infinity Mirror Rooms, but despite her repetition, qualities at the center long career and pioneering practice, of 1960s Pop Art (notably Andy Jill Medvedow, Director of the only in the last few years has she Warhol’s silkscreens) and Minimalism; Institute of Contemporary Art received the recognition she deserves. Claes Oldenburg’s celebrated giant Ghanaian-born British filmmaker soft sculptures bear a suspicious Akomfrah’s immersive six-screen resemblance to her stuffed fabric pieces; similarly Lucas Samaras’ Institute of Contemporary Art Director video installation Purple, made up of archival footage combined with newly- mirrored rooms owe a debt to Jill Medvedow spoke before a shot film and a powerful soundtrack, Kusama’s Infinity Rooms. well-attended Club Night on September was screened this summer at the ICA’s Medvedow posited a direct arc from new Watershed space, an enormous 24. In a talk titled Visibility and Kusama’s anti-Vietnam War protest former warehouse in East Boston. Happenings to the engagement of Invisibility in Contemporary Art, Lured by the majesty and fragility of today’s artists with the urgent issues she focused on two artists recently or the landscape, Akomfrah, who grew of our time: themes of environmental up in the shadow of London’s looming currently exhibited at the ICA, John activism (John Akomfrah, Ruby Battersea Power Plant, poetically Akomfrah and Yayoi Kusama, LaToya Frazier’s photographs of the interweaves stories with glorious residents of Flint, Michigan); the story scenery to dramatically explore the of enslavement that lies at the center consequences of industrialization and of the nation’s origins, explored by the effects of climate change. the 1619 Project, Kara Walker’s 2014 Medvedow noted that Kusama is Domino Sugar Factory installation, now an Instagram star but her work the recently opened National began 50 years before Instagram Memorial for Peace and Justice in was invented! Growing up in Japan Montgomery Alabama, and William and trained in traditional Japanese Pope L.’s performative interventions painting techniques, she moved into everyday life. History has to the US in 1957 after seeking been made alive by these projects encouragement from Georgia that are changing the narrative of O’Keeffe, and became part of the New contemporary art and challenging our York avant-garde art scene through the museums to respond. 1960s. The New York art world was still dominated by men and she frequently found herself to be the only female artist or artist of color. She began to

VOLUME 20 NUMBER 3 | 7 The Sixth Annual 10-Minute Play Festival It is a common belief around the Club that some of the best evenings are those in which we entertain ourselves. Nowhere is this more evident than in the 10-Minute Play Festivals, founded in 2014 at the inspiration of late Botolphian John Mears to increase the presence of the theater at the Club. The Festival also owes a tremendous debt to the theater professionals in the Club, including over the years Debra Wise, the late June Guertin and Vincent Siders.

This year, the shows featured a dozen Botolphian actors whose raw enthusiasms were focused by professional directors, including local favorite and Botolphian Fellow Vincent Siders and four young directors recruited mainly by Debra Wise from the Boston/Cambridge theater scene. Produced by Wendy Hale, Desire Bennett, Debra Wise and Vince Siders, the 10-minute form is perfect for an evening of theater: if you don’t like what you’re watching, wait at most nine minutes for something completely different.

And the plays! As you may know, the 10-minute genre is richly endowed in Boston. Each spring, the Boston Playwright’s Theatre produces the Boston Theater Marathon at the Calderwood Pavilion, an all-day extravaganza of new 10-minute plays. From these 50 plays (and other sources), our curators generally select the six or seven best, ranging this year from the transcendent to the preposterous. We have Comedy: a ham-ﬁsted racist advertising campaign becomes a vehicle for revolutionizing the ad agency. We have Black Comedy: two divorced women hex their exes at a witches’ brew Valentine’s Day incantation at the local Hooters. We have Drama: a gay male ﬁnds the courage to come out to his invisible dead grandmother. We have Poignancy: helping and being helped, as a homeless woman spends a year supposedly undetected in a lonely man’s 10-Minute Plays: Introduction by Debra Wise closet. We have Tragedy: a teacher induces suicide by explaining Hamlet to her students. And we close with Philosophy: a troubled couple’s world is rocked by the World’s Best Ham Sandwich as a real-life Platonic archetype. And the plays! As always, the players had as much fun as the audience, and As you may know, the 10-minute genre everyone got dinner! is richly endowed in Boston. Each spring, the Boston Playwright’s Theatre produces the Boston Theater Marathon at the Calderwood Pavilion, an all-day extravaganza of new 10-minute plays.

8 | ST. BOTOLPH BULLETIN Photo Gallery

Emerging Artists: Visual art winners discuss their work

Emerging Artist: Brooke Stewart

Emerging Artist: Cellist Jonah Ellsworth Emerging Artist: Aishwarya Bhal

VOLUME 20 NUMBER 3 | 9 Photo Gallery

10-Minute Plays: “Bubble Bubble” – 10-Minute Plays: “The Campaign” - Anita Lincoln, Julie Beck & Patricia Buddenhagen Vincent Siders & Michael Robbins

10-Minute Plays: “Everything Goes Awry” – Margaret & Buell Hollister

10-Minute Plays: “The Lesson” – Chris & Wendy Hale

10 | ST. BOTOLPH BULLETIN St. B in the foyer of the Gibson House

St. B in the library of the Gibson House Ben Aronson Roundtable: Frances Webb speaks

Ben Aronson Roundtable: Shaw Sprague introduces Ben Aronson

VOLUME 20 NUMBER 3 | 11 Photo Gallery

Bacharach night - The John Arcaro Trio, Lisa Graham, Nancy Armstrong, Ute Gfrerer, Jeff Schwartz, and Christopher Schroeder

Road Trip: Lenox Club

Pianist Ivan Gusev

12 | ST. BOTOLPH BULLETIN