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Home , Adam Johnson (writer), Alex Kotlowitz, Alice McDermott, Alison Lurie, Allen Drury, Ana Castillo

VISITOR EXPERIENCE CHRIS ABANI EDWARD ABBEY HENRY ADAMS LÉONIE ADAMS RENATA ADLER

DANIEL ALARCÓN JR. ALGREN DOROTHY ALLISON JULIA

ALVAREZ A.R. AMMONS SHERWOOD ANDERSON ISAAC ASIMOV JOHN JAMES

PAUL AUSTER MARY AUSTIN DONALD BARTHELME WILLIAM BARTRAM

KATHARINE LEE BATES L. FRANK BAUM ANN BEATTIE JUDY

BLUME T. C. BOYLE WILLIAM BRADFORD ANNE BRADSTREET NORMAN BRIDWELL JOSEPH

BRODSKY GERALDINE BROOKS CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN DEE BROWN MARGARET WISE BROWN A.

BROWN PEARL S. BUCK WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS OCTAVIA BUTLER TRUMAN

CAPOTE ERIC CARLE RAYMOND CHANDLER JOHN

CHEEVER MARY CHESNUT CHARLES W. CHESNUTT KATE CHOPIN JAMES FENIMORE

COOPER HART CRANE VÍCTOR HERNÁNDEZ CRUZ COUNTEE CULLEN E.E. CUMMINGS RICHARD

HENRY DANA JR. HARDING DAVIS HAROLD L. DAVIS SAMUEL R. DELANY DON DELILLO TOMIE DEPAOLA JUNOT

DÍAZ PHILIP K. DICK ANNIE DILLARD W.S. DI PIERO E.L. DOCTOROW IVAN DOIG H.D. (HILDA DOOLITTLE)

JOHN DOS PASSOS FREDERICK DOUGLASSOur THEODORE Mission DREISER W.E.B. DUBOIS ANDRE DUBUS II STEPHEN DUNN

RICHARD EBERHART JONATHAN EDWARDSThe JENNIFER mission EGAN of LOREN the American EISELEY T.S. WritersELIOT RALPH Museum ELLISON is RALPH to WALDO EMERSON MARTIN

ESPADA JAMES T. FARRELLengage WILLIAM the public FAULKNER in celebrating F.American SCOTT FITZGERALD writers ROBERT and FITZGERALD LOUISE FITZHUGH MARTIN exploring their influence on our history, our identity, FLAVIN FLETCHER ESTHER FORBES our culture, and our daily lives. IAN FRAZIER ERNEST J. GAINES RUTH STILES GANNETT CRISTINA GARCIA WILLIAM

GASS THEODORE SEUSS GEISEL SUSAN GLASPELL LOUISE

GLÜCK WILIAM GOLDMAN PAUL GOODMAN S. GRANT ZANE GREY DAVID GUTERSON

A.B. GUTHRIE JR. ALEXANDER DASHIELL HAMMETT

MICHAEL S. LAFCADIO HEARN

JOSEPH HELLER ALEKSANDAR HEMON

ROBERT HILLYER CHESTER HIMES EDWARD HIRSCH OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES KHALED HOSSEINI FANNY HOWE IRVING

HOWE WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS IRVING SHIRLEY JACKSON

HARRIET JACOBS GISH JEN SARAH ORNE JEWETT

ADAM JOHNSON CHARLES JOHNSON CROCKETT JOHNSON JOSEPHINE WINSLOW JOHNSON EDWARD P. JONES

JAMES JONES ERICA JONG NORTON JUSTER ALFRED KAZIN

KEN KESEY FRANCES PARKINSON KEYES TRACY KIDDER MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

JAMAICA KINCAID CAROLYN KIZER JOHN KNOWLES E.L. KONIGSBURG JERZY KÓSINSKI ALEX KOTLOWITZ There’s a story that needs to be told: the story of the extraordinary men and women who have created the written works that have shaped our society since its inception and have both inspired and entertained us. Welcome to the American Writers Museum, the first and only museum of its kind in the . Opening in in early 2017, this vibrant, interactive museum will celebrate the lives and works of America’s great writers, and their influence on our history and our culture. • Permanent exhibits will feature your favorite works and tell the story of your favorite writers, whether they wrote non-fiction or fiction, plays or . • Special galleries will showcase exhibits and artifacts on loan from our nation’s historic writers’ homes, joining with our museum to tell the behind-the-scenes stories of our great writers. • Diverse educational programs and special events will promote literacy and foster a love of reading and writing. In the pages that follow, you can explore the concept design for the museum. We invite you to join in the celebration. .com

CHAPTER 1. Loomings.

CALL ME ISHMAEL. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off—then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me. Table of Contents

Visitor Experience 4 Where Will it Be? 6 Writers Hall 7 Writing Across America 8 American Identity 9 Surprise Bookshelf 10 Word 11 Readers Hall 12 The Mind of a Writer 13 A Writer’s Room 14 Featured Works 15 Word Play 16 Chicago: A City of Writers 17 Children’s Gallery 18 Changing Exhibits Gallery 20 Advocates 22 Curating Team 23 National Advisory Council 24 Affiliated Author Home Museums

Business Plan 28 Exhibit Floor Plan 29 Attendance Projections 30 Leadership 32 Partners 33 Financials 36 Fundraising Plan 37 Your Opportunity 38 Naming Opportunities 40 Project Strengths WEST DIVISION STREET

WEST ELM STREET

NORTH LASALLE STREET NORTH LASALLE W HOBBIE ST

NORTHORLEANS STREET

EAST OAK STREET NORTH LAKE SHORE DRIVE W OAK ST EAST WALTON STREET Washington Square EAST PLACE

Museum of Contempory Art CHICAGO AVE.

CLARK ST. CLARK Northwestern

WEST SUPERIOR ST. AVE. University

WEST HURON ST.

WEST ERIE ST. Olive Park

E. ONTARIO ST. WEST ONTARIO ST.

E. ST. Where Will it Be? WEST OHIO ST. E. GRAND AVE. W. GRAND AVE. Navy Pier AWM will be located in the E. ST. heart of downtown Chicago W. KINZIE AVE.

on one ofHALSTEDSTREET NORTH the busiest blocks

Marina EAST WACKER DRIVE City

S. CLINTON S. ST. of famed Michigan Avenue.CANAL S. ST. Millennium Park, a magnet

N.WABASH AVE.

W. LAKE ST. for Chicago residents and Goodman Theatre CHICAGO visitors from all over the W. RANDOLPH ST. E. RANDOLPH ST. CULTURAL CENTER

N. MICHIGAN AVE. MICHIGAN N. world, is one block away. E. WASHINGTON ST. W. WASHINGTON ST. “I enthusiastically support the

N. FRANKLIN ST.FRANKLIN N. J. Pritzker Other cultural attractions Civic STATE N. Pavillon efforts to place a national writers Opera E. MADISON ST. House W. MADISON ST. museum in Chicago. Such a Millennium in the area include The Park museum will complement the rich

E. MONROE ST. Art Institute of Chicago, W. MONROE ST. ART offerings of the City’s theaters,

S. FRANKLIN ST.FRANKLIN S. W. MARBLE PL. INSTITUTE CHICAGO STATE S. OF CHICAGO museums, libraries and musical E. ADAMS ST. SYMPHONY WABASHS. AVE. Tower W. ADAMS ST. Chicago Symphony Center, CENTER activities and adds significantly Pritzker Military Museum W. QUINCY ST. to Chicago’s vitality.” E. JACKSON ST. W. JACKSON ST. and Library, and theDESPLAINES S. ST. Grant Park – RAHM EMANUEL E. VAN BUREN ST. MAYOR, THE CITY OF CHICAGO CHICAGO Chicago Architectural ARCHITECTURE

S. MICHIGAN AVE. MICHIGAN S. W. CONGRESS PKWY. FOUNDATION Foundation. The theatre Buckingham Fountain district lies two blocks to the W. HARRISON ST.

west. The AWM will be just E. HALBO DR.

S. LAKE SHORE DR.SHORELAKE S. a short walk away from a COLUMBUS DR. S. W. POLK ST.

S. WELLS ST.WELLS S. MUSEUM SITE number of Chicago’s major ST.CLARK S. NEARBY CULTURAL SITES hotels. NEARBY HOTELS

S.CLINTON ST. Roosevelt Park S. CANALS. ST. John G. Shedd E. ROOSEVELT RD. Aquarium

Park Field Adler Planetarium

DANRYAN EXPRESSWAY 479 Museum

S. JEFFERSON ST.JEFFERSON S. E. 13TH ST.

E. 14TH ST. 12th Street Beach

S. STREETINDIANA S.

4 OCTOBER 2015 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM Soldier WEST 14TH PLACE Field Coliseum Cotton Park Tail Park

S. HALSTED S.HALSTED S.

WEST 16TH STREET

Ping Tom Memorial WEST 17TH STREET Park

EAST 18TH STREET WEST 18TH STREET Northerly Island Park

Womens Park & Gardens

S. CANALPORT AVENUE

CERMAK AVENUE Writing Across America American Identity

Children’s Gallery Readers Hall

Writers Hall

Chicago: A City of Writers The Mind of a Writer

AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM OCTOBER 2015 5 Writers Hall Step into Writers Hall and experience your first AWM surprise: a face-to-face encounter with a writer from your hometown.

What to See and Do: • Learn about the American Writers • Great writers come from all corners Museum’s broad network of author- of the country, including where you home museum affiliates. live. Enter your zip code to see a panoramic video display of writers, their works, their awards, and their inspirations from your hometown.

6 OCTOBER 2015 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM Writing Across America A interactive map of the United States allows you to explore animated stories showing how American writing encompasses every region of the country.

Map of Affiliated Author Home Museums

What to See and Do: • Go on literary journeys—with Kerouac and Steinbeck and other iconic American writers. • “Travel” to places where writers lived. • Visit famous literary sites—“Tara” The American prairie – illustrated in front of his boyhood The Ozarks of Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of by Garth Williams in the ‘Little House’ home in Hannibal, Missouri. and “Cannery Row,” or “The House Wrath,” illustrated by Thomas Hart Benton. of the Seven Gables,” among others. books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM OCTOBER 2015 7 American Identity American Identity chronicles from the early Native American oral traditions up to the explosion of voices of the 20th century.

What to See and Do: • The 60-foot-long multilayered • Explore literary movements, authors • Test your knowledge to determine exhibit wall takes you on a journey and their works over time—discover if a featured piece of writing helped through the literary history of the the poems of Anne Bradstreet of create an American voice, identity or United States. Colonial America to writers like genre. Your on-screen selections Emerson, Melville, Whitman, and Poe trigger a wide range of lighting and who helped declare America’s literary audio effects. independence.

8 OCTOBER 2015 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM Surprise Bookshelf Surprise and discovery reign here. Each of the 200 individual works of American writing is interpreted in a unique interactive that includes an Push the button Touch the spear assortment of audio, video, to hear Kurt to activate video dioramas and colorful back- Vonnegut reading of a “Nantucket an excerpt. Sleigh Ride.” lit graphics.

Spin the zoetrope to see Harold and his crayon in action. What to See and Do: • Find the diorama of a children’s • Hidden windows can be opened, slid, or a clip from the spun, or twisted to expose dioramas, version of a famous book. audio and video programs, and unexpected interactive elements. • Discover hundreds of “great works” of American writing.

AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM OCTOBER 2015 9 Word Waterfall Magic happens here. Words float down and assemble in interesting and memorable ways.

What to See and Do: The presentation may combine dynamic animation of words from featured works, • From a distance, you will be accompanying imagery (photography, art, enchanted by an evocatively lit, floor- video) and a soundscape. In contrast to the to-ceiling waterfall of words. highly interactive, content-rich American Identity and Surprise Bookshelf experiences, • Up close, watch words assemble Word Waterfall is contemplative and themselves in stanzas or paragraphs. meditative. • Choose a work to be displayed on the “waterfall.”

10 OCTOBER 2015 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM Readers Hall This is the museum’s primary gathering and multipurpose space. It offers flexible seating and viewing configurations for films, talks, readings, and other events and programs. Readers Hall also offers interpretive exhibits and iconic artifacts celebrating the role of the reader and writer in American literature.

What to See and Do: • Explore “top ten” lists using a • Use a typewriter or notepad to • Discover the reading habits of our dynamic data mapping diagram. compose a Fan Letter to a writer ancestors through the books they had • Choose your Favorites. Post (dead or living) who has inspired you. on their shelves. and compare your choices with those • Learn about the social, cultural and of other visitors. Access your technological developments that selections on-line and on-site through influenced written works. an AWM app

AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM OCTOBER 2015 11 The Mind of a Writer Could you be a great writer? In this gallery explore what it takes to produce a masterwork in four distinct exhibit areas: Story of the Day, A Writers Room, Anatomy of a Masterwork and Word Play.

What to See and Do: • Write the next line or two to continue • A roll of paper stretches from the the story. ceiling to an easel, providing the • Visit the AWM website or on-site medium for a story. Every day, AWM kiosk to view complete stories written staff will write a great line from an by visitors on other days. American masterwork on the paper and let visitors continue the story.

12 OCTOBER 2015 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM A Writer’s Room This semi-enclosed immersive space depicts the things that might have been part of a selected author’s writing environment.

Mark Twain

What to See and Do: • Select desktop items such as • Touch the “desktop” to select an manuscripts, letters or inspirational author. works from others to explore. • Watch the room transform with • View the writer’s personal library. changes in lighting, “outdoor” views, • Play “Are You a Vonnegut or a bookshelf components and desktop Bukowski,” a game that asks items. questions about your lifestyle and work habits, then pairs you with writers with similar lifestyles.

AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM OCTOBER 2015 13 Featured Works Here a multi-user touch- table allows you to explore in depth 20 masterworks of American Literature.

Draft page of ’s “Epilogue”.

What to See and Do: • Select a work to explore. Through a • Explore Great First Lines displayed • View a long, multi-touch table loaded series of screens, choose to learn on the blades of the horizontal with deep, relevant, and interrelated more about the work or the writer: window louvers. Try to guess the information related to a specific discover influences, backstories, and name of the work or the author that masterwork. biographical information. produced the line. • Learn about author-home affiliates Draft page of Plath’s related to Featured Works. “Stings” in the Plath Collection at .

14 OCTOBER 2015 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM Word Play Interactive tabletop consoles offer multiple games that encourage visitors to get creative with words.

What to See and Do: • Consider how careful word choice • Explore words made up by American gives meaning to a sentence. Create writers; invent new words and sentences by adding and removing meanings in an interactive game. words to see how the meaning When “Chronicle” changes. columnist Herb Caen coined the word • Explore word choices and phrasing of “” he said it was because great American writers; try to guess had just launched Sputnik. the name of the author. Are hipsters the new ? You can decide!

AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM OCTOBER 2015 15 Chicago: A City of Writers Here you will find compelling evidence for why the American Writers Museum is located in Chicago. As the “new American city,” Chicago eschewed tradition and “the old rules,” fostering literary experimentation that has had global impact. Many great American writers of the 19th and 20th centuries worked in Chicago for a significant portion of their careers and in turn, the city inspired some of their greatest writing.

What to See and Do: • Explore Communities using an • Discover favorite and new Chicago • Explore classic works of Chicago interactive map. Locate publishing Stories in a touchscreen interactive literature, such as ’s houses, newspapers, libraries, that invites you to choose from a “Chicago: City on the Make,” through bookstores, and other literary menu of stories about significant an interactive touchscreen. institutions in Chicago’s history. Chicago writers or writing-focused • Explore tactile display objects organizations. relevant to the “communities” stories such as meeting announcements, brochures, leaflets, sample works, and group memorabilia.

16 OCTOBER 2015 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM Children’s Gallery Perhaps nothing is more important in the development of a child’s capabilities than his or her pleasure and skill in reading. Great American writers have created children’s works of enduring power and characters who are an indelible part of the American imagination. Children’s literature will be featured throughout the museum and it will be showcased exclusively in the Children’s Gallery.

AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM OCTOBER 2015 17 18 books. banned children’s literature or specific exhibits on anniversaries, or program- relating to special events or author-specific exhibits include special artifacts, organizations. These may on loan from partner by the AWM and those including those produced exhibitions temporary updated, the AWM will host elements that can be readily permanent gallery will have the the exhibits in While Gallery Exhibits Changing

© Tessa van der Waals OCTOBER 2015 OCTOBER AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM

© Roger Willems “The American Writers Museum is a grand, highly worthy idea. I’m all for it. Imagine all there will be to work with and what a center of inspiration it will be! The importance of our , , dramatists, writers from every part of the country, every kind of background, has been part of the American story for more than 300 years. Think of what we owe them and how much we continue to learn from them!”

DAVID MCCULLOUGH, AUTHOR & HISTORIAN Advocates

“Here is a promise to create a museum in “This is such a great idea. Museums make “The train line goes from to “In a country established as an idea Chicago that will stimulate our young history three dimensional, and museums Chicago. …The music informed the history; explicated in written documents and people to read, imagine, and write. Using bring people together into that three- the stories followed the music. This embellished by generations of poets, interactive digital media, the American dimensional space to learn about and museum is great!” novelists, and critics, the case for Writers Museum will bring to life the celebrate that history. This is needed for – commemorating the written word is captivating stories of our great writers and American literary history—a communal self-evident. After all, what is written explore their influence on our nation.” space to celebrate our rich legacy of prose describes a people and what is celebrated “American writers have produced some of – JAMES R. DONNELLEY and poetry. And maybe I’m biased, but I defines their values.” the world’s great literature, essays and CHAIRMAN EMERITUS, THE CHICAGO think Chicago, home of Bellow, Brooks, and – JIM LEACH PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION Terkel, is the perfect place for such a poetry, and it is time that their authors and CHAIRMAN, THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT museum.” their works be gathered and presented to FOR THE HUMANITIES, 2009–2013 “The essential literary experience, of the American people in a major cultural – course, takes place in silence inside a book, “There is no better place than Chicago and AUTHOR, EDITOR, AND PUBLISHER museum. The educational opportunities are but why shouldn’t the abundant joy of endless, and I support the creation of the no better time than now to bring to life the American writing have its own museum, “Our nation’s libraries are dynamic cultural American Writers Museum with lives of the people who create magic and a physical place that readers can walk into centers which make America’s literary enthusiasm.” reality with words. The writers are the ones and learn and marvel?“ riches available to widely diverse – HENRY A. KISSINGER who help us laugh when we want to cry, – BILLY COLLINS audiences. A museum devoted to American AUTHOR & FORMER U.S. SECRETARY think when we want to laugh. They are the U.S. , 2001-2003 authors is an exciting idea—one which we OF STATE keepers of our past, present and futures. believe will be welcomed by Onward to the next page! Always to the “Anyone invested in the cultural landscape “Rooted in the private, individual pleasure across the United States.” next page!” of the United States would welcome an of reading, there is a compelling – KEITH MICHAEL FIELS – JIM LEHRER American Writers Museum—even those of excitement in learning more about EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AMERICAN JOURNALIST, , us who believe that a picture might be AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION America’s writers in the shared, public & FORMER EXECUTIVE EDITOR & NEWS worth a thousand words. A museum experience of a museum. It will be a place ANCHOR FOR THE PBS NEWSHOUR devoted to American literature would play “How thrilling to imagine a museum to meet one’s old friends—Twain, a vital role in keeping the creative impulse dedicated to the great achievements of Dickinson, Frost—and make new “The Iowa Writers’ Workshop at The alive in the national psyche.” American literature. Such a museum would acquaintances. What fun that will be.” pioneered the teaching of creative writing at the university level. – DOUGLAS DRUICK immediately become both a national – RICHARD LARIVIERE PRESIDENT AND ELOISE W. MARTIN center and a national symbol for creativity, PRESIDENT AND CEO There is a significant underlying principle DIRECTOR, ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO , and the highest aspirations of THE FIELD MUSEUM OF here in Iowa: that the literary arts are for our culture.” everyone at every age, in every walk of life. We believe an American Writers Museum – CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR would serve to keep alive our stories for THE ARTS 2002-2009 generations to come.” – SALLY MASON PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, 2007–2015

20 OCTOBER 2015 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM Advocates

“Those of us whose main task it is to instill “The American Writers Museum promises “How brilliant: An institution that will tell “Chicago, my home and birthplace, nurtured within the museum visitors an active and to be a vibrant cultural institution the stories of the people who tell us stories. many of America’s greatest writers of the probing interest in nature and culture can dedicated to preserving American The American Writers Museum promises past: Dreiser, Farrell, Hemingway, only respond to the plans of a writers literature in an entirely contemporary narrative riches of every kind, in and well Sandburg, Algren, Bellow, Brooks, and museum: This is the right thing to do!” manner. PEN/Faulkner is pleased to beyond its own walls. It is set to work some Terkel, to name a few. With so much of – JOHN MCCARTER JR. endorse this exciting project.” very powerful magic.” America’s literary heritage rooted here, CHAIRMAN, BOARD OF REGENTS – PEN/FAULKNER FOUNDATION – STACY SCHIFF it would be an ideal site of the American AUTHOR AND TIMES Writers Museum.” “A national museum, which would offer a GUEST COLUMNIST – SCOTT F. TUROW “The idea of an American Writers Museum chance to explore the richness and vitality AUTHOR seems to me long overdue. The literate of one of the world’s great cultural “I write to express my hearty and world has known and prized American resources—the heritage of great American enthusiastic support for the American “This exemplary project, to found a national writers since the generation of Emerson writing—is a remarkable idea and long Writers Museum. The technological and museum devoted to celebrating the story and Thoreau. Whitman and Emily Dickinson overdue.” economic revolution underway in the of America through the tales and lives of its have influenced poets and readers in presentation and reception of the written – MAX RUDIN remarkable writers, is an idea that I suspect English and in into many PUBLISHER, THE word makes this an auspicious time for will prove as durable and as inspiring as languages. The great current continues, establishing an institution whose focus is ’s .” and a museum honoring and portraying “I love the idea of the American Writers on writers.” – STEVE WASSERMAN American writing would be an honor to the Museum. The American project has been – DAVID SPADAFORA EDITOR AT LARGE, suffering and vision from which our fueled since the beginning by impassioned PRESIDENT, THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY PRESS literature came.” writing, and the Museum would be a “Establishing a national institution that will “Our greatest writers contribute to the – W.S. MERWIN wonderful place for that history to be U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2010–2011 embodied and rediscovered….” celebrate American writing is an inspired intellectual vitality of our country, and the idea. Through its programs, exhibitions, American Writers Museum is an ambitious – GEORGE SAUNDERS “What a brilliant idea, to establish an AUTHOR public readings, and film presentations, way in which to honor and recognize American Writers Museum! It is very fitting the museum will kindle a new appreciation their contribution to scholarly inquiry and that this ambitious museum is Midwestern “From its beginning in the 19th Century to of our literature and deepen our cultural expression. I welcome the potential in its setting, and particularly in the great the present day, Chicago has provided understanding of American writers.” to create such a museum both as a literary city of Chicago. Here is a project inspiration for renowned novelists, poets, – THOMAS F. STALEY resource for research and engagement, that will be both educational and thrilling, journalists and essayists. Having the DIRECTOR, as well as a symbol of literature’s lasting inspiring to all who love to read and to American Writers Museum here would be UNIVERSITY OF AT AUSTIN, importance.” 1988–2013 write. I am honored to be involved in this both appropriate and a wonderful addition – ROBERT J. ZIMMER original enterprise and will be very to Chicago.” PRESIDENT, THE intrigued by its development and the ways – MORTON SCHAPIRO in which it will flourish.” PRESIDENT, – AUTHOR

AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM OCTOBER 2015 21 Curating Team

CONTENT LEADERSHIP TEAM SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS David Kipen Getty/Annenberg Arts Fellow University Elizabeth Alexander Marie Arana of Southern Thomas E. Donnelley Professor of African Biographer, essayist, novelist, senior advisor American Studies and American Studies, to the at the and Jill Lepore Yale University former editor in chief of Book World section Author, New Yorker contributor, in David Woods Kemper ‘41 Professor of Reginald Gibbons American History and Francis Hooper Professor of Arts and Michael Clune Professor, Humanities, Northwestern University Associate Professor of English Case Reserve University Robert Polito Leonard Marcus Robert Casper Head of the Poetry and Director, MFA Writing Program and Author, Critic, and Children’s Book Historian Literature Center, Library of Congress Professor of Writing, President, Poetry Foundation (2012–2015) Max Rudin Maureen Corrigan Publisher for Library of America Journalist, Author, and Literary Critic, John Russick The Washington Post, NPR Vice President for Interpretation and Donna Seaman Education, Chicago History Museum Senior Editor, “Booklist,” Thomas Dyja American Library Association Author Carolyn Saper Education Consultant Specializing in Shelley Fisher Fishkin Children’s Literature and Curriculum Joseph S. Atha Professor in Humanities Werner Sollors Henry B. and Anne M. Cabot Professor of Ed Folsom English Literature and Professor of African Roy J. Carver Professor of English, and African American Studies, Harvard The University of Iowa University Editor, Quarterly Review, Director, Walt Whitman Archive Ilan Stavans Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American Sandra Gilbert and Latino Culture, Professor of English , Davis Ivy Wilson Associate Professor of English and Director Jacqueline Goldsby of American Studies,Northwestern University Professor of English & African American Studies, Yale University Gary K. Wolfe Professor of Humanities, Roosevelt University

22 OCTOBER 2015 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM National Advisory Council

Nicholas A. Basbanes Elliot Figman Nancy S. Miller Scott F. Turow Author Executive Director Editorial Director, Bloomsbury Publishing Author Poets & Writers Foundation Robert Casper Alice Quinn Steve Wasserman Head of the Poetry and Literature Center Dr. Ed Folsom Director, Poetry Society of America Editor at Large Library of Congress Roy J. Carver Professor of English Yale University Press The University of Iowa Mary Rasenberger Michael W. Clune Executive Director Stephen Young Professor of English Case Western Reserve Dr. Reginald Gibbons The Authors Guild Program Director University Author and Director, Center for the Writing Poetry Foundation Arts, Northwestern University Max Rudin John Y. Cole Publisher, Library of America Director, Center for the Book Nikki Giovanni Jr. Library of Congress Poet and Author Donna Seaman Senior Editor, Booklist Patrick K. Coleman Daniel Greene American Library Association Acquisitions Librarian Adjunct Professor, Northwestern University Historical Society Guest Curator, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Dr. Werner Sollors Museum Professor of English Literature Billy Collins Harvard University United States Poet Laureate (2001–2003) Gary T. Johnson President, Chicago History Museum Dr. Victoria Steele Daniel DeSimone Director of Collections Strategy Curator, Rosenwald Collection David Kipen The Library of Congress Former Literature Director National Endowment for the Arts Dr. Robert B. Stepto Ellen S. Dunlap Professor of African American President, American Antiquarian Society Dr. Jeffrey Lependorf Studies, English and American Studies Executive Director, Council of Literary Yale University Stuart Dybek Magazines and Presses Poet and Author Tree Swenson Haki R. Madhubuti Executive Director David W. Fenza Founder and Publisher Richard Hugo House Executive Director Association of Writers & Writing Programs Noreen Tomassi Alice McDermott Executive Director Author The Center for Fiction

AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM OCTOBER 2015 23 Affiliated Author Home Museums

Louisa May Alcott, Orchard House u The F. Scott & Museum u Jack Kerouac, The u 399 Lexington Road 919 Felder Avenue 540 Broadway Concord, 01742 Montgomery, 36106 San Francisco, California 94133

Frances Parkinson Keyes, William Cullen Bryant Homestead u Alex Haley Museum & Interpretive Center u The Beauregard-Keyes House:u 207 Bryant Road 200 South Church Street 1113 Chartres Street Cummington, Massachusetts 01026 Henning, 38041 , 70116

Pearl S. Buck House u Joel Chandler Harris, The Wren’s Nest u Jack State Historic Park u 520 Dublin Road 1050 Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard 2400 London Ranch Road Perkasie, 18944 , 30310 Glen Ellen, California 95442

Longfellow House: Washington’s Pearl S. Buck’s Birthplace u Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House u Headquarters National Historic Site u 8129 Seneca Trail of the Seven Gables 105 Brattle Street Hillsboro, West 24946 115 Derby Street Salem, Massachusetts 01970 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

Truman Capote & , Ernest Hemingway Foundation u Wadsworth-Longfellow House u The Old Courthouse Museum u 200 North Oak Park Avenue 489 Congress Street 31 North Alabama Avenue Oak Park, Illinois 60302 Portland, 04101 Monroeville, Alabama 36460

Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and The Willa Cather Foundation u ’s Arrowhead u Educational Center u 413 North Webster 780 Holmes Road 1021 West Cherry Street Red Cloud, Nebraska 68970 Pittsfield, Massachusetts 01201 Piggott, 72454

The Edna St. Vincent Millay Society Emily Dickinson Museum u , Sunnyside u at Steepletop u 280 Main Street 639 Bedford Road 436 East Hill Road Amherst, Massachusetts 01002 Pocantico Hills, New York 10591 Austerlitz, New York 12017

Ralph Waldo Emerson & Nathaniel Helen Hunt Jackson, Springs House u Hawthorne, The Old Manse u Pioneers Museum u 990 Peachtree Street 269 Monument Street 215 S. Tejon Street Atlanta, Georgia 30309 Concord, Massachusetts 01742 Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903

William Faulkner, Rowan Oak u Sarah Orne Jewett House Museum u National Historic Site u 916 Old Taylor Road 5 Portland Street 4202 Alhambra Avenue Oxford, Mississippi 38655 South Berwick, Maine 03908 Martinez, California 94553

24 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM OCTOBER 2015 Affiliated Author Home Museums

Flannery O’Connor’s Andalusia Farm u Harriet Beecher Stowe Center u Walt Whitman’s Birthplace u P.O. Box 947 77 Forest Street 246 Old Walt Whitman Road Milledgeville, Georgia 31059 Hartford, Connecticut 06105 West Hills, New York 11746

u Birthplace u Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site u Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site 305 Whittier Road P.O. Box 280 1205 Pleasant Point Haverhill, Massachusetts 01830 Danville, California 95426 City, Indiana 46784

Henry David Thoreau & Ralph Waldo Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum u William Sidney Porter, O. Henry Museum u Emerson, Concord Museum u 330 8th Street 409 East 5th Street 200 Lexington Road Walnut Grove, Minnesota 56180 Austin, Texas 78701 Concord, Massachusetts 01742

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home Poe Museum u u Thurber House and Museum u 1914-16 East Main Street 77 Jefferson Avenue 3068 Highway A Richmond, Virginia 23223 Columbus, Ohio 43215 Mansfield, Missouri 65704

Poe u Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum u Memorial u 203 N Amity Street 120 North Main 52 North Market Street Baltimore, Maryland 21223 Hannibal, Missouri 63401 Asheville, 28801

James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home u Mark Twain House and Museum u u = link to website 528 Lockerbie Street 351 Farmington Avenue , Indiana 46202 Hartford, Connecticut 06105

u Will Rogers Memorial Museum u Memorial Library 1720 West Will Rogers Boulevard The Emelie Building Claremore, Oklahoma 74017 340 N. Senate Avenue Indianapolis, Indiana 46204

u Home Noah Webster House u 81 Carl Sandburg Lane 227 South Main Street Flat Rock, North Carolina 28731 West Hartford, Connecticut 06107

The National Steinbeck Center u Edith Wharton’s Home, The Mount u One Main Street 2 Plunkett Street Salinas, California 93901 Lenox, Massachusetts 01240

AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM OCTOBER 2015 2 5 “What a fantastic concept—a museum devoted to great American writing.…At a time when life moves so fast and so much of what we encounter is disposable, an institution that allows us to immerse ourselves in that which is permanent and meaningful, which allows us to embrace American writing and American stories…

– DAVE ISAY FOUNDER, STORYCORPS

26 BUSINESS PLAN American Voices AMERICAN Word American IDENTITY American American Waterfall Surprise Promise Identities Edge Bookshelf

Writing Across America CHILDREN'S GALLERY Building Changing Equip. Exhibits

Elevators WRITERS Vestibule Coats HALL Building Equip. Elevator What Lobby Americans Read

Storage Hometown Authors Emergency Elevators Egress READERS Staff

NORTH MICHIGAN AVENUE HALL

Fan Letters

Focus Favorites Stories Hall Museum Equip.

World-class Anatomy of a Writing Masterwork CHICAGO: THE MIND OF A Writer's A CITY OF Word A WRITER Story of Room WRITERS Play the Day Featured Communities Works

EAST LAKE STREET

28 OCTOBER 2015 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM Attendance Projections

Opening Audience Admission Fees 2017 The museum is designed to appeal to a Adult: $12 broad spectrum of visitors from casual Senior: $10 Location readers to avid lovers of literature. Family: $14 180 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL The interactive nature of the museum Students: $5 Visitors will especially engage young people. Admission fees are based on visitor 120,000 paying visitors annually is a Lectures and presentations for school research and fees charged by other conservative estimate based on the groups will be an essential offering. cultural institutions in Chicago. museum’s feasibility study and the experiences of other museums in Chicago and elsewhere. CHICAGO MUSEUM ANNUAL CHICAGO MUSEUM ATTENDANCE — 2014 ADMITTANCE FEES — 2014

Adler Planetarium 451,000 Adult Fee

Art Institute of Chicago 1,424,000 Adler Planetarium $12

Chicago Children’s Museum 406,000 Art Institute of Chicago $20

Chicago History Museum 272,000 Chicago Children’s Museum $14

DuSable Museum of African Chicago History Museum $14 118,000 American History DuSable Museum of African $8 The Field Museum 1,229,000 American History

Museum of Contemporary Art 339,000 The Field Museum $18

Museum of Science & Industry 1,388,000 Museum of Contemporary Art $12

National Museum Museum of Science & Industry $18 131,000 of Mexican Art National Museum of Free John G. Shedd Museum 1,815,000 Mexican Art

Total Attendance 7,573,000 John G. Shedd Museum $8

AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM OCTOBER 2015 29 Leadership

Officers Jerre L. Stead (Chairman) is Chairman and Ronne Hartfield (Vice-Chairman) is a Lynne Pace Robinson (Corporate CEO of IHS Inc. He has been CEO of several biographer, essayist, and widely recognized Secretary) served in the of Jerre L. Stead companies including Ingram Micro, Legent, international museum consultant. After Gerald R. Ford and held appointments in Chairman Square D, and AT&T Global Information early retirement from her position as the Department of Transportation and the Roger Baskes Solutions (formerly, NCR Corp.). He is a Executive Director of Museum Education at Environmental Protection Agency. She Vice-Chairman graduate of University of Iowa. the Art Institute of Chicago, she was co-chaired the esteemed Washington awarded a Senior Research Fellowship at Antiques Show and hosted a community John Estey Roger Baskes (Vice Chairman) is a former Harvard University. She has served on the interview show on Comcast cable television Vice Chairman Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Boards of Directors of several universities for nine years. Serving with architect/ Hill Hammock Newberry Library in Chicago. He is a and foundations, and has earned engineer consulting firms for several years, Vice-Chairman member of the Madison Council at the undergraduate and graduate degrees from she also managed a regional office and led Library of Congress. He is a graduate of Ronne Hartfield the University of Chicago. teams of experts to conduct analysis for . Vice-Chairman Environmental Impact Statements on large Werner Hein (Vice-Chairman) is senior John Estey (Vice Chairman) is Chairman federal and municipal public works Werner Hein counsel at the Washington, D.C. office of of S&C Electric Company, a global provider projects. She graduated from The George Vice-Chairman Mayer Brown LLP, a leading international of equipment and services for electric Washington University in Washington, D.C. Jay Hammer law firm. During his more than thirty years power systems headquartered in Chicago. Treasurer of legal practice he has chiefly advised Malcolm O’Hagan (President) was CEO of He is a Director of PotashCorp and communications and Internet companies on the National Electrical Manufacturers Lynne Pace Robinson Southwire Company, and past Chairman their transactions. He holds law degrees Association. He served on the Board of the Corporate Secretary of the Adler Planetarium Board of Trustees. from Columbia Law School and Bonn National Association of Manufacturers and John was born and raised in , Malcolm O’Hagan University. was Chairman of the Washington Industrial Canada and holds a B.S. in Electrical President and CEO Roundtable. He holds a B.S. and M.S. in Engineering from Queen’s University and Jay Hammer (Treasurer) is President and Nike Whitcomb Engineering from The National University of an MBA from the University of Chicago. CEO of Theralogix. He is a business and Ireland and a D.Sc. from The George Executive Director non-profit leader based in Washington, Hill Hammock (Vice-Chairman), after Washington University in Washington, D.C. D.C.. He has served on a number of retiring as Vice Chairman and COO of non-profit boards and was Chairman of the Nike Whitcomb (Executive Director) is Directors LaSalle Bank in 2007, became Chief Washington Performing Arts from 2008 to founder and principal of Whitcomb Marie Arana Administrative Officer for the Chicago 2010. He graduated from the University of Associates. Whitcomb was the first female Allan E. Bulley III Public Schools and is currently Chairman of Chicago and received his MBA from president of the Chicago Chapter of the Michael T. Clune the Cook County Health & Hospital System. Harvard University. Association of Fundraising Professionals S. Leigh Pierson Conant Hill is also Chairman of the Chicago (AFP), and has received the organization’s James Donnelley Deferred Exchange Company and has President’s Award. She helped author the Robert Franden served as Chairman of the Metropolitan original certification test for AFP, and is a James G. Hansen Planning Council, the Chicago Shakespeare regular trainer and presenter at local, Lamar Johnson Theater, and the Chicago History Museum. regional, and national conferences on Roberta Rubin Mr. Hammock holds an MBA from the fundraising and nonprofit management. Paul T. Ruxin University of Chicago. Whitcomb is a graduate of Milikin Tom Staley University, where she received the Merit Helen Sullivan Loyalty Award in 2014.

30 OCTOBER 2015 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM Leadership

Marie Arana was editor in chief of James Donnelley has been a General James G. Hansen is the retired Chairman Paul T. Ruxin is a retired partner of ‘The Washington Post’s’ Book World, and, Partner of Ampersand, Reset & South and Founder of Chicago-based Source/Inc., Jones Day (Chicago and Cleveland) and prior to that, vice president and senior Eastern Limited Partnership since June providing branding identity services for Chairman of the Folger Shakespeare editor at Harcourt Brace and Simon & 2000. Mr. Donnelley served as Vice consumer products clients. He is a Fellow Library in Washington, D.C. He is a member Schuster. The prize-winning author serves Chairman of R.R. Donnelley & Sons of the Industrial Designers Society of of the Board at the Newberry Library of on the Scholars’ Council at the Kluge Center Company. He has served as a trustee and America and the Society of Typographic Chicago. His personal collection of the of the Library of Congress, where she was director of numerous civic and community Arts. He served as Chair of the Board of works of Samuel Johnson, James Boswell, the Distinguished Scholar from 2009 to groups, which include: Children’s Memorial Advisors for the Design Management and their circle is among the most complete 2010. She is also chair of the National Book Hospital (retired member), The Donnelley Institute for 16 years. He holds under- in private hands in the world. He is a Festival in Washington, D.C. She holds a Foundation, John C. Griswold Foundation graduate and graduate degrees from the Governor of Dr. Johnson’s House Trust in BA from Northwestern University. (retired Treasurer), Chicago Public Library University of Illinois. London. Mr. Ruxin is a graduate of Amherst Foundation (former Chairman), National College and received his law degree from Allan E. Bulley III is President of Bulley & Lamar Johnson is Regional Managing Merit Scholarship Foundation (former the . Andrews and the fourth generation to lead Principal of Gensler Chicago, a world Vice Chairman), and several other this well-known Chicago construction firm. renowned architecture and design firm and Tom Staley served as the Director of the organizations. Mr. Donnelley holds a BA He is a graduate of Yale and holds an MBA Vice Chairman of the Adler Planetarium. renowned Harry Ransom Center at the from and an MBA from from the Kellogg School of Management. He holds a Bachelor of Environmental University of Texas at Austin, which houses the University of Chicago. Design and an MBA from the University one of the greatest collections of American Michael T. Clune, after an early career in the Robert Franden is an attorney and investor of Colorado. and English 20th-century literature in the construction business in Europe and the in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is active in civic and world. He is a professor of English and Middle East, moved to Chicago in 1978 Roberta Rubin is the former owner of The professional organizations at the national holds the Harry Hunt Ransom Chair in where he is now Chairman and CEO of Book Stall at Chestnut Court in Chicago, and local level. He serves on the board of Liberal Arts at University of Texas at Austin. Clune Construction. He is involved in one of the most celebrated independent The Harry Ransom Humanities Center at He has written or edited 13 books, several various philanthropic activities. Michael was bookstores in the country. She received the The University of Texas at Austin. He is on , Jean Rhys, and Dorothy born in Dublin, Ireland. 2012 ‘Bookstore of the Year’ honor from also the Chairman of ALFA International, Richardson, and is the founding editor of ‘Publishers Weekly.’ Roberta was a member S. Leigh Pierson Conant is cofounder and an international legal organization He the James Joyce Quarterly. of the Board of Directors for the American president of the S. Leigh Pierson Conant served on the Tulsa City Commission and Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression Helen Sullivan is an expert in industry-wide and Douglas R. Conant Family Cookie Jar various civic and cultural trusts, including and is now actively engaged on the Board public relations and integrated marketing Foundation. She is a former actor and the Performing Arts Center Trust. He holds of the Ragdale Foundation and the Crow programs. Her honors include three Public educator, a voracious reader, and a lifelong a J.D. degree from The University Canyon Archeological Center in Four Relations Society of America Silver Anvils. participant and supporter of the arts of Oklahoma. Corners. She is a graduate of the University She serves on the board of with a BS in theatre and education from of Michigan. Public Relations Alliance and the Center Northwestern University. for Child Protection and Family Support. A graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at , Ms. Sullivan is a lifelong devotee of poetry.

AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM OCTOBER 2015 31 Partners

AWM and its partners share a commitment to improving literacy, to encouraging reading and writing, and to honoring American writers. We share information, collaborate on programming and co-sponsor literary events. We pursue joint educational endeavors to inspire young people to read and write.

32 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM OCTOBER 2015 Financials

Pre-Opening Development Monthly Pre-Opening Expenses ($) — June 2015 – March 2017 Cost 2015–2016: 800,000 $6.5 million • Space build-out 700,000 • Exhibit design, fabrication, and installation • Pre-opening operation costs 600,000

Full Business Plan available 500,000 upon request. 400,000

300,000

200,000

100,000

0 JUL JUL SEP SEP FEB FEB JAN JAN JUN JUN DEC DEC APR OCT OCT MAY AUG AUG NOV NOV MAR MAR 2015 2016 2017

AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM OCTOBER 2015 33 Financials

PRE-OPENING EXPENSE SUMMARY

2015 2016 2017 Total

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1

Content Development 18,000 14,000 22,000 20,000 6,000 80,000

Exhibition Design 16,875 33,625 62,000 135,000 202,500 262,500 131,250 33,750 22,500 900,000

Exhibition Fabrication and Installation 10,000 60,000 100,000 130,000 1,100,000 1,550,000 450,000 3,400,000

Architect Fees, Project Mgt., Independent Cost Estimator 75,000 30,000 30,000 20,000 155,000

Space Build-out (12,000 square feet)

Gross 166,500 444,000 277,500 888,000

(per square foot) $74.00

TI Allowance 91,500 244,000 152,500 488,000

(per square foot) $40.67

Net of TI Allowance 75,000 200,000 125,000 400,000

(per square foot) $33.33

Contingency 1,688 3,362 7,200 19,500 45,250 62,250 138,625 160,375 47,250 485,500

Staffing 45,000 84,000 33,000 71,000 77,000 36,000 75,500 125,500 166,000 713,000

Pre-Opening Marketing 7,500 7,500 7,500 7,500 7,500 7,500 12,500 25,000 60,000 142,500

Total Pre-Opening Expenses (Net of TI Allowance) 71,063 146,487 133,700 315,000 602,250 734,250 1,612,875 1,914,625 745,750 6,276,000

34 OCTOBER 2015 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM Financials

OPERATING BUDGET 2017–2021

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Revenues

Number of Visitors 100,000 120,000 120,000 120,000 120,000

Admission Fees ($10 avg. fee) 1,000,000 1,236,000 1,273,080 1,311,272 1,350,611

Special Events ($5,000 avg. fee) 100,000 150,000 150,000 150,000 150,000

Sponsorships and Donations/Gifts 250,000 250,000 250,000 250,000 250,000

Total Revenues 1,350,000 1,636,000 1,673,080 1,711,272 1,750,611

Operating Expenses

Staffing 723,333 836,229 892,330 917,390 943,202

G&A (6.0% of revenues) 81,000 98,160 100,385 102,676 105,037

Marketing (4.5% of revenues) 60,750 73,620 75,289 77,007 78,777

Insurance (1.5% of revenues) 20,250 24,540 25,096 25,669 26,259

Utilities ($6 per sq. ft. escalating at 3% per annum) 71,514 73,659 75,869 78,145 80,490

Cleaning ($2 per sq. ft. escalating at 3% per annum) 23,838 24,553 25,290 26,048 26,830

Repairs/Maintenance (5% of revenue) 67,500 81,800 83,654 85,564 87,531

Total Operating Expenses 1,048,185 1,212,561 1,277,913 1,312,499 1,348,126

Rent (Museum) 247,771 306,853 317,509 328,307 339,250

Rent (Offices) — 25,000 26,000 27,000 28,000

Total Expenses (Operating plus Rent) 1,295,956 1,544,414 1,621,422 1,667,806 1,715,376

Net Income 54,044 91,586 51,658 43,466 35,235

Cumulative Net Income 54,044 145,630 197,288 240,754 275,989

Note: 2017 numbers based on 10 months of operations.

AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM OCTOBER 2015 35 Fundraising Plan

Overall Goal AWM Fundraising Source of Funds by Region $10 million by 31 December 2016 Success to Date; Goals in Place 51% Plan 6,200 Chicago Available on request

Implementation 6,000 The fundraising plan is being implemented by AWM’s Executive 5,800 Director Nike Whitcomb. Her 35 years of experience running her own fundraising consultancy positions her 2,600 to conduct a successful campaign for 49% the AWM. All members of the Board of Outside Chicago Directors are actively engaged in 2,400 supporting the fundraising campaign. Source of Funds by Donor Category They are fully confident that the 2,200 fundraising goal will be reached on 4% schedule. Public Foundations 800 17% Corporate Foundations 600

400

200

79% 0 Family Foundations 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 and Individuals

Funds Received Pledges Receivable Additional Fundraising Goals

36 OCTOBER 2015 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM Your Opportunity

Why What When As a supporter, you will make a vital There are many ways in which you can The AWM’s most urgent need for contribution to literacy and to the support the AWM: funding is NOW. literary education of generations to • Make a donation now. How come. The AWM will inspire young • Make a pledge payable over one to The donation and pledge forms provide people to read and write: the three years. foundations of civilization. information on how to make donations • Leverage your donation by by check, wire transfers, and stock • The AWM offers a unique legacy supporting the Chairman’s Challenge transfers. opportunity to invest in a great new Grant. Every $2 donated—up to national cultural institution, the first $1 million—will be matched by a Recognition and only one of its kind in the U.S. $1 donation from our Chairman. There are different levels of recognition for various donor categories. All donors • Take advantage of one of the naming • A range of naming opportunities will be recognized on the AWM opportunities. offers funders at different levels a website. Donors who fund naming • Provide pro-bono support where way to receive public recognition for opportunities will be fully recognized needed. their philanthropy. with appropriate signage in the • Provide Capital support to help museum. Programming and event • Your early support of the AWM will create and build our exhibits. make you a Founder of this important support will be recognized in all related • Enlist other donors. new institution. materials. • Sponsor fundraising and awareness- building events.

AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM OCTOBER 2015 37 Naming Opportunities

Naming Opportunity Location Cost

Gallery: Writers Hall — arrival lobby: ticketing and coat check; modified gift shop Writers Hall $1,000,000

Exhibit: Hometown Author Video Wall — digital display of authors’ portraits; zip code activated Writers Hall $500,000

Exhibit: Writing Across America — literary map explores various book settings; locations of author homes & museums; other literature-related institutions Writing Across America $500,000

Gallery: American Identity — understanding America through our writers American Identity $500,000

Exhibit: Surprise Bookshelf — a ‘magic bookshelf’ with hundreds of great works of American writings in all forms with interactive components American Identity $500,000

Exhibit: Word Waterfall — scenic display scrolls words from featured works American Identity $250,000

Exhibit: American Voices — a chronological presentation of American writing through history American Identity $250,000

Exhibit: American Promise — the myth of success; land of plenty; land of adventure American Identity $75,000

Exhibit: American Identities — exclusion, assimilation, the individual vs. society American Identity $75,000

Exhibit: American Edge — literary works considered radical or experimental in their time American Identity $75,000

Gallery: Readers Hall Readers Hall Pledged

Exhibit: What Americans Read — vignettes representing changes in what Americans chose to read over time Readers Hall $250,000

Exhibit: Favorites — visitors submit or post their top 5–10 pieces of American Writing Readers Hall $100,000

Exhibit: Fan Letters — visitors can write a note to a writer that inspired them Readers Hall $50,000

Gallery: The Mind of a Writer — niches and interactive kiosks highlight beautifully written characters and settings, inventive plots, and story structures The Mind of a Writer $500,000

Exhibit: A Writer’s Room — suggests a writer’s office or studio with a visitor-controlled media installation of a specific author from a pre-determined list The Mind of a Writer $250,000

Exhibit: Featured Works — interactive touch table with 20–25 American masterworks of fiction and nonfiction which visitors can explore The Mind of a Writer $250,000

Exhibit: Anatomy of a Masterwork — a writer’s impact on plot, place, character, and style The Mind of a Writer $100,000

Exhibit: Word Play — interactive kiosks with multiple games encourage creativity with words The Mind of a Writer $100,000

Exhibit: Story of the Day — interactive station where AWM staff add a famous line from a story and visitors continue the story; best stories posted online daily The Mind of a Writer $50,000

38 OCTOBER 2015 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM Naming Opportunities

Naming Opportunity Location Cost

Gallery: Children's Gallery Children’s Gallery $500,000

Gallery: Chicago: A City of Writers Chicago: A City of Writers $500,000

Exhibit: Communities: Places — how overlapping communities have led to distinctive literary bodies of work Chicago: A City of Writers $100,000

Exhibit: Communities: People — journalists, radicals/progressives, playwrights, poets, academics, etc., and their impacts on Chicago and American writing Chicago: A City of Writers $100,000

Exhibit: Focus Stories — interactive kiosk lets visitors choose from a menu of stories about significant Chicago writers or writing-focused organizations Chicago: A City of Writers $100,000

Exhibit: World-class Writing — why the city of Chicago has had such enormous influence on American writing Chicago: A City of Writers $100,000

Traveling Exhibits $100,000/5 yrs.

Affiliates Programming — annual programming to coordinate and promote collaborations among affiliates on a regional, thematic or other basis $250,000

Programming — Year 1 $250,000

Programming — Year 2 $250,000

Programming — Year 3 $300,000

Programming — Year 4 $350,000

Miscellaneous gifts of many sizes $350,000

$9,125,000

AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM OCTOBER 2015 39 Project Strengths

• The museum concept is sound, as As the only museum in the United attested to by the many endorse- States to showcase American Writers ments from knowledgeable members as a group, the AWM will be sustainable of the arts and cultural community. not only because of its operational • It is the only museum of its kind in discipline, but because it will capitalize the nation. on a crest of reading enthusiasm and • There is no competing institution. writing aspirations. The ubiquity of • The museum is housed at a premier e-readers and published content on the location in Chicago. internet, the growing embrace of social • The Business Plan is conservative media and self-publishing, all will and was developed by a museum contribute to the continued ground- consultant involved in the launching swell of reading and writing that is of some of the most successful already counteracting the effect of museums in the nation. declining numbers of bookstores and • Resident and tourist visitor potential daily newspapers in print. substantially exceeds the numbers on which the business plan is based. • Changing exhibits and vibrant programming will draw repeat visitors. • The museum is sized appropriately. • Strong support from community and city officials in Chicago and Illinois. • Experienced project team. • Internationally acclaimed design team. • National Advisory Council of literary experts.

40 OCTOBER 2015 AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM NICOLE KRAUSS LOUIS L’AMOUR FRAN LEBOWITZ

CHANG-RAE LEE HARPER LEE URSULA K. LE GUIN ALDO LEOPOLD ELMORE LEONARD TRACY LETTS MERIWETHER LEWIS

SINCLAIR LEWIS A.J. LIEBLING ROSS LOCKRIDGE JR. HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW BARRY LOPEZ

H.P. LOVECRAFT ROBERT LOWELL LOIS LOWRY ROSS MACDONALD

DAVID MAMET JOHN P. MARQUAND COTTON MATHER WILLIAM MATTHEWS WILLAM MAXWELL

COLUM MCCANN CORMAC MCCARTHY MARY MCCARTHY ROBERT MCCLOSKEY CARSON MCCULLERS DAVID MCCULLOUGH ALICE MCDERMOTT PHYLLIS

MCGINLEY BILL MCKIBBEN LARRY MCMURTRY JOHN MCPHEE JAMES ALAN MCPHERSON HERMAN MELVILLE H.L. MENCKEN W.S. MERWIN

JAMES A. MICHENER CAROLINE PAFFORD MILLER CZESLAW MILOSZ JOSEPH MITCHELL MARGARET

MITCHELL N. SCOTT MOMADAY WALTER MOSLEY JOHN MUIR

OGDEN NASH LORINE NIEDECKER JOYCE CAROL OATES TIM O’BRIEN EDWIN O’CONNOR FLANNERY

O’CONNOR SCOTT O’DELL FRANK O’HARA JOHN O’HARA TILLIE OLSEN EUGENE O’NEILL ZZ PACKER

GRACE PALEY AMÉRICO PAREDES SARA PARETSKY SUZAN-LORI PARKS LINDA PASTAN ANN PATCHETT WALKER

PERCY HARRY PETRAKIS MICHAEL POLLAN MARIE PONSOT

KATHERINE ANNE PORTER CHAIM POTOK J.F. POWERS E. AYN RAND

MARJORIE KINNAN RAWLINGS ISHMAEL REED RICHARD RODRIGUEZ

THEODORE ROOSEVELT HENRY ROTH MIKE ROYKO MURIEL RUKEYSER LOUIS SACHAR CARL SAGAN J.D.

SALINGER CARL SANDBURG JAMES SCHUYLER

MICHAEL SHAARA SAM SHEPARD SHEL SILVERSTEIN NEIL SIMON ISAAC BASHEVIS

SINGER BETTY SMITH JOHN SMITH RED SMITH W.D. SNODGRASS

LEONORA SPEYER EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY WILLIAM STEIG GERTRUDE STEIN

GERALD STERN RUTH STONE HARRIET BEECHER STOWE THOMAS SIGISMUND STRIBLING ELIZABETH

STROUT MAY SWENSON EDWARD TAYLOR ELEANOR ROSS TAYLOR

HENRY S. TAYLOR SARA TEASDALE STUDS TERKEL JAMES THURBER WALLACE THURMAN

JOHN KENNEDY TOOLE ROBERT TRAVER CALVIN TRILLIN MARK TWAIN

JOHN UPDIKE LUIS ALBERTO URREA WILLIAM T. VOLLMANN KURT VONNEGUT DAVID WAGONER DEREK

WALCOTT BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

EUDORA WELTY DOROTHY WEST NATHANAEL WEST EDITH WHARTON PHILLIS WHEATLEY E.B. WHITE WALT WHITMAN REED WHITTEMORE JOHN EDGAR

WIDEMAN LAURA INGALLS WILDER TERRY TEMPEST WILLIAMS THOMAS

WILLIAMS C.K. WILLIAMS GARRY WILLS EDMUND WILSON EDWARD O. WILSON MARGARET WILSON THOMAS

WOLFE C.D. WRIGHT MALCOLM X AMERICAN WRITERS MUSEUM EXECUTIVE OFFICES 205 W. WACKER DRIVE, SUITE 620 CHICAGO, IL 60606

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