Alumni Association of the Victorian Society Summer Schools Letter from the President March 2017 Greetings, fellow alumni. Salutations from your new Alumni Association president, David Blackburn. First, a hearty thank you to Nancy Golden for her dedication to this organization. We would not be where we are without her dedication and leadership. Thank you, Nancy! In 1998 I was accepted into the Newport Summer School. Little did I know how much that program, and the Victorian Society in America, would change the course of my professional life. I’ve had a fascination with architecture and material culture for many years, as a youth funneling that interest into a BA in Anthropology. I landed a summer position at Mesa Verde National Park in 1985 and I was hooked with the National Park Service. In my position, I was able to bridge my desire to connect people to other things, other cultures, and facilitate a meaningful experience in my work as a ranger. Over a decade later, as a manager, I wanted to connect to other interests while staying with the agency. Lo and behold, I was introduced to the Victorian Society in America. Those ten days in Newport, with the inimitable Richard Guy Wilson, opened my eyes and my mind to the places, people, intellectual connections and curiosities I was craving. The next year, I was accepted into the VSA’s London Summer School. That experience sealed the deal and I was hooked. Exploring the 19th C built environment with a group of like-minded souls, within the structure of the summer school, opened my eyes to a bigger goal—graduate school. I matriculated in 2000 and graduated in 2004 with a MA. Two years later I moved into an upper level management position as curator and director of exhibitions and public engagement at Lowell National Historical Park. In 2015, I moved into the position of Site Manager for Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site. 2016 was an excellent year for the summer schools. Thanks to all of you that donated time, talent, and treasure to these magnificent programs. We cannot run this endeavor without you! As you’ll see in the pages ahead, the past year offered adventures in Europe, immersion into the wonders of Newport, and a new director to the summer school. We look forward to 2017 being another banner year. DIRECTOR’S LETTER Continued on page 2 1 DIRECTOR’S LETTER Continued from page 1 As an alum of the VSA Summer Schools, I deeply appreciate the pivotal Alumni Association role the programs played in where I am today. Did the summer school of the Victorian affect change in your life or career? I’d love to hear from you and share Society Summer your stories in future editions of the newsletter. Schools, A Chapter This is your organization! Share your stories, share your ideas…what does the Alumni Association mean to you? What can we do for you? Please let of the Victorian me know at [email protected]. Society in America Cheers! CHAPTER OFFICERS David Blackburn, President David Blackburn Exton, PA Carrie Taylor, Vice President Providence, RI Alumni Association of the Victorian Society Summer Schools David Lamdin, Treasurer 2015 Financial Statement Arlington, VA 1/1/15-12/31/15 Jeanne Solensky, Corresponding Secretary Opening Balance, January 1, 2015 $58,952 Wilmington, DE Bob Chapman, INCOME Membership Secretary Membership Dues $16,668 Montclair, NJ Donations $5,579 Study Tours 0 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Events $1,330 William Cullum Merchandise Sales 4820 New York, NY Investment $2 TOTAL INCOME $24,399 Carl Klein Evanston, IL EXPENSES Elizabeth Ann Milnarik VSA Dues $100 Washington, DC Donation $26,500 John A. Martine Events $1,598 Pittsburgh, PA Member communications $7,517 Miscellaneous $151 Christopher Pollock Advertising $125 San Francisco, CA SS Recruitment $1,750 Insurance 0 Alumni Association Newsletter Study tours $3,229 VSA Reimbursement 0 Editor: David Blackburn TOTAL EXPENSES $40,870 Design: Harriet Eckstein Graphic Design, Santa Barbara, CA NET INCOME/LOSS ($16,471) Please send news and articles to: David Blackburn CLOSING BALANCE [email protected] December 31, 2015 $42,481 2 Alumni Association Summer 2016 Alumni Schools Scholarship Donors Association Scholars he Officers and board members of the Alumni Association are extremely Tgrateful to all alumni who help support us. Listed below are those who he Alumni Association made donations to the Alumni Association Scholarship Fund. Tprovided $21,250 for scholarships to the following Warren Ashworth Pauline Metcalf thanks to the generous support (Newport School) C. Dudley Brown of so many loyal alumni. (Koch Fund) Duane Myers (Koch Fund) Chicago School Laura Camerlengo Danae Peckler & Michael Spencer Cecilia Hernández Aguirre, Amy Coes (Koch Fund) Montevideo, URUGUAY (Groff Fund) Helena & Gerald Peters Sheila & Charles Donahue (Koch Fund) London School Alumni Association of the (Koch Fund) Victorian Society Summer Schools Barbara Powers Craig Lee, Chicago, IL, a PhD Paul E. Duchscherer (Chicago School) student at University of 2015 Financial Statement (Groff & Koch Funds) Delaware Phyllis Quinn Patricia & William Eldredge (Groff Fund) Farrah Varga, San Antonio, (Groff Fund) TX, Museum Director at the Gretchen Redden Mimi Findlay Edward Steves Homestead (Newport School) (Groff Fund) House Museum Richard Reutlinger Vivian Fisher Shannon Grayson, Evansville, (Groff & Koch Funds) (London School) IN, the Gwen Koch Memorial Charles Robertson III Robert Furhoff Scholar (Groff Fund) (Groff Fund) Eszter Máthé , Budapest, Roger Scharmer Nancy & Fred Golden Hungary, the Sibyl McCormac (Groff & Koch Funds) (Groff & Koch Funds) Groff Scholar Kathleen Skolnik William Grass (Groff Fund) Newport School Sibyl McCormac Groff Kristine Steensma (Koch Fund) Roger Reid, San Francisco, CA, Wilson Stiles president of the Victorian Lucia Howard (Groff Fund) Alliance in San Francisco Adam Klafter Joseph Svehlak Erin Que, St. Louis, MO, David Lamdin (Groff & Koch Funds) completed a summer job with (Groff Fund) the Newport Restoration Allan & Angela Vagner Foundation and a recent MA Geoff & Elizabeth Leckie (Koch Fund) (Groff Fund) graduate from the University of Richard Guy Wilson Virginia, the Gretchen Redden Sarah Lichtman (Koch Fund) Scholar (Koch Fund) William Wilson Emily Daniel is a graduate John A. Martine Victoria Young student at Smithsonian-George (Groff & Koch Funds) (Groff Fund) Mason University, the Mary Anne Hunting Scholar 3 2017 Summer Schools 37TH ANNUAL NEWPORT SUMMER SCHOOL, Rhode Island June 2-11, 2017 3RD ANNUAL CHICAGO SUMMER SCHOOL June 15-20, 2017 42ND ANNUAL LONDON SUMMER SCHOOL July 7-15, 2017 Applications are accepted now through March 2017. Thanks to the generous donations by the Alumni Association members and other donors and the Victorian Society Scholarship Fund, full and partial scholarships are available or qualified applicants. Summer School alumni are the best recruiters of applications. Please encourage your colleagues, friends, students or fellow classmates to apply. You can also help by posting Summer School brochures at your institution, speaking about the schools at local universities or hosting a recruitment event. For additional copies of the brochures and applications, please contact: Anne Mallek, Administrator [email protected] (646) 771-7170 4 Central court ceiling, Marshall Fields building, Chicago, Illinois Passing the Torch: Directors of the London Sumer School, Old and New he Alumni Association’s Welcome to the annual London reception New London Summer Ttook place on July 7, 2016, at Sotheby’s Institute of Art in School Director: Bloomsbury. Through the kind offer Jo Banham of Martin Williams, Public Programs Manager and Newport alumnus 2015, Sotheby’s donated an elegant efore joining the Victorian space in their Bedford Square Society, Jo Banham was townhouse. BHead of the Adult, Students and Creative Industries programmes Alumni, lecturers past and present, in the Learning Department at the current students, and potential ap- Victoria & Albert Museum since plicants gathered to honor outgoing 2006. Previously she was Head of director Ian Cox, and to thank Alan Learning at the National Portrait Crawford and Gavin Stamp who are Gallery, and before that Head of stepping down, after many years, Public Programmes at Tate Britain. as leaders of the Midlands trip. Ian Her curatorial and research positions spoke warmly of his long association have included Curator at Leighton with the Summer School, beginning House, Kensington, Archivist at Interior, Royal Court of Justice as a student in 1991. He noted that Arthur Sanderson & Sons, and the things he learned on the course Curator of historic wallpapers at the continue to enrich his work as an Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester. University. She is currently curating educator, and that the friendships an exhibition on William Morris within the Summer School ‘fam- She has edited and written several and the Arts and Crafts Movement ily’ of staff and students have long books on art and design, including for the Juan March Fundacion in endured. About 40 guests were on William Morris & the Middle Ages Madrid and the Museu Nacional in hand to toast Ian, Alan and Gavin, (1986), Victorian Interior Design Barcelona. She is also researching and to welcome incoming Summer (2000), Encyclopedia of Interior a book on The London Art World School director Joanna Banham. Design – 2 vols (2002), and 1680-1980. Many thanks to Martin and to So- Dictionary of Artists Models (2006). theby’s director Prof. Jos Hackforth- Jo divides her time between London Jones for their generous hospitality. She lectures regularly on V&A and Suffolk where she likes to take courses and study days and advantage of visiting some of the Ian is stepping down to pursue other contributes to conferences and oldest churches in England and interests, including research, lectures research seminars on 19th century walking in the exquisite countryside. and travel, but we know he would design. She has taught at BA and Her London hobbies include theatre love to keep in touch with friends MA level for Birkbeck College and —her daughter is a director— and former students.