Located on Maine's rocky coast 12 miles south of the Portland Museum of Art, the Winslow Homer Studio is unrivaled in its importance to the history of American art. On September 30, 2004, the Portland Museum of Art launched a national campaign for the acquisition, preservation, interpretation, and endowment of one of the most revered landmarks of American art, the Winslow Homer Studio. Long recognized as an icon of American culture, the studio is a National Historic Landmark and when restored, will be an asset to our understanding of this great artist who contributed so deeply to the American imagination.
On January 31, 2006, the Portland Museum of Art purchased the Studio and a portion of the land that formed Homer's unique home. After nearly 125 years of exposure to the Maine seacoast, the structure required considerable attention. The Museum is now seeking the necessary funds for the preservation and interpretation of this irreplaceable American treasure. We invite your participation in the effort to protect an essential and endearing landmark.
Your gift to the Winslow Homer Studio Campaign will help preserve this precious building for our time and for future generations, and in so doing make a lasting contribution to the history of American art.
Make a donation online
What are you supporting?
- Purchase of the Studio and the land on which it stands
- Execution of a Historic Structure Report and a Structural Integrity Report, prepared by a historic-preservation architect and structural engineer
- Removal of selected non-historic additions, restoration of original features, and resolution of deterioration issues
- Enhancement of the infrastructure, including plumbing, sprinkler, fire detection, and security systems; rewiring the electrical system and installation of a new heating system.
- Foundation improvements and treatment of structural problems, including restoration of the original external supports for Homer's viewing porch
- Roof replacement, chimney improvements, preservation carpentry, and exterior paint
- Site improvements and landscaping
- A contingency budget
A permanent endowment fund must be established to support the Studio's maintenance, as well as a range of educational and curatorial programs when the Campaign is complete. One of the Museum's objectives is to establish a Curator-in-Residence who will provide tours of the Studio, conduct educational programs, and serve as caretaker of the property.
Studio Purchase: $1,865,950
Preservation and Improvements: $2,825,400
Interpretation: $823,400
Endowment: $3,500,000
Administrative, Fundraising, Contingency: $1,475,250
Total: $10,500,000
Architectural Facts
Winslow Homer Studio
- Shingle-style converted two-story carriage house with mansard roof
- First renovated 1883; lower painting room built 1890
- Original Architect: John Calvin Stevens
- 2,200 square feet
- National Historic Landmark, 1965
Preservation Project
- Restoration and Construction costs: $8.3 million
- Construction began in September 2006, estimated completion June 2012
- Principal Architect: Mills Whitaker Architects (Arlington, MA & Bridgton, ME)
- Contractor: Marc Truant & Associates, Cambridge, MA
- Robert Cariddi, Cariddi Fine Woodworking, Gorham, ME
How to give to the Winslow Homer Studio Campaign
Please make checks payable to the Portland Museum of Art and designated for the Winslow Homer Studio Campaign. You may also give a gift of stock by having your broker contact the Museum's Development Department. Pledges may be made covering a period of three years.
The Museum will also gratefully consider certain forms of planned or deferred giving. These options include life-income gifts, gifts of appreciated assets, gifts of trust, and gift annuities, to name but a few.
The Portland Museum of Art is chartered as a fully qualified nonprofit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Philanthropic contributions to the Museum are deductible for income tax purposes.
Winslow Homer Studio Campaign
Portland Museum of Art
Seven Congress Square
Portland, Maine 04101
(207) 775-6148, ext. 3242
National Advisory Council
John Wilmerding - Chairman, Sarofim Professor Emeritus of American Art and Chair, Department of Art and Archeology, Princeton University
Henry N. Cobb - Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners
Edward S. Cooke, Jr. - Charles F. Montgomery Professor of American Decorative Arts, Department of the History of Art, Yale University
Wanda M. Corn - Robert and Ruth Halperin Professor Emerita of Art History, Stanford University
Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr. - Director, Maine Historic Preservation Commission and State Historian
Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr. - Chair, Department of American Art, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University
Charles Homer Willauer - Great-Grand Nephew of Winslow Homer
Scholars Committee
Kathleen A. Foster - Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Curator of American Art and Director of the Center for American Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art
Marc Simpson - The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute
Edward S. Cook, Jr. - Charles F. Montgomery Professor of American Decorative Arts, Department of the History of Art, Yale University
Wanda M. Corn - Robert and Ruth Halperin Professor Emerita of Art History, Stanford University
David Rau - Director of Education & Outreach, Florence Griswold Museum
Margaret Burchenal - Curator of Education, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Kevin Murphy - Professor of Art History, Graduate Center, CUNY
Bruce Robertson - Professor of Art History, University of California, Santa Barbara
Thomas Denenberg - Deputy Director and Chief Curator, Portland Museum of Art
Dana Baldwin - Peggy L. Osher Director of Education, Portland Museum of Art
Prouts Neck Advisory Committee
Nancy R. Copp
Susan Fitzpatrick
Robert Gould
Martha F. Hallward
Lee Sprague
Margo S. Wintersteen
Frances R. Zilkha