Your support of the Winslow Homer Studio will protect this extraordinary site where the great American artist Winslow Homer (1836-1910) painted many of his magnificent masterpieces. This campaign to raise $8.3 million will allow the Museum to preserve and endow this national historic landmark.
Following six years of negotiation, the Portland Museum of Art purchased the Studio on January 31, 2006 from Charles Homer Willauer, the great-grandnephew of Winslow Homer.
How can you help?
More than 125 years old and exposed to the harsh Maine seacoast climate, the Winslow Homer Studio is in danger of deterioration. The Portland Museum of Art is seeking funds for the safekeeping of this unique American treasure. We invite you to participate in this effort to save an irreplaceable landmark 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: $1,865,000
Land Purchase: (estimate) $1,000,000
Preservation: $840,000
Improvements (security, fire-prevention, landscaping): $760,000
Endowment (curatorial, education, maintenance): $3,500,000
Administrative and fund-raising costs: $200,000
Contingency: $200,000
Total: $8,365,000
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 Committee
Andrew Wyeth, Co-Chairman
John Wilmerding, Co-Chairman
Sarofim Professor of American Art and Chair, Department of Art and Archeology, Princeton University
Philip C. Beam
Professor Emeritus, Bowdoin College
Henry N. Cobb
Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners
Wanda M. Corn
Robert and Ruth Halperin Chair in Art History, Stanford University
Jonathan L. Fairbanks
Katharine Lane Weems Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture, Emeritus, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Jessica F. Nicoll
Director and Chief Curator, Smith College Museum of Art
Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr.
Director, Maine Historic Preservation Commission
Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr.
Chair, Department of American Art, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University
Charles Homer Willauer
Winslow Homer Studio Campaign Leadership Committee
Dino W. Giamatti, Chairman
Joseph F. Boulos, Trustee
James L. Moody, Jr., Trustee
Lawrence R. Pugh, Trustee
Hans Underdahl, Trustee
Daniel E. O'Leary, Director of the Winslow Homer Studio Project
Prouts Neck Committee
Aldus H. Chapin
Susan Fizpatrick
Martha F. Hallward
Lee Sprague
Margo S. Wintersteen
Frances R. Zilkha