Portsmouth Historical Society: 2020 Has Been A Year To Remember

Press release from the Chamber Collaborative of Greater Portsmouth:

December 10, 2020

It has certainly been a year to remember...

Dear Friends of Portsmouth Historical Society,

"When I arrived in Portsmouth last fall, I already knew that Portsmouth Historical Society was one of the more imaginative, innovative, and clever organizations in the country.

In fact, most people are well aware of the groundbreaking exhibitions that Portsmouth Historical has organized—including its innovative series on rediscovered American Impressionist painters like Edmund Tarbell and Gertrude Fiske. Visitors have found these exhibitions to be both substantive, and high-quality.

The museum world also knows that Portsmouth Historical’s staff and board have several nationally-recognized experts in their fields—people like Gerry Ward, a curator emeritus of Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, and Richard Candee, one of the nation’s towering figures in historic preservation. The younger staff members too are rising stars in their fields, and formidably competent, as well as astonishingly dedicated. As an added benefit, the Society's buildings are handsome, venerable edifices.

Of course, we were all blindsided this year by the worldwide pandemic. In the aftermath, I was immediately impressed by two things: First, the staff and board did not abandon all hope, but instead created an imaginative exhibition of historic and contemporary quilts, titled Threads—with a novel strategy for embracing, rather than abandoning our community. We invited our neighbors to create individual quilt squares embodying their sense of this historic moment, at home alone, in these times of isolation.

We then stitched these squares together into two large collaborative ‘Community Quilts’ that will remain on view in our galleries through the end of the year, and will forever embody and document this unique time as part of our permanent collection of historic artifacts.

Staff members also quickly devised exactly the same kinds of procedures for safeguarding visitors that were later adopted by much larger museums. Recognizing the hesitation of visitors to crowd into perennially popular exhibitions like the beloved holiday ‘Gingerbread’ show, our curators have arranged for some of the nearly 100 gingerbread creations to be displayed in shop windows throughout downtown Portsmouth. If the people are apprehensive about coming to their beloved museum, we will bring the museum to the people.

And next year, when we hope the world may return to normal, we will present the third in our series of exhibitions on rediscovered American Impressionists. Further down the road, in 2022 and 2023, we are planning the most ambitious exhibitions ever mounted in this historic and remarkable city.

The quality of what this institution continues to accomplish is truly impressive, and it deserves the praise it receives and the support that you have given it. I urge you to continue to support Portsmouth’s Historical Society with your generous end-of-year gifts to our Annual Fund. This truly worthwhile organization is the kind of institution that defines Portsmouth, the seacoast area, and the place that you live. Many thanks for your ongoing generous support."

With best wishes,

Brian W J LeMay
Executive Director

This press release was produced by the Chamber Collaborative of Greater Portsmouth. The views expressed are the author's own.