The Vero Beach Museum of Art hosted a hybrid affair with its recent Director’s Society and Chairman’s Club Dinner, with guest speaker Kaywin Feldman, director of the National Gallery of Art, joining virtually from Washington, D.C. Feldman, who is the fifth director in the National Gallery’s history and the first woman in the position, spoke about ‘Building a National Collection in a Changing Nation.’
Guests were given the option of viewing the livestreamed lecture from home or in the museum’s Holmes Great Hall, with those guests later enjoying a gourmet dinner catered by Elizabeth D. Kennedy & Company.
“Welcome to the Chairman’s Club Dinner; we’re so happy to have you back,” said VBMA CEO Brady Roberts. “I’m just thrilled to see a big audience. We also have about 40 people who are joining us virtually tonight. So we’re coming back.”
Roberts called the assemblage the “heart and soul” of the museum, noting that the critical support of the leadership members – which include the Chairman’s Club, and the Director’s Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond Societies – provides one quarter of the museum’s operating revenue.
“That’s the single largest source of our operating revenue; it’s really important. In the past few difficult years, your steadfast generosity has really carried us through the challenges,” said Roberts, thanking everyone for their support.
“This has allowed us to continue to deliver great art experiences in the community to students, to young families, to lifelong learners and to our most vulnerable neighbors,” said Roberts. “We wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for Ellie McCabe and her late husband Bob, who founded the Chairman’s Club 35 years ago. What incredible foresight.”
Roberts noted that they have enjoyed tremendous response to their current exhibition, American Perspectives: Stories from the Folk Art Museum in New York, adding, “It’s great to see people coming back and enjoying the museum.”
He said there is also a lot of buzz about the upcoming Vero Collects: Hidden Treasures Revealed exhibit, which will feature works from local, private collections. That show opens Jan. 29 and runs through May 15.
“This is going to be a spectacular exhibition of all the hidden treasures in Vero Beach. We’re going to have over 100 works in this exhibition. It’s just going to be phenomenal. And, you’ll get a special preview of this exhibition at the Gala on Jan. 28,” said Roberts.
“In addition to our exhibitions and the gala we have an incredible season of programs ahead, with the International Lecture Series, Art in Bloom, Film Studies and Museum Art School Classes,” said Roberts. “So we’re coming back full force; it’s going to be a terrific year.”
For more information, visit vbmuseum.org.
Photos by Kaila Jones
