Letter to all members from Nick Dawes and Elizabeth Spencer

“It takes two to paint. One to paint, and one to stand by with an axe to kill him before he spoils it”
William Merritt Chase

Dear Salmagundians,

This summer, for the first time in almost 150 years, our club elected a new Chair and President on the same day. Elizabeth and I could not be more honored and delighted to help steer our club into the next 150 years, and we felt it apt to share some collective vision and strategy regarding that path, now we have had a little time to settle in.

You can learn a lot from Chase. From his painting of course, but also his philosophy: “……..paint the commonplace so that it will be distinguished” is one of my favorites, and sums up part of our approach. We do not think of Salmagundi as commonplace of course, but there are plenty of corners of our cherished old home that are, and could use a little ‘paint’ literally or metaphorically, to achieve a measure of distinction. 47 Fifth Avenue is our oldest surviving member. She deserves the utmost care and respect, and you can be assured we are paying attention. The recent repair of our library ceiling, paid for entirely within three weeks by generous contributions from members, is evidence of how effectively we can all react to a visible threat.

Our primary goal is to increase both revenue and artistic standards. To this end we are about to engage on a dedicated development campaign, including outreach to members, grants and sponsors, and attracting more patron (no longer called ‘lay’) members. Patrons buy art……

Our club is steeped in art and architectural history and we intend to use the past as an investment in our future by more visible use of celebrated members and their movements. I hope you will begin to find us more in searches related to American art history.

As always we remain at your service and ready to share more details with any of you. We welcome all comments or contributions (not just the monetary kind) toward the future of our magical club.

With respect and warm wishes to all,

Nick Dawes
Chairman and CEO

Elizabeth Spencer
President