February 26, 2021
Hello Friends,
Our board of directors wishes to express that we hope each of you had a good holiday season and your new year is off to a good beginning. We also want to thank you for your membership and involvement with the Friends of T.C. Steele.
The year 2020 certainly brought extraordinary challenges, and many non-profits cancelled or suspended meeting and activities. I am pleased to report the “Friends of T.C. Steele” board continued to meet virtually without missing a single scheduled meeting for 2020, and executed on all of our scheduled activities. I want to express a special thanks to our board members who have been superb to work with and are dedicated, committed volunteers who work behind the scenes making our non-profit work each day, creating value for each of members.
We have another exciting year planned and have some early highlights to share as we move through the first quarter.
- We worked successfully with the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites (ISMHS) to develop a Community Partner Agreement that will replace the former Memorandum of Understanding process used in previous years. All Friends groups in the state of Indiana were involved in providing thought leadership and we are pleased and excited about our future partnership with the ISMHS.
- We executed on a hybrid Annual Member Art Show which opened Saturday, February 6, and closes Saturday, Feb 27.
- We conducted our Annual Member Meeting virtually and voting by mail, and our 2020 Annual Report will be available on our website and Guidestar the week of March 8.
- We established a partnership with Hoosier History Live, hosted by historian and author Nelson Price.
- We now have over 100 paintings on our virtual gallery that includes representation of all genres and geographies of Steele’s work.
We are hopeful the Spring Wildflower Foray will occur this year. Recall this 3-day event was unfortunately cancelled last year due to the pandemic. This wonderful Brown County weekend is normally scheduled for the last week of April each year. We will keep you informed on this year’s planning. The 36th Annual Wildflower Foray is currently scheduled for April 24, from 7:00 am – 7:00 pm
In closing please be safe, and we look forward to interacting with you in person or virtually as the year progresses!
We encourage you and members of your party to wear masks and observe appropriate social distancing when participating in Friends events or visiting the historic site. Guidelines and pet policies can be found here.
P. Garrett Adams
President & Board Chair
Learn more about this issue’s featured Steele painting, Tinker Place, here.