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The Visual Resources Association (VRA) and the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) will be hosting a special fundraising event during the 2nd Joint Conference in Minneapolis. The Founders’ Fête will take place at the Gale Mansion from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.  on Thursday, March 24. The mansion is across Washburn Fair Oaks Park (about 1 ½ city blocks) from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The Downtown Hilton Hotel is located 5 minutes or 1.25 miles from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Gale Mansion. This event raises funds for VRA’s Tansey Travel Award and ARLIS/NA’s Society Circle fund.

The Gale Mansion was built in 1912, as a private estate by Edward Chenery Gale and his wife, Sara Bell Pillsbury (daughter of Governor and Mrs. John S. Pillsbury). The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The mansion, in the Italian Renaissance Revival style and faced with Bedford limestone, had many modern conveniences including a first floor kitchen, a central vacuum system, intercom system, and laundry chutes. The building has a beautiful and unusual black walnut staircase and paneling, decorative ceilings, fabulous tapestries (still viewable today), and eight unique fireplaces. The Gale Mansion appears much as it did when the Gale family lived there in the early 20^th century.

The house remained as the family home until 1947 when the Minnesota Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) approached Richard Gale (son of Edward and Sara) about the possibility of using his home for their general meeting space. An agreement was made and the Association purchased the house. The American Association of University Women was founded in 1881, as the Association of Collegiate Alumnae, and is open to all graduates from an accredited college or university who hold an associate or higher degree. In 1889, the first local branch was formed in Minnesota. The AAUW’s mission is to advance equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research.

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts was founded in 1883, as the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts by twenty-five citizens of Minneapolis. The original neoclassical building was designed by McKim, Mead and White of New York and opened its doors in 1915. In 1974 the museum expanded (addition designed by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange) and in June 2006 the Michael Graves designed wing opened, adding an additional 40% of exhibition space. Admission to the museum is free.  The special exhibition: Titian and the Golden Age of Venetian Painting: Masterpieces from the National Galleries of Scotland will be available free for Founders Fête attendees to view. The show brings together Titian’s Diana and Actaeon and Diana and Callisto, Venus Rising from the Sea, and masterpieces by Lorenzo Lotto, Tintoretto, Bassano, Bordon, Cariani, and Veronese. Venice on Paper, a companion exhibition including a selection of drawings by Venetian Renaissance masters, will also be available to attendees. And attendees will enjoy member-for-a-day benefits in the museum’s gift shop.

Attendees to the Founders Fête event can arrive and check-in at the Gale Mansion from 6:45 p.m. onward. Mix and mingle while exploring the mansion’s beautiful, historic rooms, enjoying heavy hors d’eouvres, one complimentary drink ticket then cash bar, and conversation with colleagues. Check out the Grand Ballroom (downstairs) where the evening’s program will be offered.

Beginning at 7:15 p.m. listen to Allan Kohl’s musical group perform live musical entertainment featuring popular music of the early Twentieth Century – complete with projections of sheet music covers, silent movie film excerpts, and lantern “song slides” from Minneapolis’ famous Mar-Nan Collection, alternating with a video presentation of the ARLIS/NA and VRA founders and the organizations’ early histories. Enjoy a brief formal program, including a toast to the founders, and receive a printed souvenir program. Busses will be running between the hotel, the Gale Mansion, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts continuously throughout the event.

The cost to attend this special fund-raising event is $40.00 and the event is capped at 250 attendees. Please register early to make sure you don't miss a fabulous evening!

Events Committee PR