Chesterwood Appoints New Executive Director

Published: September 4, 2008Posted in: LOCAL NEWS, NEWS BULLETINTags:

“I’m interested in what the community is interested in,” Hassler said. “I always ask, ‘Who is our audience?’ If we can’t identify them, we have to collaborate and find out.”-Donna Hassler, Executive Director of Chesterwood

Donna Hassler, an adviser to the National Trust’s Historic Artists Homes and Studios Program, has been named Chesterwood’s new executive director. Here’s what Hassler had to say about her new position in a recent Berkshire Eagle article:

“Chesterwood should be known on a national level,” she said in a telephone interview yesterday. Still, the effort to reach a wider audience begins at home, and Hassler said the organization would offer crowd-pleasing events that draw locals and tourists. Hassler says, her task as director will be to “raise the profile” of the organization, locally and beyond, and to build a solid base of constituents.

And we can’t help tooting our own horn, and noting Hassler’s reference to our last SPARK! event:

Earlier in the month, Hassler went to a creative community networking event in Lenox hosted by Spark! an offshoot of Berkshire Creative. “I wouldn’t say there was a graying population there,” Hassler said. “There’s a very exciting arts and cultural scene here, and [members of that scene] are going to find things that excite and interest them.

If you have not had a chance to visit Chesterwood and view their annual Contemporary Outdoor Sculpture exhibit, no worries- the season has been extended to the end of October.

You can also check out the this year’s new ticket package that offers reduced admission to Chesterwood, the Norman Rockwell Museum, The Mount and Hancock Shaker Village! Contact individual organizations for more information.

Read the full Berkshire Eagle article below!

Raising the bar at Chesterwood

New director shares vision

Sunday, August 31

STOCKBRIDGE – Six months after the abrupt resignation of its last executive director, Chesterwood has a new leader.Donna Hassler, a member of Chesterwood’s advisory board, has taken over the helm of the historic property after three years of sinking attendance numbers and a reported 2007 fiscal year deficit of $60,000.

Her task as director will be to “raise the profile” of the organization, locally and beyond, and to build a solid base of constituents, she said.

Pointing out that Chesterwood is a property of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a national organization that oversees Chesterwood and 28 other historic sites in the country, Hassler said she wanted the home and studio of sculptor Daniel Chester French to play to a larger audience.

“Chesterwood should be known on a national level,” she said in a telephone interview yesterday.

Still, the effort to reach a wider audience begins at home, and Hassler said the organization would offer crowd-pleasing events that draw locals and tourists.

Hassler said she already has been getting telephone calls about Chesterwood’s annual antique car show and holiday events: Would they still go on? Yes.

” I’m interested in what the community is interested in,” Hassler said. “I always ask, ‘Who is our audience?’ If we can’t identify them, we have to collaborate and find out.”

Attendance has declined steadily, from a reported 36,000 visitor in 1992, to 12,000 in 2006, according to Chesterwood’s figures. The wet summer trend in recent years didn’t help matters, Hassler said.

“We question if people want to walk the grounds in a rain storm,” she said.

This year, July’s attendance numbers were down 16 percent from the same time last year, but July 2008 saw a 33 percent increase in revenue, attributed to an increase in group tours, Hassler said.

The new director nixed the idea that a decline in attendance numbers could be attributed a graying Berkshire population, or to a decline in younger visitors’ interest in early 20th century sites such as Chesterwood.

Earlier in the month, Hassler went to a creative community networking event in Lenox hosted by Spark!, an offshoot of Berkshire Creative.

“I wouldn’t say there was a graying population there,” Hassler said. “There’s a very exciting arts and cultural scene here, and [members of that scene] are going to find things that excite and interest them. I see them bringing friends and family.”

Hassler said Chesterwood’s season will be extended past the original closing date of Oct. 15, and the property will stay open until the end of the month. She also said this year’s new ticket package that offers reduced admission to Chesterwood, the Norman Rockwell Museum, The Mount and Hancock Shaker Village, will be continued until the end of the season.

Hassler, a resident of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and a native of New York City, has spent the last three years as a consultant at the Brooklyn Museum, the Schenectady Museum, and Chesterwood. She also served as executive director of the Rensselaer County Historical Society. In 2005, she was the guest curator of Chesterwood’s Contemporary Sculpture show.

Hassler replaces interim director Rena Zurofsky; the latter took over leadership of Chesterwood after James Andrew Brian unexpectedly stepped down from the director position last February.

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