Year-end letter from the Director
Season's greetings from your friends at the Noble Maritime Collection! The GIF above was made from photographs of John A. Noble taken when he was a toddler by his father in their flat on Nevern Square in Earl's Court, London, around 1916.
The museum’s mission has never before been more relevant, and during this past year, we have embraced our history and found inspiration in art that depicts strength during adversity, and programs that celebrate joy in music and understanding through storytelling.
We have been exploring ways to make the museum’s collection accessible to all. Curator Megan Beck has been assisted by undergraduate and graduate interns from the College of Staten Island, Wagner College, and New York University. Our internship program is something I am very proud of, as we hope to inspire a new generation of museum administrators, educators, curators, and historic preservationists. Noble interns get a chance to do hands-on work with objects and historic documents. There is no greater testament to the program’s success than the fact that Megan started as an intern herself!
We greatly value education, and this year for the younger grade levels, Director of Programs Dawn Daniels led our teaching artists to conduct programs that included Maritime Careers of New York Harbor, an early workforce development program for elementary and junior high school students; Waves of Inspiration, a unique public art exhibition of work created by special education students; and La Capitana Dice, our first Spanish education program for English Language Learners. Through in-person sessions and creative virtual classes, nearly 2,100 students participated this year, approaching pre-pandemic levels.
This year, we were honored to host the September 11th anniversary exhibition Arc of Twenty Years, guest curated by Michael McWeeney and Sarah Yuster, featuring the diverse perspectives of eight local artists. We also presented E.F. Neilson (1865-1909): Paintings by a New Brighton Artist in the Sailors’ Snug Harbor Collection, featuring six newly conserved works of art.
Currently on view now through the spring is an expanded exhibition of John A. Noble’s lithographs and paintings from the museum's collection and on loan from private collectors. If you are a fan of his work, now is the time to visit, as there are 22 paintings, 32 prints, 7 drawings, and 3 litho stones on display. We are also currently working on an exciting new exhibition about the Italian liner SS Andrea Doria, set to open in June!
We are grateful to our public and private funders who supported the museum this past year, and to all of those who participated in our benefit art auction last month. Thank you!
If you were planning to make a tax-deductible contribution to the museum and have yet to do so, please consider including the Noble Maritime Collection in your end-of-year giving. You can do so easily by visiting noblemaritime.org/contributions.
Happy holidays, and thank you!
Warm regards,
Ciro Galeno, Jr.
Executive Director