NEW: Higgins Armory to Close, Transfer Collection to Worcester Art Museum
Friday, March 08, 2013
“Like all museums, Higgins has been faced with the challenge of long-term sustainability,” saids Suzanne Maas, Higgins’ interim executive director, in a statement on the museum's website. “The original endowment for the institution was only $17,000, and yet it has managed to survive all these years thanks to the driving creativity of dedicated staff to deliver engaging programming and unrelenting support from the local community. To ensure the long-term sustainability of the core collection, we decided to move it to the Worcester Art Museum and combine our greatest strengths with theirs.”
The move will keep the Higgins Collection here in Worcester, where it was assembled by Industrialist John Woodman Higgins in the 1920s and 1930s, and where museum officials hope it will be enjoyed for generations to come.
“The trustees’ decision to transfer the collection is driven by the inescapable reality that excellent programs and strong attendance alone, without a significant endowment, cannot sustain Higgins Armory as an independent institution,” says James C. Donnelly, Jr., Esq., a long-time trustee who has served as the president of Higgins since 2009. “Combining with the Worcester Art Museum will keep this tremendous asset for the community and preserve John Woodman Higgins’ legacy for generations to come.”
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