Grant Awarded in Program to Honor Women in Art History

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has awarded grants to historic sites, including the Arthur Dove/Helen Torr Cottage in Centerport, as part of a program to recognize the roles of women in art history.

The  SaltLife: Students Create Kinetic Sculptures and Soundwalk Inspired by Art and Home of Helen Torr at the  cottage, operated by the Heckscher Museum of Art ,was awarded $18,000 to help students learn about how  the natural world and local ecology affected the life and art of Helen Torr, and create kinetic sculptures and a soundwalk for a public art installation.

The new Dorothy C. Radgowski Learning Through Women’s Achievement in the Arts Grant is a joint effort of Where Women Made History (WWMH), and Historic Artists’ Homes & Studios (HAHS), both programs of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Like HAHS itself, the new grant program aims to support one-of-a-kind museums set within the historic residences or working spaces of notable American artists.

In addition to the Dove/Torr cottage award, grants were given to:

  • Renee Gross in Mid 20th-Century Greenwich Village at the Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation (RCGF), New York, NY. Drawing on Renee Gross’ life story and experiences as an immigrant, a pandemic survivor, an activist and organizer, and a philanthropist, and the lives of the many women artists in her orbit, RCGF will develop educational resources for K-5 students to provide them access to a small site and histories that would otherwise not be accessible. ($18,000 grant)
  • Centering Women in STEAM through Classroom, Field Trip, and Digital Learning for 4th Graders at the Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park/Saint-Gaudens Memorial, Cornish, NH. This place and collections-based project shines a light on the many women involved in the creative process associated with sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens through the development of science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) focused lesson plans for 4th grade students and education professionals. ($14,500 grant)
  • Looking Closer with O’Keeffe: STEAM Learning Experiences at Georgia O’Keeffe’s Home & Studio, Abiquiu, NM. At the artist’s former home, now owned at operated by the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, underserved and predominantly Spanish-speaking students from the local elementary school system will be inspired through immersive educational field trips and family tours rooted in sensory experiences that address accessibility. New STEAM learning opportunities will celebrate this icon of modernism, and acknowledge her own sensory challenges, while building stronger relationships with the local community. ($18,000 grant)

Programs developed at each site through the grant program will  be published on the National Trust and the HAHS websites as models to inspire other historic sites to make stories of women’s achievement a part of their storytelling and interpretation.

Torr was American painter who worked with her husband, Arthur Dove and Georgia O’Keeffe to develope Mondernism.

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