Westmoreland Society 36th Annual Dinner & Acquisition of “Black Sheep” by Sophie Glenn

It was another exciting night at the Museum as Members of the Westmoreland Society gathered on December 1, 2023, for the 36^th annual Westmoreland Society Dinner. The evening began with cocktails and a special preview in the Robertshaw Gallery of the two art selections up for vote, along with a showcase of important acquisitions made possible by the Westmoreland Society over the years.

The Westmoreland’s Board President Helene Conway-Long welcomed guests for dinner, followed by Westmoreland Society Officer Paul Nickoloff, who officially opened the meeting by thanking fellow Westmoreland Society Advisors Karen Douglas, Sande Hendricks, and Linda McKenna Boxx. 

Society Members also gave a very warm welcome to the Museum’s new Richard M. Scaife CEO/Director Dr. Silvia Filippini-Fantoni, attending her first annual dinner. Silvia spoke about the remarkable journey of the Westmoreland Society and its profound influence on the Museum’s collection over the past 36 years. Because of the generosity of Society members, the Museum has added 53 artworks by 50 artists, of which seven are women, to the permanent collection.

For this year’s voting consideration, Chief Curator Jeremiah William McCarthy presented works by two contemporary women artists: Sophie Glenn and Lena Wolff. 

The first work presented was Sophie Glenn’s sculpture Black Sheep, 2020, a sculpted corner chair crafted entirely from steel, with trompe l’oeil effect to evoke wood, and a rush seat of hand-spun steel wool.  The work received first prize in sculpture for the 2023 Art of the State exhibition organized by the State Museum in Harrisburg.

The second work presented was Lena Wolff’s Full Moon Star, 2021, a piece of hand-milled walnut, beech, and maple joined in a patterned marquetry and finished with wax.

By popular vote of Westmoreland Society members, Black Sheep by Sophie Glenn won for accession to the Museum’s permanent collection.

By popular vote of Westmoreland Society members, “Black Sheep” by Sophie Glenn won for accession to the Museum’s permanent collection.

Anila Agha, whose work Flowers (Blue and Red Circle), 2017,  was acquired last year, thanked Society members through video for selecting her work at the 2022 dinner and for supporting contemporary artists like her.

Jeremiah also thanked Society members for their generosity to the Museum’s general art acquisition fund, which made it possible to acquire two works in 2023: Dorothy Dehner’s Landscape with Two Suns, a large tabletop bronze from 1962, and Isabel Bishop’s portrait, Gina.

The coming year will be a transformative one for elevating the visibility of important women artists. Dehner’s work will hold pride of place when the Museum’s modern and contemporary galleries are refreshed in early 2024; Bishop’s portrait will be on view during the Museum’s exhibition The Great Search: Art in a Time of Change, 1928–1945, opening June 2024; and Anila Agha will be presented in her major survey exhibition in fall 2024.

Westmoreland Society members ended the night by generously donating $31,500 more for art acquisition, adding to the more than $1.3 million in contributions raised by the Society to date!

Westmoreland Society members ended the night by generously donating $31,500 more for art acquisition, adding to the more than $1.3 million in contributions raised by the Society to date!