by nrf@admin | May 5, 2022 | NRF News
Keeping programming at Prescott Farm free. Providing in-person and virtual learning opportunities. Preserving important historic buildings along the streetscapes of Newport.
These are just a few of the activities that our dedicated Restoration Partners support with their ongoing, monthly gifts. By joining Restoration Partners, your monthly contribution is immediately directed toward NRF’s ongoing work to preserve Newport’s architectural and cultural heritage.
Will you help us meet our goal of welcoming 20 new monthly donors?
In honor of Preservation Month this May, we invite you to become part of this community of individuals who care deeply about protecting historic resources in Newport.
There are many advantages to joining the program. Your monthly gift is fully tax-deductible and automatically charged to your credit card or bank account. Partners receive periodic benefits and invitations to private events. We send a year-end tax statement outlining your cumulative giving.
Please visit our website at www.newportrestoration.org/donate to learn more about the program and to make your gift. Thank you for supporting NRF and for caring about preservation in Newport.
LEARN MORE
by nrf@admin | May 3, 2022 | NRF News
The annual Doris Duke Historic Preservation Awards, a joint program of the Newport Restoration Foundation and the City of Newport, encourages excellence in historic preservation by recognizing exemplary preservation, restoration, and rehabilitation projects as well as education and advocacy initiatives that have taken place throughout Aquidneck Island. This year’s deadline for nominations is June 1, 2022.
Newport Restoration Foundation is calling upon the local community to nominate projects completed within the last three years that have truly enriched and added value to the character of the community through preservation. The winners will be acknowledged at an awards event on Friday, September 9, 2022 (event details to be announced). Please see below for award criteria and links to the nomination guidelines.
Award Criteria
- Eligible recipients are individuals; non-profit or for-profit organizations; and federal, state, or local agencies.
- A wide variety of nominations are encouraged, from small buildings to large, major rehabilitations to minor restorations, landscapes or streetscapes, and education or advocacy initiatives.
- All work related to the project or initiative must have been completed within the last three (3) years.
- Nominations are welcome from Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth.
- Properties that are currently (or anticipated to be) listed for sale will not be considered.
- Up to three (3) awards are made annually. The Nomination Review Committee reserves the right to designate additional awardees under extraordinary circumstances.
Further information about the nomination process, including a listing of the information that must be provided in conjunction with a nomination, can be found at newportrestoration.org/DDPA or by emailing Alyssa Lozupone, NRF’s Director of Preservation, at alyssa@newportrestoration.org.
by nrf@admin | May 1, 2022 | NRF News
May is Preservation Month. This year’s theme of “People Saving Places” gives us the opportunity to recognize the team who maintain one of the largest collections of period architecture owned by any single organization in the United States. The painting, carpentry, and systems teams have more than 180 years combined of experience and keep the 18th and early 19th century buildings intact for our tenant stewards. With such an extensive collection of historic properties, it’s no easy task. Some of our crew have been a part of NRF for decades, and some members have recently joined the organization to continue the legacy of preservation. This month, we look forward to introducing you to members of our team and giving you a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into the maintenance of these historic structures. If you see them working around town, be sure to say hello!
You can help us maintain these historic places by becoming a Restoration Partner. As a Restoration Partner, your monthly contribution is immediately directed toward NRF’s ongoing work. Your monthly gift is fully tax-deductible and automatically charged to your credit card or bank account.
Please visit newportrestoration.org/donate to learn more about the program and to make your gift. Thank you for supporting NRF and preservation in Newport!
by nrf@admin | Apr 3, 2022 | NRF News
Whether you are looking for a perfect gift or are celebrating the coming of spring, check out what’s new at our museum store. Thank you for shopping local and supporting your favorite museums!
For lounging in style: Featuring custom patterns from Rough Point and Whitehorne House Museum, these super comfy and stylish lounge pants are ultra soft and come with handy front pockets. Perfect for being at home or on the go!
Doris Duke’s recently re-upholstered chaise lounge inspired us with its bold blossoms, birds, and butterflies pattern. Check out our new carry-all and yoga pants featuring this fabulous pattern.
Send a note through snail mail (or a #camelgram). Send a note to a friend or collect these postcards as prints!
For tea-enthusiasts: Featuring delicious flavors and custom patterns inspired by Rough Point and Whitehorne House Museum, this collection has everything you need for a fancy afternoon tea or for enjoying a cozy, relaxing cuppa.
These custom coasters protect surfaces from spills, work well with a cozy cup of tea, and make perfect gifts.
For journaling : Jot down your thoughts, record your dreams, decompress after a long day, make lists, or doodle away with these custom, themed journals. Now in the popular Floral Wallpaper pattern!
For those who know every day is Caturday: Named after Whitehorne House Museum’s honorary cat, Luna the onrament is a purrfect and festive addition to your home. And unlike the real Luna, this ornament is safe around holiday trees!
Get ready for spring: Don’t forget your gardener gloves—our collection now includes *new* Garden of Paradise arm saver gloves and our weeder gloves are now back in stock!
Cozy up with this soft, handmade Newport Blanket, named for the city of Newport. Perfect for a sunrise yoga session, gathering together for s’mores around a bonfire, getting comfy for a movie marathon, listening to a music festival, enjoying a good book in a grassy park, watching sunsets on the beach, and delicious picnics on summer days.
Inspired by Asia: The Collection: Inspired by the vibrant ceramics, gorgeously detailed fashion, and expertly crafted decorative arts on display at Rough Point? Want to discover more about East Asian craft and design and the Duke family’s collection? Check out these products curated in honor of this year’s special exhibition, Inspired by Asia: Highlights from the Duke Family Collection.
We will be adding new custom products throughout the spring, so stay in touch and follow updates to our new collection here: https://shopnewportrestoration.org/collections/new-in-2022
Standard shipping is free with purchases of $35 or more. We now giftwrap as well: Take the stress out of gift-giving. Select the giftwrapping option to have your gifts be beautifully wrapped in paper featuring hand-drawn illustrations and patterning.
by nrf@admin | Mar 14, 2022 | NRF News
This April, nonprofit organizations across Rhode Island are participating in the statewide giving day known as #401Gives. Starting at midnight on April 1, you can visit 401Gives.org and donate to NRF, or to one or more of the many participating nonprofits in the Rhode Island community. We are grateful to our many donors and friends who supported NRF over the past two years through this important day of giving.
What is 401Gives?
401Gives is an initiative of United Way of Rhode Island. Now in its third year, the purpose is to bring a collective voice to Rhode Island’s nonprofit community and deepen the state’s culture of philanthropy. In 2021, Rhode Islanders made history by contributing close to $2.3 million dollars to benefit 422 nonprofits.
As a local nonprofit organization, NRF is proud to participate in 401Gives as a way to educate our neighbors on the wide range of activities we engage in within our community, our state, and beyond. Many of the programs and experiences we offer are possible thanks to you – our generous neighbors and friends on Aquidneck Island – and those statewide who visit our museum properties annually.
How can you make a difference on 401Gives Day?
Whether you decide to make a gift to NRF on April 1, or another organization, we hope you will participate if you’re able.
- Visit 401Gives and search for NRF!
- Check out NRF’s microsite to learn more about what we do and to make your gift.
- Like and share our posts on Facebook and Instagram to spread the word to others who can join the 401Gives movement and support local nonprofits
Questions? Comments?
If you have any questions, or would like more information, please contact Alicia Cipriano, Manager of Development and Donor Relations, at 401-849-7300, Ext. 117.
Thank you in advance for your generosity, for participating in this greater community effort, and for caring about the well-being of all Rhode Islanders!
by nrf@admin | Mar 3, 2022 | NRF News
To celebrate Women’s History Month, we are highlighting women collectors, artists, and makers who are an important part of the stories we tell at NRF.
Although Rough Point is not featured in HBO’s The Gilded Age show, it was certainly part of the real Gilded Age.
Just as fictional Bertha Russell plays an important role in the success of her family—including her husband’s business interests—so did Nanaline Duke. She knew how to successfully navigate society and to help her husband make and strengthen business connections through society events like dinners. She was responsible for creating a comfortable, well-ordered home by furnishing, decorating and arranging the spaces, and managing the household staff.
Newport was a center for the social elite to spend their summers. The Duke family vacationed in Newport long before they purchased Rough Point in 1922. Over the next two years, Nanaline worked to make Rough Point a showcase and an attractive place to host society events.
She was very hands-on and corresponded with the design firms and decorators working on the renovations (as she was during the construction on the Duke house on 78th Street and 5th Ave. in 1909). Although American women may have had limited rights—and only were guaranteed the right to vote in 1920—they exercised their economic buying power. Besides being involved with the design of the rooms, Nanaline also purchased objects and furnishings for Rough Point.
This invoice from June of 1924 is a list from shopping excursions to a local Newport store, John H. Kazanjian & Co., specializing in “Oriental” wares. Items Nanaline purchased included 15 dining room chairs (and 15 wastebaskets!), 2 sugar bowls, 16 pillows, and many other assorted household goods.
There is a tendency to dismiss women’s shopping in this period as frivolous and unimportant. In fact, the press would later dismiss daughter Doris Duke’s behavior as “shopping” when she was in the process of amassing a significant collection of art from Southeast Asia and from the Islamic world.
But middle-class and wealthy women—through their purchases, their social rituals, and philanthropic work—helped shape American consumer culture (the rise of big department stores!), ideas about philanthropy and charitable giving, and collections of objects that are collected and stewarded in museums today.
Our upcoming exhibition, Inspired by Asia: Highlights from the Duke Family Collection, also explores the role Nanaline played in collecting art and design from Asia. Many of the objects on display at Rough Point today were purchased by Nanaline Duke—discover Nanaline’s influence on Rough Point’s design the next time you visit.
1) Portrait of Nanaline Duke, wife of James B. Duke. By Douglas Chandor (1897-1953) ca. 1931. Oil on canvas. On display in the Nanaline Duke building in Duke University.
2) Rough Point Receipt, 1924, courtesy of Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Historical Archives, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. Durham, NC.
