October 13 and 14
Mechanics Hall, Worcester, Massachusetts, and Livestream
View our Speaker List
Day 1 Thursday, October 13
8 am-5 pm (ET)
Awards Ceremony 5-6:30 pm
Culture acts as a catalyst for inclusion and social justice, with regional impacts on placemaking and community livability. Places, stories, and collections can be powerful tools for community engagement, particularly when paired with 21st-century technology and creative energy. Learn how institutions are reimagining their philosophic and physical structures to serve as critical community anchors, making their work accessible and inspiring to local, regional, national, and even international audiences.
8:00-8:30 am Check In
8:30-8:40 am Welcome
8:40-9:20 am Opening Remarks: Forging a New Lens
How is the role of cultural institutions changing and what is the impact on placemaking and community livability?
Speakers:
Dr. Alissa Butler, Study Center Manager, Historic New England
Leo Lovemore , Ph.D., Librarian for History, Society, and Culture, Brown University Library and Research Scholar, Recovering New England’s Voices, Historic New England
9:20-10:10 am Panel: Obliterating the Old Lens on Social History?
What does it really mean to share inclusive history? Institutions provide leadership in developing healthy, engaged, thriving communities through diverse, equitable, inclusive, and just storytelling.
Moderator: Catherine Allgor, President, Massachusetts Historical Society
Panelists:
Bethany Groff Dorau, Executive Director, Museum of Old Newbury
Byron Rushing, President, Roxbury Historical Society
Kyera Singleton, Executive Director, Royall House and Slave Quarters
10:10-10:25 am MORNING BREAK
10:25-10:50 am Conversation: Institutional Renewal
The activity of stewarding sacred places has anchored New England communities for centuries. How are religious institutions innovating in their work and renewing their physical space to ensure relevance to communities in the 21st century?
Moderator: Candelaria Silva-Collins, Chair, Designators, George B. Henderson Foundation
Speakers:
Mary Margaret Earl, Executive Director and Senior Minister of the UU Urban Ministry
Emily Kahn, Program Coordinator (National Fund for Sacred Places), National Trust for Historic Preservation
10:50-11:15 am Conversation: Toward an Inclusive Collection
Experts discuss the evolving practice of collecting material culture and new efforts to create more inclusive, accessible, and engaging collections as a tool for community engagement and social justice.
Moderator: Michelle Finamore Ph.D., Fashion and Design Curator
Speakers:
Rebecca Kelly, Lecturer – Textiles, RISD
Doneeca Thurston, Executive Director, Lynn Museum/Lynn Arts
11:15 am-12:00 pm Lightning Talks: Technology and Globalizing Cultural Heritage
Pervasive technological advances coupled with the reality of global engagement creates unprecedented challenges and opportunities for creating, preserving, and experiencing cultural touchstones in the 21st century.
Speakers:
Samantha Koslow, Christie’s Director, Business Development and Head of Museum and Corporate Collection Services
Dr. Carl Skelton, President, Gotham Innovation Greenhouse
12:00-12:45 pm LUNCH
12:45-1:00 pm Performance on Mechanics Hall’s Historic Hook Organ
Return from lunch to a performance by Mechanics Hall Principal Organist Peter Krasinski, who will play a chronological tapestry of music from the mid-19th century through today, featuring pieces that those in the hall would have heard through the decades.
1:00-1:10 pm Lightning Talk: Mechanics Hall: Anchoring Community Through Culture
Nationally recognized for its historic significance and as a premier 21st-century century performance venue, Mechanics Hall represents the critical role of historic and cultural spaces in sustaining vibrant communities.
Speaker: Kathleen Gagne, Executive Director, Mechanics Hall
1:10-1:30 pm Keynote Address: Culture as Catalyst
Exploring innovative efforts by cultural institutions to become transformational centers of civic engagement and community vitality.
Speaker: Kate Lear, Board Chair, Ballet Hispánico
1:30-3:00 pm Provocation: The Historic New England Center for Preservation and Collections
Top design firms reveal their concepts for a vibrant center for collections management, curatorial excellence, and preservation leadership in the Queen Slipper City. Presentations are followed by a moderated Q&A session.
Deborah Berke Partners Presentation
Speakers: Deborah Berke and Arthi Krishnamoorthy, Deborah Berke Partners
Brandon Haw Architecture Presentation
Speaker: Brandon Haw, President and CEO, Brandon Haw Architecture
Höweler + Yoon Presentation
Speaker: Eric Höweler, Co-Founder + Partner, Höweler + Yoon
3:00-3:15 pm AFTERNOON BREAK
3:15-4:00 pm Panel: Reimagining Post-Industrial New England
Factories, mills and other large-scale buildings were once the lifeblood of New England communities, but many outlived their original use. How can these facilities provide the inspiration and the opportunity for today’s community revitalization?
Moderator: Gregory Lombardi, Founding Principal, Gregory Lombardi Design
Panelists:
Barnaby Evans, Executive Artistic Director, Waterfire
Liz Hitchcock, President, Orbit Group
Julian Wade, President and Publisher, Davis Publications and Trustee of The Printers Building
4:00-4:30 pm Lightning Keynotes: Living Archives
How are the world’s foremost museum collections transforming into more open, accessible, inclusive spaces of community engagement that highlight the relevance of archived materials to the present and future? Presenters discuss new forms of archiving and collections care that challenge the traditional concepts of ownership and curation using new technology and creative, participatory structures.
Speakers:
John Childs, Director of Collections, Peabody Essex Museum
Erica Lome, Associate Curator, Historic New England
4:30-4:35 pm Closing Remarks
4:35-6:30 pm Awards
Close the day with a celebration of important work to preserve New England’s cultural heritage.
Edward F. Gerber Urban Preservation Grant
Historic New England Prize for Collecting Works on Paper
Historic New England Book Prize
Community Preservation Grants
Preservation Leadership Award
Day 2 Friday, October 14
8 am-5 pm (ET)
Legacies of planning, development, and renewal are being reconsidered in the 21st century against priorities of equity, sustainability, and innovation. As New England responds to 21st-century challenges like climate change, resurging interest in heritage trades suggests important ways to leverage the region’s cultural legacies to build new models of resiliency and sustainability. Academic leaders take the conversation into communities as they facilitate an evolving public dialog about the relevance and impact of history, community, and placemaking.
8:00-8:30 am Check In
8:30-8:50 am Opening Remarks
8:50-9:30 am Special Presentation: A Civic Gateway: Revisioning the Otis House
Explore the theory and conceptual approach to revitalizing the oldest home in Boston’s West End as a center for community activity and a gateway to Historic New England.
Speaker: Nader Tehrani, Founding Principal of NADAAA, and former Dean of The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at The Cooper Union
9:30-9:45 am Lightning Talk: Preservation and the Politics of Urban Growth
After six decades or more, is the preservation movement facing an identity crisis? Retaining sense of place and preserving cultural heritage are important goals, but affordable housing shortages, equity movements, and climate change challenge the preservation movement to become more inclusive, innovative, and sustainable. How is preservation of the past shaping the future of cities?
Speaker:
Mayor Luke Bronin, City of Hartford
9:45-10:00 am MORNING BREAK
10:00-10:50 am Panel: Intersectional Emergency: Climate Action in New England
Examining the role of heritage preservation and cultural arts in building a resilient future in the face of impending climate change impacts to New England’s cultural, natural, ecological, and economic sectors.
Panelists:
Ed Carr Ph.D., Director of International Development, Community, Environment (IDCE) and Professor at Clark University, and Panel Member for Climate Change Adaptation Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel of the Global Environment Facility
Andy Gapinski, Director of Horticulture at Arnold Arboretum
Eric Kramer, Principal, Reed Hilderbrand, and Critic, Landscape Architecture Department, RISD
10:50-11:10 am Lightning Talk: Net Zero 20##: Decarbonization and Old Buildings
What are the implications of net-zero planning and related policies for communities with many old buildings? How can sustainability be achieved without sacrificing built heritage?
Speaker: Dr. Luis Aguirre-Torres, Director of Sustainability, City of Ithaca, NY
11:10-11:35 am Climate Q&A with the Audience
Speakers:
Dr. Luis Aguirre-Torres, Director of Sustainability, City of Ithaca, NY
Ed Carr Ph.D., Director of International Development, Community, Environment (IDCE) and Professor at Clark University, and Panel Member for Climate Change Adaptation Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel of the Global Environment Facility
Andy Gapinski, Director of Horticulture, Arnold Arboretum
Eric Kramer, Principal, Reed Hilderbrand, and Critic, Landscape Architecture Department, RISD
11:35 am-12:05 pm Conversation: Resiliency Requires a Traditional Trades Infrastructure
Leaders from two of the foremost educational institutions for traditional trades discuss the challenges and opportunities for their network and why traditional trades are essential to community resiliency in the 21st century.
Speakers:
Nicholas Redding, President/CEO, Preservation Maryland
Sarah Turner, President, North Bennet Street School
12:05-1:10 pm LUNCH AND STUDENT POSTER PRESENTATIONS
1:10-1:20 pm Lightning Keynote: Sustainability and the Auction Market
Speaker: Karen Keane, CEO, Bonhams Skinner
1:20-2:05 pm Panel: Growing Community through Agricultural Preservation
With resurging interest in craft brewing, farm-to-table restaurants, and community agriculture, communities are realizing the growing benefits of getting in touch with their roots.
Moderator: Jane Hennedy, Site Manager, Southern Rhode Island, Historic New England
Panelists:
Lynne Bryan Phipps, Executive Director, Beachwood Center
Uli Lorimer, Director, Native Plant Trust
2:05-2:20 pm Lightning Talk: Opening Doors: Preservation Easements
An underutilized tool for developing strong partnerships and meaningful preservation strategies, preservation easements offer the opportunity to protect the rich cultural value of places that is contained inside their walls.
Speaker: Carissa Demore, Team Leader for Preservation Services, Historic New England
2:20-3:1o pm Panel: History Lessons: Transformations in Teaching…Good and Bad
As classrooms become the frontline for polarized debates about historical accuracy, cultural awareness, and critical reflection, educators are engaged in dynamic discussions about the goals of history education, not just with their students, but throughout their wider communities. Discussion includes audience Q&A.
Moderator: Dr. Francoise Hamlin, Associate Professor of History and Africana Studies, Brown University
Panelists:
Kenann McKenzie, Director, Generous Listening and Dialogue Center (GLADC) at Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life
Claudia Wu, Attorney and Nonprofit Consultant
3:10-3:25 pm AFTERNOON BREAK
3:25-4:10 pm Panel: New England’s Tradition of Summer Festivals
New England is rich with longstanding arts festivals that celebrate the history of creative expression across the region in state-of-the-art sheds, beautiful cultural landscapes, and historic performance halls. How do these venues inform the artistic process? How do New England’s arts festivals transcend the stage to bridge cultures, classes, and generations? What are these institutions doing to evolve to new audiences, new priorities, and new challenges, while sustaining their missions and their communities?
Panelists:
James Naughton, Tony Award-winning Actor and Williamstown Theatre Festival
Chris Serkin, Chair, Ridley Chair in Law, Vanderbilt University, and President and Chair, Marlboro Music Festival
Anne-Marie Soulliere, Retired President, Fidelity Foundations, and Trustee, Ellen Battell Stoeckel Estate, Yale University
4:10-4:50 pm Performance: Dvorak’s Piano Trio in E Minor, Op. 90
The Summit closes with a performance by world-class pianist Dr. Melvin Chen, Deputy Dean at Yale School of Music and Director of Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, in the stunning, 19th-century Great Hall at Mechanics Hall. The piece was chosen because it is a beautiful work, full of passion, pathos, and joy. Moreover, Dvorak was very instrumental in the development of music in the United States and encouraged Americans to try and find their “national” music.
4:50-5:00 pm Closing Remarks
