Marian MacDowell
Encyclopedia
MacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
, an art colony
Art colony
right|300px|thumb|Artist houses in [[Montsalvat]] near [[Melbourne, Australia]].An art colony or artists' colony is a place where creative practitioners live and interact with one another. Artists are often invited or selected through a formal process, for a residency from a few weeks to over a year...
in Peterborough, New Hampshire
Peterborough, New Hampshire
Peterborough is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,284 at the 2010 census. Home to the MacDowell Art Colony, the town is a popular tourist destination....
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Her leadership of the Colony through two world wars, the Great Depression and other challenges created one of the foremost art institutions in the United States, which cultivated the work of generations.
Life and education
Marian Griswold Nevins was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, the third of five children born to David H. Nevins, a Wall Street banker, and his wife, Cornelia L. Perkins. When she was eight, her mother died in childbirth. Her aunt Caroline Perkins of South Carolina was a talented musician who came to New York to teach piano. She recognized her niece's gifts and encouraged them. As Marian grew older, she realized she needed to study in Europe, a basis for being taken seriously as a performer or artist. With a chaperone, she left for Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
in 1880 intending to study with Clara Schumann
Clara Schumann
Clara Schumann was a German musician and composer, considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era...
at the Hoch Conservatory
Hoch Conservatory
Dr. Hoch’s Konservatorium - Musikakademie was founded in Frankfurt am Main on September 22, 1878. Through the generosity of Frankfurter Joseph Hoch, who bequeathed the Conservatory one million German gold marks in his testament, a school for music and the arts was established for all age groups. ...
. Finding that Clara Schumann was away, Nevins asked for advice in getting another teacher and was referred to Edward MacDowell
Edward MacDowell
Edward Alexander MacDowell was an American composer and pianist of the Romantic period. He was best known for his second piano concerto and his piano suites "Woodland Sketches", "Sea Pieces", and "New England Idylls". "Woodland Sketches" includes his most popular short piece, "To a Wild Rose"...
, a young American composer. After working together for several years, they decided to marry. Marian Nevins married MacDowell on July 24, 1884. From the beginning she had great faith in his talent and wanted him to devote himself to composing. They had one child who was stillborn.
Career
During their life together, Marian MacDowell realized how having a quiet room would support her husband's work. In 1896 she bought Hillcrest, a farm in Peterborough, New HampshirePeterborough, New Hampshire
Peterborough is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,284 at the 2010 census. Home to the MacDowell Art Colony, the town is a popular tourist destination....
, for their summer residence. Her husband appreciated how artists learned and were stimulated by interacting with people from other disciplines and here they had plans of creating a place where artists could come together.
In 1904 Edward MacDowell began to show evidence of a nervous disorder or dementia
Dementia
Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...
that ended his composing and teaching career. He lost virtually all mental capacity. Marian cared for him to the end of his life in 1908, in his last years with the help of a nurse Anna Baetz. After Edward's death, Baetz stayed with Marian MacDowell and helped with the Colony.
In 1907 Marian MacDowell initiated her and Edward's plan for an artists' colony, founding a residential institution in Peterborough, New Hampshire
Peterborough, New Hampshire
Peterborough is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,284 at the 2010 census. Home to the MacDowell Art Colony, the town is a popular tourist destination....
where artists could stay for limited periods of time to work. She transferred the deed of property for Hillcrest Farm to the Edward MacDowell Association to initiate the colony. She had a studio built there, and that summer invited the first artists: Helen Mears, a sculptor, and her sister Mary Mears, a writer. The latter published an article about the colony in the July 1909 issue of The Craftsman. Marian MacDowell conceived of ways to support both artists' need for solitude and for interaction.
To raise funds for the Colony's support and endowment, MacDowell began lecturing to women's clubs and musical groups. Encouraged at one session, she took up her performing career again at the age of fifty and became the foremost interpreter of MacDowell's music. "For approximately the next twenty-five years, traveled throughout the United States and Canada, giving between 400 to 500 concerts to raise money for the colony."
She frequently performed concerts for women's music clubs, such as the MacDowell clubs, named after Edward MacDowell. She inspired the formation of some of the MacDowell clubs and united ones that previously existed. These clubs were significant donors to the Colony and, in turn, brought the arts to their local communities. Marian MacDowell maintained close relationships with many of these clubs throughout her life, in addition to umbrella organizations such as the National Federation of Music Clubs
National Federation of Music Clubs
The National Federation of Music Clubs was founded in 1898, became an NGO member of the United Nations in 1949, and was chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1982. NFMC is a non-profit philanthropic music organization whose goal is to promote American music, performers, and composers through quality...
and professional music sororoties: Sigma Alpha Iota
Sigma Alpha Iota
Sigma Alpha Iota , International Music Fraternity for Women. Formed to "uphold the highest standards of music" and "to further the development of music in America and throughout the world", it continues to provide musical and educational resources to its members and the general public...
, Delta Omicron
Delta Omicron
Delta Omicron is a co-ed international professional music honors fraternity whose mission is to promote and support excellence in music and musicianship.-History:...
, Phi Beta
Phi Beta
Phi Beta Fraternity: National Professional Association for the Creative and Performing Arts is an American national professional college fraternity for the creative and performing arts. It was founded in 1912 at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois...
, and Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Chi Omega is a women's fraternity founded on October 15, 1885. Currently, there are 135 chapters of Alpha Chi Omega at colleges and universities across the United States and more than 200,000 lifetime members...
. She said women's groups raised far more money for the Colony than did men's fraternities.
Through her unceasing efforts to support both female and male artists in all disciplines, Marian MacDowell became a leading figure for the arts in the United States. The colony supported generations of artists in her lifetime, whose work expressed and contributed to American life. It continues to do so.
Legacy and honors
Marian MacDowell was awarded honorary degrees from numerous academic, artistic and media institutions:- 1930, University of New HampshireUniversity of New HampshireThe University of New Hampshire is a public university in the University System of New Hampshire , United States. The main campus is in Durham, New Hampshire. An additional campus is located in Manchester. With over 15,000 students, UNH is the largest university in New Hampshire. The university is...
, DurhamDurham, New HampshireAs of the census of 2000, there were 12,664 people, 2,882 households, and 1,582 families residing in the town. The population density was 565.5 people per square mile . There were 2,923 housing units at an average density of 130.5 per square mile... - 1938, New Jersey State College for Women
- 1939, Middlebury CollegeMiddlebury CollegeMiddlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...
Other awards included:
- The prize of "the American woman who makes the most valuable contribution to American life during the year" from Pictorial ReviewPictorial ReviewPictorial Review is a magazine which first appeared in September, 1899. The magazine was originally designed to showcase dress patterns of William Paul Ahnelt's American Fashion Company. By the late 1920s it was one of the largest of the "women's magazines"....
- 1940, Pettee Medal from the University of New Hampshire
- Henry Hadley Medal for outstanding service to music
- At the age of 92, Marian MacDowell was honored by the National Institute of Arts and Letters for her distinguished service in the arts.
- In 1997, the MacDowell Colony was awarded the National Medal of ArtsNational Medal of ArtsThe National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and patrons of the arts. It is the highest honor conferred to an individual artist on behalf of the people. Honorees are selected by the National Endowment for the...
.
Papers of the Edward and Marian MacDowell Collection and the MacDowell Colony are held by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
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