Bruce Museum Inc.

“Bruce museum, inc. Can have the following classes of membership as the board has authorized in the by laws: a) individual membership b) corporate membership (which may include a partnership, trust or other legal entity) c) family membership d) patron membership e) benefactor membership f) robert bruce circle membership each membership in good standing is entitled to one vote on each matter submitted to a vote of the members. The persons who comprise a family membership - together is entitled to one vote on each matter. A membership may vote in person (through a duly authorized representative in the case of a corporate membership) or by valid proxy. Members are not entitled to receive a share of the organization's profits or excess dues or a share of the organization's net assets upon the organization's dissolution. The board may, from time to time, modify or eliminate classes of membership, may establish other classes of membership, and qualifications and privileges applicable to each membership class.”

“The members of the bruce museum, inc. Elect the trustees, other than the ex-officio trustees, at the annual meeting of the members, by a majority vote of the members entitled to vote who are present in person or by written proxy.”

“Bruce museum, inc. Has its form 990 prepared by an outside accounting firm and has established the following review process to ensure that the information reported is complete and accurate. The form 990 is provided to the audit committee for review, comments, and approval. Once the audit committee has approved the return, an electornic copy is distributed to the board and it is filed with the internal revenue service. A hard copy of the return is also distributed at a board meeting.”

“Each trustee must conduct all of his or her activities in such a way as to avoid any conflict between the trustee's personal interests and the policies, operations, or interests of the museum. Trustees with special areas of interest within the museum should understand that advocacy for those interests should be advanced only within the framework of the museum's interests as a whole. In the event a conflict is unavoidable, the trustee shall at all times act in a manner consistent with his or her fiduciary responsibility to the museum and shall exercise particular care that no detriment or appearance of detriment to the museum results from that conflict. A trustee is considered to have a conflict of interest when the trustee, or any member of his or her immediate family: (a) has a financial, personal, or professional interest which impairs or might appear to impair the trustee's independence of judgment in the discharge of his or her responsibilities to the museum. (b) could receive a material financial, personal, or professional benefit from knowledge of confidential museum information. (c) would receive financial compensation for personal or professional services rendered to the museum without the prior approval of the board of trustees. A trustee should not vote on, approve, or recommend approval of a transaction between the museum and that trustee or immediate family member, and should disclose any potential conflict prior to a vote or other action. If such trustee is present when a matter involving a potential conflict of interest is considered, he or she should leave the meeting during that discussion and/or the vote. A trustee should, in general, communicate any administrative or managerial concerns to the chairman of the board of trustees or to the executive director. In no case should a trustee give direction to, or criticize directly, any museum personnel. The staff guidelines are founded on the following general principles: the first loyalty of a staff member is to the museum; conflicts of interest or the appearance thereof must be avoided; a professional staff position must not be used for personal gain; staff should at all times seek to maintain the museum's good name in the community and avoid misuse or disparagement of its name, reputation, property or services; a staff member shall not pursue any course of action indirectly which if done directly would be proscribed by the museum's code of ethics.”

“The executive committee conducts an annual performance review of the executive director. Compensation is based on the employee's performance and comparability data to the industry standards using the american association of museum's salary survey. The board approves the executive director's compensation. The compensation approval is documented in a letter from the board of directors.”

“Form 990 is available on www.guidestar.org, www.charitynavigator.org, and www.eri-nonprofit-salaries.com form 990 is also available on our website: brucemuseum.org”

“Financial statements, governing documents, conflict of interest policy, form 990, and form 1023 are made available for public viewing upon written request at bruce museum, inc. Headquarters located at 1 museum drive, greenwich, connecticut, 06830.”

“The museum was built originally as a private home in 1853 and was bequeathed to the town of greenwich, ct in 1908 by textile merchant robert moffat bruce, who stipulated its use as a museum. The first exhibition at the bruce museum took place in 1912 and featured works by local artists known as the greenwich society of artists, several of whom were members of the cos cob art colony. The cos cob school of american painting is now well established as an important part of the history of american art and it forms the nucleus of the museum's holdings of paintings, watercolors, drawings, and notebooks by artists such as leonard and mina ochtman, george wharton edwards, and hobart jacobs. Paralleling an interest in connecticut painters and their works, early directors of the bruce museum pursued the development of the natural sciences, building particular strengths in the mineral and avian collections. The bruce museum was expanded in 1993 and includes nearly 8,000 square feet of exhibition space, comprised of one main gallery, three smaller galleries, and a lecture hall. The museum operates under accreditation by the american association of museums. The bruce museum is excited to share its many successes this year, including the following: -twenty-three (23) gifts accessioned into the permanent collection of the bruce museum (collective property of the citizens of greenwich), totaling an additional 1,157 objects from the fields of history, natural history, and art. Highlights of these gifts include: six (6) ancient chinese ceramic pieces form the han and tang dynasties; 28 pre-columbian (andean) artifacts; the largest privately held collection of connecticut fossils - over 500 fossil and geological specimens. -for the fourth straight year in a row, the museum has enjoyed increased attendance by families to our family days, bruce beginnings, and drop-in weekend workshops over 3,500 participants in fy18. -results of fy18 surveys indicated that 99% of visiting school groups, and 100% of adult tour participants enjoyed their visit to the bruce museum and will return. On average, the bruce reaches 25,000 school children per year, and over 70,000 visitors of all ages. -the bruce received a national science foundation research grant to work on a groundbreaking evolutionary tree highlighting all 10,000 bird species. -in november 2017, the visitor services staff underwent poverty awareness training in order to prepare for museums for all program participation. Museums for all offers free admission for up to four people when a single ebt (electronic benefits card) is shown at the desk. -the curator of science, daniel ksepka, continued to put the bruce museum in the spotlight with published articles in american scientist and proceedings of the national academy of science, as well as being accepted as a fellow into the prestigious explorers club. -collaboration with byo greenwich with programming highlighting the issue of plastic pollution in the sound and local environment resulting in a ban of single use plastic bags in town and awareness of the waste create by single use straws. Exhibitions the bruce museum offered a variety art and science exhibitions in 2017-2018 that educated and engaged our diverse, community audience. Each exhibition featured world-class art, objects and artifacts that focused on the needs and interests of our visitors and our surrounding community. The following summarizes each of the exhibitions from 2017-2018. Spring into summer with andy warhol and friends! June 10, 2017 - september 3, 2017 the exhibition built on three important works in the bruce museum collection: -warhol's little red book, 1971, a gift from the andy warhol foundation for the arts, featuring ten unique polaroid portraits of the artist's friends (new canaan architect philip johnson and his partner david whitney, fashion model donna jordan, art critic barbara rose, and a self-portrait); -flowers (hand-colored), 1974, a suite of ten silkscreens prin”

“Hot art in a cold war: intersections of art and science in the soviet era january 27, 2018 - may 20, 2018 the bruce museum's provocative exhibition hot art in a cold war: intersections of art and science in the soviet era examined one of the dominant concerns of soviet unofficial artistsand citizens everywhereduring the cold war: the consequences of innovation in science, technology, mathematics, communications, and design. Juxtaposing art made in opposition to state-sanctioned socialist realism with artifacts from the soviet nuclear and space programs, hot art in a cold war touched upon the triumphs and tragedies unleashed as humankind gained the power to both leave the earth and to destroy it. Hot art in a cold war was an expanded version of an exhibition organized at the zimmerli art museum, rutgers university. In time we shall know ourselves: photographs by raymond smith april 7, 2018 - june 3, 2018 in time we shall know ourselves was an exhibition of black-and-white photographs by new haven photographer raymond smith. In the summer of 1974, inspired by the photographs taken in the american south in the 1930s by walker evans, a teacher and mentor of smith at yale university, as well as by robert frank's the americans (1958), smith embarked on a photographic expedition of his own. Intending to write a ph.d. Thesis in american studies, smith instead channeled his intense curiosity about his country and its inhabitants into a moving suite of portraits, works that are at once down-to-earth, melancholy, and filled with surprise. The exhibition featured 52 photographs, many vintage prints. Patriotic persuasion: american posters of the first world war january 20, 2018 - june 10, 2018 patriotic persuasion: american posters of the first world war featured a selection of works donated to the bruce museum by beverly and john w. Watling iii, with additional pieces from greenwich's lockhart family. The united states involvement in world war i lasted only a brief twenty months, from april 1917 to november 1918, but the nation's military and propaganda strategies were of enormous consequence. In the era of radio and film's infancy, posters remained an essential medium for the public's dreamlife, capable of uplifting messaging and nightmarish manipulation. Featuring original posters that combine image and text in ingenious, surprising, and sometimes disturbing combination, "patriotic persuasion" marked the centennial of american participation in the first world war. Diaspora cloud by vik muniz june 6, 2018 - june 30, 2018 the bruce museum presented diaspora cloud by vik muniz, part of creative time's pledges of alliance. The bruce museum raised artist vik muniz 's pledges of allegiance flag, diaspora cloud, which flew over the front entrance of the museum throughout june 2018. Muniz's diaspora cloud features a cloud floating against a blue background, evoking a geographically and temporally dispersed public that nevertheless share a similar viewpoint. Muniz uses the sky as a metaphor for the ephemerality of connection within a community. Pledges of allegiance is a nationwide art project organized by the new york-based public arts nonprofit creative time. The flag has continued to travel to 19 cultural institutions and universities across 16 states. Icreate 2018 june 9, 2018 - august 12, 2018 each year, the bruce museum spotlights the creative energy and vitality of fine art created by regional high school students in the icreate exhibition. Over 400 submissions were received for consideration this year. Of those submissions, the show featured 45 jury-selected artworks created by students competing for awards and included a catalog and digital presentation of all participating students' work. National geographic photo ark june 2, 2018 - september 2, 2018 the national geographic photo ark, led by photographer joel sartore, is a multiyear effort to document every species living in wildlife sanctuaries, inspire action through education, and h”

“The town of greenwich, connecticut owns the entire museum collection. The organization operates the facility and organizes the exhibits per an agreement with the town of greenwich. The organization provides security for the collection. It also performs restoration and preservation of collection as needed to maintain the collection for exhibition.”

“Loss on uncollectible pledges -158,767.”

“The independent auditor is selected after a review and bidding process conducted by the audit committee. The audit committee reviews the financial statement and meets with the independent auditors before the audit report and financial statements are issued. Audit findings, if any, are communicated to the audit committee by the independent auditors. Audit committee considers the findings. Audit committee recommends corrective action, if in their judgement it is needed. There have been no changes in the process from the prior year.”