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 bruce museum offered a variety art and science exhibitions in 2018-2019 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 2018-2019. 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 help save wildlife by supporting on-the-ground conservation efforts. With ingenuity and wit, national geographic photographer joel sartore has captured portraits of more than 6,000 creatures in 40 countries to date. Many of the animals live in the world's zoos and aquariums, institutions dedicated to preserving and caring for species of all kinds. This exhibition featured many iconic images and allowed visitors to follow sartore around the world on this exciting and important project. Expressionism in print: the early works of richard haas, 1957-64 june 23, 2018 - october 21, 2018 richard haas's expansive oeuvre is predominantly marked by trompe l'oeil murals and detailed renderings of new york city's architecture. But before he began recording urban landscapes, haas sought inspiration from german expressionist printmakers and abstract expressionist painters. Included in the exhibition were prints produced between 1957 and 1964a seven-year period that, in many ways, encapsulates the artist's graphic evolution. While attending the university of wisconsin-milwaukee, a city heavily settled by german immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries, haas began studying german expressionism. Informed by the emotive woodcuts of emil nolde, max beckmann, and erich heckel, haas's large-scale prints include abstract portraits of european artists and great thinkers. In the summer of 1960 haas studied with the abstract expressionist, jack tworkov, at the university of wisconsin-madison. Through tworkov's urging haas applied to the university of minnesota graduate school where he was offered a fellowship as malcolm myers's teaching assistant in printmaking. While studying painting and printmaking there he pursued a minor in art history and became intrigued with the prints of edvard munch. Haas's deep interest in 19th-century european history informs many of these early prints. Included in the exhibition were woodcuts from haas's famous heads series, comprising portraits of henry viii, friedrich nietzsche, henri de toulouse-lautrec, vincent van gogh, claude monet, auguste rodin, paul gauguin, and albert einstein. Wild bees: photographs by paula sharp and ross eatman april 14, 2018 - november 11, 2018 the exhibition wild bees featured exquisite color photographs of native bees in their natural habitats, along with an exploration of their varied lifestyles. The photographs are part of an ongoing wild bee project undertaken by photojournalist and writer paula sharp and nature photographer ross eatman, who began documenting wild bees inhabiting new york's rockefeller state park preserve and neighboring stone barns center for food and agriculture in 2014. Their lenses capture in beautiful detail the tremendous variety of shapes, colors and sizes of the insects. Wild bees are important pollinators of wildflowers, garden flowers and commercial crops including fruit trees, berries, melons and garden vegetables. Although domesticated honeybees often are used to pollinate cultivated plants, wild bees are able to pollinate many flowers and crops that honey bees cannot. The exhibition included spectacular views of a variety of pinned bee specimens magnified by a video microscope, as well as three detailed, enlarged models of wild bees, an interactive bee identification guide, and examples of a few wild bee homes. A continuous thread: navajo weaving traditions august 18”

“The 19th century witnessed a remarkable transformation of the field of medical practice. At the beginning of the century, medical instruments were often beautifully crafted, but could not be sterilized. Anesthesia did not exist and post-operative infection killed many patients. As the era progressed, germ theory became accepted and aseptic tools replaced aesthetically pleasing instruments made of wood, ivory, and ebony. Advancing technology brought the world new ways to diagnose illness such as the stethoscope, x-rays, and sphygmomanometer (for blood pressure). Many of these innovative instruments are direct precursors of those used by present-day doctors, often with remarkably little modification. This exhibition showcased approximately one hundred artifacts, ranging from surgical tools to quack patent medicines to early x-ray tubes, telling the story of how various branches of diagnostic and therapeutic medicine evolved. Masterpieces from the museum of cartoon art january 26, 2019 - april 20, 2019 masterpieces from the museum of cartoon art showcased more than 100 original works celebrating the history of this unique art form in america. Among the many items displayed were an early editorial cartoon by thomas nast, a spectacular prince valiant sunday page by hal foster, and a witty new yorker gag by peter arno, as well as classic peanuts, doonesbury, and calvin and hobbes comic strips. Treasures from this rich and varied repository represented all of the cartoon genres, including comic strips, newspaper panels, comic books, editorial cartoons, magazine cartoons, caricature, illustration and animation. The artwork was on loan from the ohio state university billy ireland cartoon library & museum. The first institution dedicated to the collection, preservation, and exhibition of cartoon art, the museum of cartoon art was opened in greenwich in august 1974. Founded by cartoonist and longtime greenwich resident mort walker, it moved to port chester/rye brook, ny, in 1977, reopened in boca raton, fl, in 1996, and donated its collection to the billy ireland cartoon library & museum in 2008. Your place squared: community art project march 9, 2019 - june 2, 2019 the bruce museum presented a new community project of small artworks created entirely by the public for the public. Your place squared opened in the museum's bantle lecture gallery on march 9, 2019 with a dazzling assemblage of more than 500 artworks created by artists of all ages and abilities. Based on the popular 2012 bruce museum exhibition of self-portraits, your face squared, the bruce museum asked participants to turn to the landscape for creative inspiration. And did they ever! The subjects of your place squared were favorite landscapes, homes, a room, or any space that felt treasured. The artworks were created in many media, including writing, drawing, painting, photography and collage. Each entry was original and anonymous, 6 inches by 6 inches in size and no thicker than 3 inches. Buried treasures of the silk road february 9, 2019 - june 9, 2019 buried treasures of the silk road showcased the extraordinary collection of chinese tomb sculpture in the fred and jane brooks collection of the bruce museum. Featuring dozens of rare and delicate terra cotta figurines, painted and glazed ceramics, and other antiquities, buried treasures of the silk road was on view in the museum's arcade gallery. Buried treasures celebrated the artistic achievements of anonymous chinese artists supported by the riches earned on the silk road. The exhibition will also featured art objects from the museum's permanent collection exchanged on the silk road. Icreate 2019 june 8, 2019 - july 28, 2019 the bruce museum spotlighted the creative energy and vitality of fine art created by regional high school students in the 10th annual icreate exhibition. The show featured 53 jury-selected artworks, and centered on an array of works infused with the creative spirit and impactful voices of budding yo”

“Educational programs the bruce museum's primary goal is to educate our visitors. The museum's audience engagement department tailors each learning experience to match our targeted audience segments in the community. Highlights from the museum's educational programming and planning in 2018-2019 include the following: - this year, the museum had approximately 25,000 visitor interactions through educational programs. -bruce explorers is the newest offering from youth and family programs. During this extended drop-off program for children ages 7-16, participants explore different science concepts through hands-on labs. The first one took place on june 9th, 2019 and was all about "sharks!." participants learned about the external and internal anatomy of a dogfish shark through a guided dissection. -in november 2018, the museum began to offer regularly scheduled programing with imagination playground blocks, purchased through a generous grant from the hilliard family foundation. Called design time, this program allows children ages 2 and up to use their imagination to build, design, and create with blocks. This program takes place on the first and third thursdays of each month in the museum's gallery space. Fourteen sessions occurred throughout the fiscal year and brought in 80 children and caregivers. -the bruce museum hosted an annual martin luther king, jr. Family day on january 21st, 2019. For this event, the museum collaborated with neighbor to neighbor, a non-profit dedicated to serving residents in need in the greenwich area. There were 257 visitors at this event, which is almost double typical family day attendance. Many guests donated several items, beyond what was required for free admission. The museum donated 20 crates of items to neighbor to neighbor. The guest participation and community partnership with neighbor to neighbor honored the spirit of mlk day at the bruce museum. -the relationship between the greenwich public schools and the bruce museum continues to grow and evolve. This year, in addition to hosting innovation lab and providing outreach programs for gps students, the museum presented professional development workshops for the gps three times. In addition, laura newell, the gps program coordinator for art and music and a member of the museum's education task force, asked the museum to offer a recurring workshop for teachers on the day before the first day of school. This interaction means that over 65% of gps staff has participated in a pd workshop led by bruce museum staff. The workshops focused on diverse topics such as "discussing difficult issues using art," "learning about the history of science through the medium of art history, and "object based learning and the interconnectivity of disciplines." -during this fiscal year, the bruce museum educators delivered 146 programs to 3,074 participants from greenwich-based schools and organizations.”

“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 -629,267.”

“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.”