Bruce Museum Inc.

“The organization amended its bylaws in may 2022. Significant changes are: - allow for the removal of any trustee for cause subject to a two-thrids vote of the entire board. - allow the board to re-elect the current chair despite having served a three-year term.”

“Bmi has various classes of membership as authorized by the board of trustees. Each class is entitled to one vote on each matter submitted to a vote of the members, including the election of trustees at the annual meeting of the members. The persons who comprise a family membership are entitled to one vote on each matter. 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.”

“Pursuant to the management agreement between bmi and the town of greenwich, the town of greenwich designates three trustees with voting rights to the board of bmi. The members of bmi elect the remaining 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.”

“The organization has its form 990 prepared by an outside accounting firm. Once the form 990 is prepared, it is reviewed by the cfo and is presented to the audit committee. Once approved by the audit committee, the public disclosure copy of the return is distributed to all members of the board of trustees prior to filing with the irs.”

“Bmi has a conflict of interest policy within its code of ethics which covers the board of trustees as well as the organization's staff and volunteers. All officers and trustees are required to disclose annually any potential conflicts of interest. Per the terms of this policy, a trustee may not vote on, approve, or recommend approval of a transaction between the museum and that trustee or immediate family member, and must 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 must leave the meeting during that discussion and/or the vote. Additionally, the policy requires care to be exercised by staff to assure that no conflict or perceived conflict arises between themselves and the organization, and the staff must not collect for themselves in competition with the museum. Conflict of interest restrictions are also explained to volunteers and observed by them. The executive director & ceo and a committee determine conflicts and review the conflicts once determined.”

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

“The organization posts its financial statements on its website, and its governing documents and conflict of interest policy are available upon written request.”

“The construction on the new bruce project limited the museum's exhibition calendar this year; however, the bruce still offered a variety art and science exhibitions in 2021-2022 that educated and engaged our diverse, community audience. Further, the bruce museum's permanent galleries of science were dedicated, open, and operational for the better part of the year. 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 2021-2022. The amazon rainforest: beauty destruction hope june 19, 2021 - october 10, 2021 in this exhibition featuring the wonders of the amazon rainforest, the interplay between live animals, scientific specimens, and the work of renowned photographers told the story of a sprawling ecosystem on the verge of collapse, and the efforts being made to save it. In the first stage of this journey, viewers marveled at the beauty of the amazon. The sublime photography of brazilian artist claudia jaguaribe portrayed a seemingly unspoiled eden, while live animal displays and taxidermy brought the rainforest to the museum floor. Visitors learned how the amazon ecosystem is balanced, from the fish in the floodwaters to the monkeys swinging through the canopy. Unfortunately, the secret hidden by this verdant faade is an urgent one: deforestation and ecological degradation is on the rise in the amazon, and the rainforest is in desperate need of help. The haunting works of daniel beltr showed scenes of this devastation viewed from overhead; an ecological apocalypse that gains a shocking and sterile beauty. Though this annihilation is manmade, no humans populate these desolate landscapes. Interspersed with these images were skeletons of the animals that make the rainforest their home, inviting visitors to consider what is lost when the rainforest is destroyed. Hope is found in the final stretch of the exhibition, where viewers learned how the communities living in the amazon have teamed up with scientists, artists, and politicians around the world to find new ways for both rainforest and humanity to prosper. These include initiatives towards sustainable rainforest resource use, such as harvesting rubber from wild rubber trees, and creating fisheries that support families without straining local fish populations. Finally, the exhibition highlighted the work being done in the bruce museum's very own connecticut neighborhood to help the amazon, such as the species conservation programs of the beardsley zoo. Chain reaction: the photography of patrick nagatani june 27, 2021 - october 10, 2021 the bruce museum presented the exhibition, patrick nagatani: chain reaction, featuring the entire nuclear enchantment series, a powerful body of work made between 1988 and 1993, which deals with the history of nuclear weapons development in new mexico, as well as the effects of this industry on the people and places there. As a japanese-american, this was a particularly resonant subject for nagatani, whose parents were both put in internment camps during wwii, and whose father's family hailed from outside of hiroshima. Originally planned for august 2020, the exhibition was intended to coincide with the 75thanniversary of the u.s. Bombings of the japanese cities of hiroshima and nagasaki, but was delayed due to the covid-19 pandemic. Consisting of 40 photographs, the series presented a politicized intervention as nagatani constructs multilayered and wildly imaginative images that unsettle our understanding of this complex time and place in u.s. History. The jarring juxtaposition of ancient symbols and figures from japanese and native american culture alongside uranium mining facilities and contaminated deposit sites created a visual discord that speaks to this complexity. At once harrowing and humorous, these artworks participate in the ever-relevant debate weighing the benefits of scientific and t”

“Icreate 2021 - virtual july 6, 2021 - october 10, 2021 this year's icreate was a virtual exhibition. The icreate exhibition is an annual juried competition that showcases the talents of an emerging generation of artists. With a final selection of 46 artworks from over 620 submissions across 46 high schools throughout connecticut, and new york, icreate exemplifies a breadth of themes and styles. In addition to providing a venue for youth expression, icreate seeks to instill confidence in participating artists and offer the public a glimpse of the unbounded genius contained within creative young minds. Visitors were invited to go to the icreate website to view the artists chosen for first place, second place, and third place prizes. In addition, three honorable mentions were awarded, and for the first time, an award for video animation was part of the generous cash awards. Moreover, this is the third year a student was selected to win the berkley one award. These awards were made possible thanks to the generosity of the exhibition sponsors. The people's choice award welcomed visitors to vote for a favorite artist. The fisher dollhouse: a venetian palazzo in miniature november 7, 2021 - january 23, 2022 a magnificent diorama of ten rooms filled with an eclectic range of historical and contemporary craft, art, and design rendered in miniature, the fisher dollhouse was created within the confines of the covid-19 pandemic. Inspired by venice's glamourous gritti palace and memories of a world once on the move, the dollhouse provided a haven for its creator and, during the months of quarantine, an escape. Like other crafts, its making offered a form of therapy: an activity to occupy the mind and hands as a means of coping with anxiety and immobility. Joanna fisher is a new york-based arts patron and collector. When the city went into lockdown, she felt her world shrinkand embraced it, literally. For this project, fisher enlisted the talents of dozens of celebrated craftspersons, designers, artisans, and artists. The house itself was made to order by british set designer holly jo beck. The stunning murano-style glass chandelier came from glass artists mario ramos and mariana grande in madrid. A painted bombe chest and bust of julius caesar are by david castillo, a miniaturist in barcelona. Fred cobbs, a revered miniature metalworker in georgia, made a range of tools and other items, from a watering can to a wine vat to an espresso machine. Most extraordinary are the miniature works of contemporary art created by ten prominent international artists, among them dustin yellin, ryan mcginness, hunt slonem, and veronica gaido. The fisher dollhouse installation also included exquisite replicas of a festival tent, a gallery tent, and a grotto tent containing micro artworks and other whimsical details that reward close looking. A project begun in isolation that expanded joanna fisher's world far beyond her own walls, the fisher dollhouse was a delight for bruce museum visitors to enjoy. Resolute: native nations art in the bruce collection november 7, 2021 - january 30, 2022 showcasing an array of significant objects in the native nations collection of the bruce museum, resolute illustrated a new perspective on native nations as historical and contemporary societies, providing new information about the people who built the collection, and introducing now-known artists whose works have been silent for decades. In light of important conversations about how museums acquired their collections with honest, yet difficult admissions of expropriation of works by colonialized people, the bruce museum has undertaken a study of the acquisition process of its native nations collections. With the responsibility to the citizens of the town of greenwich and beyond, the bruce has addressed its collection history and the ethical questions related to america's first peoples and those who collected their made objects. An examination of the rich bruce collection h”

“Loss on uncollectible contributions receivable -232,539.”

“The organization has an audit committee that is responsible for the oversight of the audit of its financial statements and selection of an independent accountant. The process has not changed from the prior year.”