Dear Friend,

Fenway Studios continues to delight, both inside and out, and remains a worthy National Historic Landmark building that is enjoyed by more and more visitors. We are planning for more.

Last year I wrote to let you know of steps Friends of Fenway Studios (FoFS) were taking to expand general awareness and support of Fenway Studios. This landmark gem remains surprisingly unknown; when FoFS and Fenway Studios joined The Fenway Alliance (see later item) we attended our first board meeting and found that only 1 of the 21 board members knew of the building and no one had ever been in it. And these were people actively involved with the arts in the area. Their excitement to learn more reinforced for me that it is critical for FoFS to continue building awareness of Fenway Studios.

Let me tell you about what we are doing to expand awareness of Fenway Studios:

• as promised last year we have updated our web site to be more accessible and useful to visitors. I urge you check it out at www.friendsoffenwaystudios.org;
• we presented talks by noted art historians speaking about The Boston School and Fenway Studios' role, with nearly 300 people attending- you can sign up for upcoming talks on May 1^st and June 5^th by visiting our web site;
• we issued our first newsletter which spoke about the Speaker Series Talks and featured information about an influential early Fenway Studios artist - if you didn't receive our newsletter by email, please send your email address to us at: info@friendsoffenwaystudios.org;
• at the urging of one of our new board members we joined The Fenway Alliance  and helped celebrate the formal recognition by the Commonwealth of The Fenway Cultural District, of which we are now a part;
• with the support of Fenway artists we recently hosted a visit for some of our supporters to 3 studios - let us know if you would be interested in joining us for our next private tour;
• and we continue to work closely with the board of Fenway Studios, in particular with regard to refinancing, which will be a key to maintaining their affordability.

We recently were selected by the Massachusetts Cultural Council to receive a grant under their ArtistsLink program to develop a Capital Program for Fenway Studios, a necessary but expensive piece required for their refinancing.

And our energetic board continues outreach to the community to engage more people with our mission - Preserving a National Landmark, Promoting a Boston Art & Architectural Treasure.  

Now we need your help. We continue to reach out to private and public institutions, all of whom expect to see support from a solid donor base - that means you.

Your support at this time is critical to us.  We are beginning to plan for three critical projects:

• Permanent restoration of the water table
• Replacement of the industrial windows, installed in the 1980s, with efficient and period-appropriate windows
• Stabilization and rehabilitation of the north-facing masonry wall.

We very much appreciate your past support and ask that you please consider as generous a donation as you can.

You will note in the Contact section of the web site the opportunity to contribute by PayPal or by printing out a donation form.

Thank you in advance.

Sincerely,

Rick Heym AIA