In this issue
-- Garrison Keillor Video Available April 1
-- The Big Read Kicks Off on April 2
-- The Big Read Continues at Local Libraries
-- Spencer Finch, Artist-in-Residence -- A Unique Gift for Graduates and Moms -- Dickinson Oak Tree Recovers from Winter -- Orra White Hitchcock: Woman of Art and Science -- About the Museum -- Are you on FacebookŪ? Join us!
The Robin is the One -
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Garrison Keillor Video Available April 1 
If you missed the opportunity to see Garrison Keillor's benefit performance in December or would like a memento of the occasion, a DVD of the live performance will be available at the Museum shop and the Museum's on-line shop beginning April 1. An audio CD will be available May 1.
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The Big Read Kicks Off on April 2 
On Saturday, April 2, at 11:30 a.m., the Museum will kick-off The Big Read: Emily Dickinson at the Homestead with the launch of Poems Around Town, an innovative program that posts Emily Dickinson's poems around Amherst. Throughout the Big Read, visitors will encounter the poet's work in unexpected places as fifteen businesses and organizations in downtown Amherst host her poems. The poems are also read aloud as part of a cell phone audio experience.
Later that day, at 2 p.m., Thom Tammaro and Sheila Coghill, editors of Visiting Emily: Poems inspired by the life & work of Emily Dickinson, will examine Dickinson's legacy in a panel discussion with poets Alice Fulton, Peggy O'Brien, and Richard Wilbur. The program will take place at the Jones Library, a co-sponsor of this program, 43 Amity Street, Amherst. Sheila Coghill and Thom Tammaro are on the English Department faculty of Moorhead State University in Moorhead, Minnesota. Coghill is also Chair of the department and directs its Master of Liberal Arts program. Tammaro directs the MFA program in Creative Writing. Alice Fulton's most recent book of poetry is Cascade Experiment: Selected Poems. She is winner of the 2002 Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry from the Library of Congress and Ann S. Bowers Professor English at Cornell University. Peggy O'Brien is editor of the Wake Forest Book of Irish Women's Poetry and a member of the English Department at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Richard Wilbur's most recent collections of poems, Anterooms, was published in 2010. Two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and United States poet laureate in 1987, Wilbur currently co-teaches a course on poetry at his alma mater, Amherst College. Complete information about all of the Big Read programs, April through May, is available at The Big Read page on the Museum's website. Details about Big Read programs in May will be featured in upcoming E-Updates. The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.
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The Big Read Continues at Local Libraries
In April, the Museum will present "Emily Dickinson's Poetry 101" at the public libraries in Hadley, Sunderland, Belchertown, and South Hadley, communities with historic connections to the poet. "Emily Dickinson's Poetry 101" is a two-hour program that includes a brief biographical introduction to the poet and short excerpt of the new film "Seeing New Englandly"; an overview of her poetry and its significance to literature; and a facilitated discussion of selected poems. For locations, dates and times see our Big Read Events web page.
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Spencer Finch, Artist-in-Residence 
On Tuesday, April 26, 7 p.m., as part of the Big Read program, Spencer Finch will give a public talk at the Jones Library, 43 Amity Street, Amherst. Spencer Finch is a visual artist whose work has appeared in exhibitions and is part of the permanent collections of museums throughout the United States and the world. Finch's efforts to understand perception are in part what draw him to Dickinson's poetry.
Later in the week, on Thursday, April 28, at 4 p.m., the Museum will celebrate the installation of Finch's new work on the Homestead's property. Finch has visited the Emily Dickinson Museum several times in preparation for various installations. Most notably, on a summer afternoon in 2004, Finch recorded the light on the lawn of Dickinson's home in Amherst for his installation "Sunlight in an Empty Room (Passing Cloud for Emily Dickinson, Amherst, MA, August 28, 2004)." Recent exhibition highlights include "Spencer Finch: My Business, with the Cloud" (2010) at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, and "As if the sea should part And show a further sea" (2009) at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane, Australia. Finch lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
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A Unique Gift for Graduates and Moms 
If you are looking for an unexpected and fun gift for a graduate or for Mother's Day, a membership to the Friends of Emily Dickinson Museum is perfect. It is also easy! Just click JOIN NOW! and we will send your membership gift packet anywhere in the world! Aside from helping to preserve Emily Dickinson's home and promote her poetic legacy, Friends receive discounts on special programs, such as an upcoming Nosegay workshop with Marta McDowell; an invitation to the Friends of the Emily Dickinson Museum Members Day in September and access to other special museum programs.
Household or Individual Membership benefits include:
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Dickinson Oak Tree Recovers from Winter 
The beloved oak tree just east of the Dickinson Homestead suffered a split in its trunk where major limbs branch off the primary leader. This year's harsh New England winter battered the oak with high winds and heavy ice. The weight of its long arching limbs twisting in the wind placed additional stress on the trunk.
When splits in the crotch of the tree became apparent, the Museum called in an arborist and tree company for formal diagnosis and treatment. The tree received its annual removal of deadwood a bit early this year and had its crown pruned back to lighten the load. Four new cables now provide additional support for the branches. The large white oak, querus albus, is believed to be about 150 years old, making it a contemporary of Emily Dickinson. It is just barely visible in an early twentieth century photograph at a height equal to the peak of the Homestead roof.
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Orra White Hitchcock: Woman of Art and Science 
Visit the Mead Art Museum's newest exhibition, "Orra White Hitchcock (1796-1863): An Amherst Woman of Art and Science." Co-curated by Daria D'Arienzo and Robert Herbert, this special exhibition at Amherst College's Mead Art Museum brings to light the little-known art of one of the Connecticut River Valley's earliest female artists. Hitchcock, her husband Edward (influential scientist and president of Amherst College), and their children were well known to the Dickinsons. The exhibition runs through May 29, 2011.
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About the Museum 
The Emily Dickinson Museum: The Homestead and
The Evergreens is dedicated to educating diverse
audiences about the poet's life, family,
creative work,
times, and enduring relevance, and to
preserving and
interpreting the Homestead and The Evergreens as
historical resources for the benefit of
scholars and the
general public. The Emily Dickinson Museum is owned by the Trustees of Amherst College and overseen by a separate Board of Governors. The Museum is responsible for raising its own operating and capital funds. The Emily Dickinson Museum is a member of Museums10, a collaboration of ten museums linked to the Five Colleges in the Pioneer Valley--Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The Museum's Tour Center may be reached at 413-542-2947, Wednesday through Sunday, during museum hours.
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Are you on FacebookŪ? Join us! 
The Museum has created a presence on
FacebookŪ
to share information and tools with the FacebookŪ
commmunity.Become a fan today! Just click on the FacebookŪ icon.
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Quick Links . . . |
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More Links . . . |
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Quick Links... |
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For general information, contact the Museum at
Recorded Information:
413-542-8161
Website:
http://www.EmilyDickinsonMuseum.org
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