Chautauqua

Nancy Gibbs wears many hats: journalist, educator, wife and mother, lifelong Chautauquan and now, trustee.

The former editor-in-chief of Time — and the magazine’s first female editor-in-chief — is one of two newly appointed Chautauqua Institution Board of Trustee members who will serve four-year terms.

In the off-season, Gibbs directs Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy and is the Edward R. Murrow professor at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She has co-authored two best-selling books: The Presidents Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity and The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House.

The Presidents Club was a finalist for The Chautauqua Prize in 2013.

But before her nearly 40-year career as an author and journalist, Gibbs found her love for writing in the Daily newsroom, she said, covering everything from the Children’s School to the morning lectures.

What was it like growing up at Chautauqua Institution?

This is the one place where I have friends I literally have known since birth, and we remain friends and we still see each other every summer.

I think that’s one of the truly remarkable things about Chautauqua; whatever directions our lives took us since coming here, this is where we come back to. This is ground-zero for our families, our professional lives in many cases — in my case, in journalism, and in my brother’s in music — all had its roots here. I think that’s one of the reasons it’s been so important in my life and our families’ lives.

How would you explain the Institution to someone who has never been here or never heard of it?

College, summer camp, mental health retreat, nature preserve — it’s all of those things. It’s like a gymnasium for your heart and your head and your soul.

Can you explain what a trustee and what the board of trustees does?

I’m still learning because I am a new trustee. … My older brother was a trustee, my father chaired the board of trustees, and so I’ve been watching the Chautauqua (Institution) Board of Trustees for as long as I can remember. It’s a fascinating experience now to get to join it and understand where its influence begins and ends.

I think it’s important the board draw from both the experience and the expertise of its members, inside Chautauqua and outside Chautauqua — what we do when we’re here, what we do the rest of the year — and bring that experience to the challenges and opportunities here.

So what I love about the board is it is such an interesting mixture of people and skill sets, and I think that’s what makes it a successful resource for the administration here.

You’re on the marketing & brand strategy committee. How do you think your professional expertise will translate into that committee?

Well, to the extent that my professional life has always been about storytelling, which is the heart of journalism and in some ways the heart of politics and essential to successful leadership for Chautauqua — to figure out how to tell its story to people who might want to be part of this place, and how to understand its mission both here in this place during the summer, but also outside of the summer and outside of the gates.

I think that aligns fairly obviously with my life as a journalist and my life trying to see patterns and understand what people are curious about, what they want to know more about. I’m hoping I can help Chautauqua where it needs to tell a story for the 21st century that fully draws on values it has held since the 19th (century).

What’s your biggest hope for your first season as a trustee?

Just to keep learning. I think new trustees obviously bring fresh eyes to the challenges, but there is so much we don’t know about the immense amount of work that goes into making this place seem natural and organic and effortless, as though it all just magically happens, as though these grounds just take care of themselves, as though that program just appears on the Amphitheater stage and a million other places around the grounds.

So much work goes into making this happen that I’m still learning an enormous amount about how it operates and how Chautauquans — trustees and not — can help make the place as healthy and successful as possible. 

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

Once a reporter always a reporter; I get up to find out what happened overnight. I’m horribly attached to my devices, so unfortunately about the first thing I do is look in my inbox and read the papers, read 50 newsletters that have appeared. That’s always been true to some extent; it’s particularly true now when we’re in such a fateful political season.

Do you miss being a reporter or being in the thick of the news?

I’m still writing. … And what I’m teaching is so directly connected to — not just what’s happening in journalism — politics and the health of democracy itself. While I’m not responsible for making real-time coverage decisions — and I don’t miss that — I don’t feel like I’ve stepped out of the conversations happening in newsrooms.

What are you most excited about this season?

This feels like a moment when Chautauqua’s almost 150-year mission is needed more than ever, and not only needed, but people are aware it’s needed — of a place where people actually physically come together, actually put down their phones and talk face-to-face or listen to a lecturer or an artistic presentation that challenges them.

I think there’s a mindfulness now that there’s something that has really disrupted the way we talk to each other and think about each other. … The fact that this is a place where people can come and have an actually civilized disagreement — it’s not that everyone comes here and agrees with each other, hopefully people come here and disagree with each other — but in a way that reminds them that it’s okay and that you can still get along and solve problems together.

I think there’s a hunger for that — for modeling that, for experiencing that, for taking some of that back into the rest of our lives — that’s actually new, even though that’s been a mission of this Institution since 1874. I’m excited about the ways in which this place is urgently adapting to the need right now and seeing where that takes us going forward.

According to Jared Jacobsen, Chautauqua’s organist and coordinator of worship and sacred music, some of the most interesting music in America was written by the modernist composer Charles Ives.

“Ives had a very unique way of looking at music,” Jacobsen said. “His father was a bandleader who was very well-known in New England, and (organized) these huge festivals in their town. He would invite bands to march into the town square at the same time from every direction.”

Hearing the sounds of multiple bands overlapping each other as they played became a crucial part of Ives’ childhood and deeply affected his musical composition process, Jacobsen said.

“You would hear two bands playing the same piece but not in the same rhythm,” he said. “Or you would hear two bands playing the same piece but not in the same key. Or you would hear two bands playing the same piece but not really in tune.”

Jacobsen said Ives incorporated bands playing over one another into his music, leading the way on compositional concepts like bitonality, polyrhythmia, altered tunings and altered scales.

At 12:15 p.m. Wednesday, July 3 in the Amphitheater, Jacobsen will showcase distinctly American composers, like Ives, on the Massey Memorial Organ in the mini-concert “The American Organist.”

“These are all the pieces that I, as an American, play on this American organ, in the most American place in America,” Jacobsen said. “Ironically though, the idea for the (Massey) Organ was conceived in Canada and funded by a Canadian family.”

But, he added, the Massey Organ is “essentially a part of American history.”

Jacobsen said he designed the musical program for this mini-concert to complement the rich history of the Massey Organ, which is over 100 years old, and to anticipate Chautauqua’s Fourth of July celebration.

American Composer Dudley Buck’s “Concert Variations on ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ ” is one piece Jacobsen said he included specifically because of the Fourth of July.

“He’s important because he grew up in New England and got a really good American music education,” Jacobsen said. “Then he was sent to Europe by his parents to get the European stamp of approval.”

According to Jacobsen, people in the late 19th century believed that unless a composer had studied in Europe, they couldn’t be any good.

“They thought that since this was the Colonies, we didn’t know anything about making music,” he said, “which was totally bogus.”

Yet when Buck returned from Europe, according to Jacobsen, he became one of the first American organists to have a career as a touring concert artist, traveling up and down the Eastern seaboard.

“Dudley Buck’s piece, which is a blast to play, is a classic 19th century variation for the keyboard,” he said. “Variations involve starting with a tune, gently playing with it for a little bit, and then getting more adventurous with the rhythms or the chord structure. Because this is an organ piece, there’s always a part that shows off what your feet can do on the organ.”

Variations like Buck’s have a uniquely American flavor to them, according to Jacobsen.

“I just love playing American music,” Jacobsen said.

LGBTQ Friends and Community is excited to welcome Judy Shepard to Chautauqua Institution and sponsor her lecture and conversation with James Fallows.

Shepard’s conversation with Fallows will take place at 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 2 in the Hall of Philosophy. After a collective fundraising effort, the organization was able to provide underwriting support for the lecture and bring Shepard, founding president of the Matthew Shepard Foundation board of directors, to Chautauqua.

“We’re interested in LGBTQ topics, so a couple of years ago I approached the Foundation and said ‘If we’ve got speakers that we would be interested in sponsoring, we’d be interested in doing fundraising,’ ” said Bob Jeffrey, a member of LGBTQ Friends and Community and Institution trustee. “Part of our mission is to really raise consciousness about our community.”

The organization holds many events throughout the season to provide a welcoming presence and raise awareness about the LGBTQ community. Hosting events allows them to reach more people and spread more knowledge.

“We have social events, meet and greets; things like that where we can show ourselves as welcoming and welcome those that are coming to the community for the first time and to also build that presence here,” Jeffrey said. “It’s important to do that — (and) to have speakers here as well. They can talk about various topics that help people understand a little bit more about our community.”

LGBTQ Friends and Community’s mission statement is to increase diversity within the greater Chautauqua community. The organization strives to create a sense of welcome and shared community for LGBTQ people and educating family, friends, allies, teachers, pastors and others about LGBTQ people and their experiences.

“A big part of our mission is to really be part of the whole diversity effort that Chautauqua’s undertaking,” said Barbara Britton, LGBTQ and Friends Community member. “The LGBTQ and Friends group really takes that seriously, not just for diversity and accepting our organization, but it’s that whole phenomena when you have anybody who’s lived their life as the ‘other’ and knows what it’s like not to be accepted by society.”

Once Britton caught wind that Shepard was a potential speaker, she immediately took action to raise the necessary funds. LGBTQ Friends and Community were excited for the opportunity because of Shepard’s impact in the community.

“We really believe in the mission of what Chautauqua’s doing,” Britton said. “So over the winter, when they let us know that Judy Shepard was a potential speaker, we got really excited because of course, in our community, everybody knows about Matthew Shepard.”

During the month of June, New York State hosted a Pride Celebration to honor the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots and a half-century of the LGBTQ rights movement. Chautauqua is an official part of the state’s Stonwall50/World Pride 2019 celebration.

Britton is confident that with such a strong advocate like Shepard, the event will spread awareness and is very much worth supporting.

“Judy Shepard has been just fearlessly fighting for our rights — LGBTQ rights,” Britton said. “She’s known worldwide as an advocate and a fighter. It was really special to raise money for someone like that (to come to Chautauqua).”

Shepard is the founder of the Matthew Shepard Foundation and president of its board of directors. After losing her son, Matthew Shepard, to a murder fueled by anti-gay hate in 1998, she now travels the nation speaking to audiences and communities about what they can do to make the world a better and more accepting place for everyone regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, sex, gender identity and expression or sexual orientation. Shepard has written a memoir, The Meaning of Matthew, which describes the family’s journey through the prosecution of Matthew’s attackers and their continued work to fight for progressive civil rights.

For more information on program underwriting opportunities, contact Karen Blozie, senior major gifts officer at the Chautauqua Foundation, at 716-357-6244 or kblozie@chq.org.

Dennis Galucki sums up the idea of Buffalo Day at Chautauqua in 10 words: “To explore American legacy through place-based, lifelong learning and imagination.”

Ten words, and now, 10 years. Buffalo Day at Chautauqua is spending its 10th summer on the grounds with a lineup of lectures and presentations throughout the day and across the grounds on Tuesday, June 2.

Buffalo Day at Chautauqua, Galucki said, started with a Special Studies course he taught in 2006 and 2007: “Imagine Buffalo in the 21st Century: The Buffalo-Chautauqua Idea.” The idea, he said, “flowed from that thought.”

All of the events scheduled on the grounds today are tied to the theme of “Imagine Communities Working Toward the Common Good: Imagine Greater Buffalo.”

Galucki opens the day with a brief presentation at 12:15 p.m. in the Hall of Philosophy, on “The Buffalo-Chautauqua Idea.” Galucki’s presentation serves as an introduction to a 12:30 p.m. panel discussion: “Education, Environment, Racial Equity, Arts & Culture.” The panel, led by Clotilde Perez-Bode Dedecker, president and CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, includes Rabbi Jonathan Freirich, the Rev. Jonathan Staples, and David Rust.

“The panel came together through the work being done in Buffalo, where the city is dealing with many of the same issues that Chautauqua is dealing with, whether they’re diversity, whether they’re equity,” Galucki said. “And the lead on that, as far as I can see, is the Community Foundation. They’re a natural fit.”

Following the panel, at 2 p.m. in Smith Memorial Library, Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy Executive Director John Jablonski will join Betsy Constantine, executive vice president of the Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo, in a discussion on “Buffalo & American Legacy.”

Buffalo Day concludes at 3:30 p.m. in the Hall of Christ, when Stanton Hudson, executive director of the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site, and Peter Schiffmacher, the founder of iTours 369VR and co-founder of Reality Capture Experts, deliver the latest program of the Oliver Archives Heritage Lecture Series.

“That works at two levels,” Galucki said. “One is the story of Theodore Roosevelt’s being inaugurated in Buffalo. That’s really the beginning of the Progressive Era. … The other dimension is the virtual reality.”

Schiffmacher and the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site have worked with a grant from New York State that will allow students in fourth and eighth grades to use virtual reality in their classrooms to experience the site — without ever having to set foot there.

Galucki said that, throughout the years, Buffalo Day at Chautauqua has showcased how the work being done on the grounds can exist in cities across the country.

“What if you could take the spirit and idealism of Chautauqua and plunk it into a city all year long?” he said.

Every year, gifts to the Chautauqua Fund have an immediate impact on the innovations to the full range of programs discovered at Chautauqua Institution. The community’s active participation and investment makes the Chautauqua experience possible, from the lectures and worship, to artistic programming, scholarships for students of the Schools of Performing and Visual Arts and much more.

Last year, over $4.9 million was raised from nearly 3,500 individuals, families and organizations who  gave to the Chautauqua Fund. Chautauqua Fund volunteers play an essential role serving as supporters for the Institution, helping to raise critical funds.

Volunteers on the 2019 Chautauqua Fund team gathered with the Institution and Foundation leadership on Saturday, June 22, to learn more about important initiatives and projects that have been impacted by the work they are doing for Chautauquans.

The kick-off began with a welcome and opening remarks from Tim Renjilian, co-chair of the 2019 Chautauqua Fund, along with his wife, Leslie. Renjilian said he was eager to start the season and was anticipating multiple events that volunteers would enjoy as they engage with members of the community and encourage philanthropic support that makes Chautauqua’s programs possible.

“I’m actually really excited about the new strategic plan and the excitement that it’s creating for people,” Renjilian said, reflecting on the kick-off. “I think in terms of the program, there are all sorts of great events across all of our different disciplines. (In) the arts, I am specifically excited about the theater program this year.”

Renjilian said the kick-off is a great way to start the season, bringing together the dedicated volunteers who will be advocating on behalf of the Chautauqua Fund.

“My favorite part is just having everybody together,” he said. “That, for me, is kind of the official beginning of the season. It’s the first time when we have all of the familiar faces and old friends just in one place. Seeing all of the people and just feeling the excitement about the new season as everybody comes together and start to actually become part of the season plans, I think that’s the most exciting thing.”

Staff introductions and Foundation updates were presented by Geof Follansbee, CEO and vice president of development. The Foundation has welcomed many new faces to the development office this season — new staff members who were introduced included Amy Gardner, associate vice president for major and planned gifts; Debbie Meyers, assistant vice president for advancement operations; Jennifer Stitely, director of gift planning; and Jared Magoon, assistant director of the Chautauqua Fund.

After introductions, Institution President Michael E. Hill discussed with volunteers the new strategic plan that Chautauqua Institution wadopted this year, 150 Forward. Reflecting on the breakfast a few days later, he said the kick-off provided an opportunity to discuss the plan with fellow Chautauquans in detail and hear valuable feedback.

“It’s just an opportunity to sit down with key ambassadors and Chautauqua Fund volunteers to talk to them at a high level about the process that led to that plan, and what makes it similar or different from what Chautauquans might be used to, and how they might think about it and hopefully be in support of it,” Hill said.

Hill noted that the kick-off is “one of the first moments where we see Chautauquans in the season, so for me it always feels like a family reunion.”

“I enjoyed reconnecting with people, I enjoyed hearing their questions and seeing their enthusiasm, and it’s just a moment to express gratitude for everything these folks do for us year round,” Hill said.

After Hill’s speech, Emily Morris, vice president of marketing and communications and chief brand officer, discussed marketing initiatives for the Institution. John Shedd, vice president of campus planning and operations, provided community notes and updates on projects taking place across the grounds leading up to the summer and beyond.

Renjilian returned to the stage to reiterate his gratitude to the volunteers for their service and generosity to Chautauqua, and to encourage them as they work toward this year’s objectives.

“The most straightforward goal is to hit our target of $5 million to be raised for the 2019 Chautauqua Fund,” Renjilian said. “I think more importantly than that, we see this whole Chautauqua program and the group of volunteers that we have as a way of really strengthening the community.”

Anyone interested in serving as a volunteer for the Chautauqua Fund is invited to contact Christine Doolittle, administrative project manager, at cdoolittle@chq.org or 716-357-6465. For more information or to make a gift, visit
giving.chq.org.

Chautauqua Institution administrators led the first of nine information sessions, allowing Chautauquans to engage with the 150 Forward strategic plan — a series of objectives identified by a 13-member committee aimed at launching the Institution into the future — on Thursday in the Hall of Christ.   

President Michael E. Hill, Jim Pardo, board of trustees chair, and Laura Currie, chair of the Strategic Planning Working Group, led the presentation, which broke down the working group’s processes and results.

After 18 months of listening sessions, focus-group testing and data mining, the group pinpointed the Institution’s strengths — stable finances, breadth of programming, landscape, family appeal and loyal returner base — and its challenges — lack of diversity and affordability, employee recruitment and retention, low brand recognition and the declining health of Chautauqua Lake. Based on these factors, the group synthesized four objectives — optimize the summer season, expand Chautauqua’s convening authority year-round, drive a comprehensive, science-based approach to improving the lake’s health, and grow and diversify revenue — and four cross-cutting imperatives: strategic partnerships; mobilization of technology; labor and talent solutions; and inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility.

“The overarching goal of this plan is Chautauqua will convene diverse perspectives and voices to discover and advance the most important, relevant conversations and experiences of our time during the summer assembly season and year-round, on the grounds and beyond,” Currie said.

To accomplish this goal, the Institution will expand its philanthropic efforts into strategic partnerships with larger organizations; increase brand awareness; invest in technology to make Chautauqua more accessible; enhance the customer experience; find science-based solutions to the declining health of the lake; and work to diversify.

Shannon Rozner, chief of staff and vice president of strategic initiatives, led the first IDEA Listening Session last Tuesday in the Hall of Christ. During the listening session, Rozner and Parker Suddeth — a consultant hired by the Institution — asked open-ended questions to facilitate conversation.

Chautauquans shared anecdotes about diversity — or lack thereof — on the grounds and offered suggestions like income-qualified gate passes and reduced electric scooter-rental costs.

“If you want Chautauqua to be more diverse, that is a community-wide response,” Hill said. “If that’s something you expect the (administration) to do, it will fail — plain and simple.”

The next IDEA Listening Session is 3:30 p.m. today, July 1st, in the Hall of Christ. Strategic Plan Information Sessions are 3:30 p.m. every Thursday in the Hall of Christ. The first Master Plan Information Session is 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Hall of Christ.

Last weekend, the Chautauqua Foundation Board of Directors hosted its annual dinner in the Athenaeum Hotel. During the dinner, past and present directors and current members of the Chautauqua Institution Board of Trustees gathered to celebrate the start of a new season.

“It’s always been one of my favorite nights to start off the new season because it’s a really strong community,” said Karen Goodell, vice chair of the Foundation board of directors. “(These are) volunteers who are really thoughtful and caring about Chautauqua Institution — I feel like so many of them have given so much of themselves and their treasure and their time.”

Goodell said that she finds pleasure in being in the company of her fellow volunteers. She appreciates how dedicated the members of the boards are and how much they care about the community.

Opening remarks were delivered by Cathy Bonner, chair of the Chautauqua Foundation Board of Directors, who acknowledged former directors, current directors and Institution trustees. There was also a special welcome for Tim Renjilian, current co-chair of the Chautauqua Fund and the new chair-elect of the Foundation board, as well as Candy Maxwell, chair-elect of the Institution’s board of trustees.

After opening remarks, Geof Follansbee, Foundation CEO and vice president of development, said a prayer.

Bonner is the first woman to serve as chair of the Foundation board of directors. She has held her position as chair for four years and will no longer serve on the board when her term ends in August. Bonner was taken by surprise when she was then honored at the dinner.

“It was such a lovely tribute,” Bonner said. “Totally unexpected.”

In honor of Bonner’s accomplishments and service, and for her efforts with the garden restoration of the Miller Edison Cottage, Goodell took to the podium to announce that two pink dogwood trees were planted in front of the cottage.

“They have pink flowers and you can see them blooming all over Chautauqua right now,” she said. “It was an incredible honor they dedicated to me and the work that we did on the cottage.”

To end the night, the Chautauqua Theater Company performed a special excerpt from A Midsummer’s Night Dream. Goodell particularly enjoyed the performance because of Bonner’s love of theater.

“To have the theater company come and honor her, in front of her peers,” Goodell said, “it’s just so Chautauqua-esque.”

In January 2020, the Chautauqua Foundation will be undergoing a transition when the majority of the Foundation staff will become employees of Chautauqua Institution.

The Chautauqua Foundation is a nonprofit establishment, independent from the Institution. It is responsible for philanthropic funding of the Institution, its programs and facilities.

As part of the planning that went into Chautauqua Institution’s new strategic plan, 150 Forward, the Foundation’s board of directors and Institution leadership reexamined the current structure of how these organizations work in cooperation with one another.

“We began to have discussions about whether the development operation, the fundraising team, was better situated in the Foundation or the Institution,” said Geof Follansbee, vice president of development and CEO of the Chautauqua Foundation.

To help achieve the objectives of 150 Forward, the majority of Foundation operating costs, which have been annually charged against the endowment funds held by the Foundation, will become part of the Institution’s operating budget. This will alleviate the burden placed on endowment funds and, over time, increase the growth and payout of those funds to support Institution programming, thus growing endowment revenue.

Prior to 1991, development office employees were employed by the Institution. In 1991, a decision was made to move that same staff and its operating costs to the Foundation. While considering another switch, the board of directors decided to bring in professional assistance.

“Approximately 14 months ago we hired a firm to come in and look at how well our development program was staffed,” Follansbee said. “They were not evaluating the people we had, but simply assessing what was our structure and did it make sense.”

The firm advised a three-year plan for an expansion of the development office. This plan also corresponded with the ambitious goals of the new strategic plan that Chautauqua Institution Board of Trustees approved in May.

“(The consultants) were quite clear that they felt our lack of investment in development was limiting our ability to raise money,” Follansbee said. “Investing more would provide a return over and beyond the cost of the investment. With that, they recommended that the development team move back to the Institution.”

Philanthropic support to the Chautauqua Fund and capital projects will be directed to the Institution beginning in January 2020. Gifts to the endowment will continue to be held by the Foundation for investment. These gifts will then be made available to the Institution according to the spending policy established by the Foundation’s board of directors.

By ramping up staffing leading into the summer season, with the understanding that the Institution would be assuming operational costs in 2020, “the Foundation board agreed to make that investment to allow us to move forward in 2019,” Follansbee said. “We laid out a plan for a multiyear staging of additional investment into our development program.”

Growing and diversifying revenue, philanthropic revenue, in particular, is a goal within 150 Forward. To help reach this goal, the Foundation’s board of directors, in collaboration with the board of trustees and Institution President Michael E. Hill, have made investments in staff resources to secure the philanthropy necessary to achieve the goals of 150 Forward.

“I’ve spent more time managing the office than I have fundraising,” Follansbee said. “We could benefit from more of my time fundraising and working with President Hill on development activities and we could benefit from some other fundraising resources.”

Follansbee is confident this transition will benefit both the Institution and the Foundation.

“In terms of our day-to-day responsibilities we’re going to be doing the same work; we’re going to be doing it better,” Follansbee said. “We will significantly expand our fundraising horizons and our success.”

Chautauqua Institution is ready to reach new heights.

As the Institution increasingly depends on the annual Chautauqua Fund for its financial sustainability and programming, following an analysis the decision was made to increase the entry level gift for the Bestor Society in 2019.

“We have a leadership giving community inside the annual fund comprised of members of the 1874 Society and the Bestor Society,” said Tina Downey, director of the Chautauqua Fund. “Starting in January of this year, we have shifted the entry level of the Bestor Society from $3,500 to $5,000.”

Bestor Society gifts will now start being recognized at $5,000. For every supporter who makes their Bestor Society gift before Aug. 31, by increasing to this new level over their prior year’s gift, the Edward L. Anderson Jr. Foundation will contribute an additional $1,500 in funds to the 2019 Chautauqua Fund through a matching challenge named “Reaching New Heights.”

“In order to incentivize folks to really step up to the $5,000, if they’re able, the Edward L. Anderson Jr. Foundation has offered to provide this amazing opportunity for our community,” Downey said.

The Institution is grateful for all of its generous supporters and will still recognize those who give at the former Bestor level and are unable to increase contributions, Downey said. With this new adjustment, there will be a new level of membership within the 1874 Society. 

“We don’t want to disenfranchise anybody who’s been giving at $3,500 because that’s a significant gift,” Downey said. “What we’ve done is create a new level in the 1874 Society which recognizes 1874 Society Fellows who make gifts at that $3,500 level.”

Philanthropy is a major component in providing the best possible experience for all who experience Chautauqua, and Downey appreciates people who take the initiative to make gifts to the annual Chautauqua Fund.

“There are teachers and preachers, people who are saving all year to get here,” Downey said. “For them to step up and say ‘I understand the value of my gate pass, I understand the value of access to all of these fantastic programs, the conversations I have with people, all of the learning that happens and the artistic experiences, that I choose to go above and beyond,’ and say ‘You know what, I’m going to do an extra $1,000 to $2,000 or whatever I can do to support that experience,’ is a powerful testament to their belief in what happens here.”

To learn more about Chautauqua’s annual fund or how to join the Bestor Society, please visit giving.chq.org or contact Tina Downey, director of the Chautauqua Fund, at 716.357.6465 or tdowney@chq.org.

In May, Chautauqua Institution’s Board of Trustees approved the 150 Forward strategic plan, a series of objectives and initiatives to launch the Institution into a renewed future.

Central to the implementation of this plan is Shannon Rozner, the Institution’s new chief of staff and first-ever vice president of strategic initiatives. Rozner, a lawyer by trade, will be working with the administration to ensure the plan moves forward as envisioned by the trustees and fellow Chautauquans.

In her first full season at Chautauqua, it’s a big task — she says she’s ready.

What’s your professional background?

I took a little bit of a winding path to get here. My very first job out of college was as a campus minister in suburban Detroit, and I stayed there for four years. Then I went to law school at the University of California, Berkeley, and from there I practiced law at a law firm in D.C. I did securities enforcement law, which was primarily internal investigations of accounting fraud, so my very first case as a new lawyer was working on the WorldCom internal investigation.

After that, I worked for a regulator for a couple of years, until my financial adviser decided to open up his own firm and asked me to come along and help him run it. So I went over and for five years I founded with him, and helped run, a financial planning practice in suburban D.C.

What was your first experience with Chautauqua Institution?

I went to St. Bonaventure University, so my first experience of Chautauqua was back when I was at Bonaventure. A friend of mine, his parents lived here, and I was able to hear about it from him. I served on a committee for students who were getting an honor’s degree — I was the student representative to that committee — and as a thank-you for my service, my professor took my mom and I to see an opera here.

Then I stayed away for far too long and then came back. When Michael Hill became president, he invited my husband and I to come be his guests; we fell in love with it in about the first hour we got here and stayed on for three weeks that summer, three weeks the following summer and then I took the job in January.

How was the transition to your new job and living at the Institution full-time? Was it difficult coming from a larger, metropolitan city?

No, I love the ability to do my work wherever my work needs me. Sometimes I need to be in the D.C. office because we’re working on building up strategic partnerships as part of our strategic plan … and yet I’m always thrilled to come back here.

I drive — I put an audiobook in and I drive back and forth — and literally, the first moment I see the lake, I can feel myself become calm and full of happiness.

I have two happy places and I’m so lucky to have them.

So you’re spending the off-season in D.C.?

No, I spend most of my time here during the week, and then I drive back there occasionally for work when it needs me.

One of the reasons I’m really proud of the direction we’re going in is because there’s a recognition that we can work wherever the work is. So I would say I spend most weekdays here, on the grounds, and then occasionally I’ll spend a week in D.C.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

My teammates. I’ve never worked with a better group of people who are smarter, more dedicated, more passionate and more mission-driven. It’s exciting to just be with them and watch their brains and their hearts work.

I’m still in that pinch-me phase. … The mission of this place just speaks to my heart so much. … It’s really hard to articulate how special and fortunate I feel to get to work here. I’m old enough that I’ve seen so many people hate their jobs and still get up and go. I recognize how rare and wonderful it is to work with such amazing people doing such important work around a mission I believe in 110 percent.

What are your goals for your first season?

I really hope to get to know people. I want to spend a lot of time — unstructured time —  being here and learning more; there’s so much more for me to learn about this place.

So, my goal for this season is to listen a lot, learn a lot, to have a lot of fun, to talk a lot about the strategic plan — I really hope people will be excited about it, and energized by it and engage with me and the rest of the team on it. If I can accomplish these things, it will definitely be a success.

Can you talk about the strategic plan and your role in it?

Our board passed it in May and my job now is to lead the implementation of it; it’s not to implement it, and that’s a really important distinction. This is our plan, this is Chautauqua’s plan; somebody needs to drive the bus and make sure we’re staying on point, we’re following a plan — a process — we’re moving forward.

We’ve never had a vice president of strategic initiatives before, and the whole point was to have somebody who doesn’t have a programmatic responsibility to be able to drive that bus. My job is not to make the decisions, it’s to facilitate the planning around how we’re going to implement this and put tactics around the strategies.

How will the strategic plan be accessible to Chautauquans?

There are listening sessions every week. … They’ll be similar to, if people were here last summer, when we did listening sessions around what should go into the plan. This is a time where we’ll present the plan, we’ll talk about the plan and we’ll hopefully hear people’s thoughts about it and reactions to it.

And then just hopefully, informal conversation. This, to me, is a really exciting plan, and I’ll be surprised if people don’t want to engage about it on their porches and on a bench in the middle of Bestor Plaza. I think people will be talking about it informally, and, like I said, if one of my goals for the summer is just to be here and to be out learning, I hope that I’ll be engaging in some informal conversations with folks, too.

Is there one week or event that you’re particularly excited to experience?

I could not pick a favorite, that’s like asking me to pick my favorite child. That’s what I love about Chautauqua. I’m a person who has a lot of interests; I like to laugh so there’s a comedy week, I like to explore the idea of grace, I like science. There’s no one week in particular for me; they’re all really fun.

How would you describe Chautauqua to other people?

I would tell them it’s a place where seekers come to meet other seekers and to give themselves the time and the space to truly think, feel, play, conserve and engage with themselves and the world in a way that I just don’t think we get to do enough anymore. If that interests you, then you’ll love it here.

The Strategic Plan Informational Sessions will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Thursdays, and IDEA Listening Sessions will be at 3:30 p.m. on varying days. The Master Plan Informational Sessions will be biweekly at 3:30 p.m. on varying days; all platforms will be held in the Hall of Christ. Check the Daily program for specific days and dates.

Additionally, Chautauquans can voice concerns, leave comments or ask questions about the strategic plan through the online forum at 150FWDFeedback.chq.org.

Walkingaround the Institution grounds before the beginning of the season, sounds of construction echoed up and down the streets. The sound of power saws, beams of wood and trailers coming in and out before the season begins are a normal occurrence, but this year there was a larger project underway. 

The historic Athenaeum Hotel is undergoing changes, not only physically but also in its leadership.

Operating continuously since its completion in 1881, the hotel has seen thousands of guests and staff, but not many like Leland Lewis who, as of November 2018 and following the departure of longtime manager Bruce Stanton, is the new general manager of its halls. 

Lewis floats through the hotel, walking earnestly with purpose and an air of concern, always wondering what could be done or where he might be needed. Before discussing his plans for the hotel, he offered refreshments and asked a question.

“Do you want me to get the dog?” Lewis asked, referring to his Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Roscoe. 

The pair are inseparable — Roscoe followed his owner throughout the winter as Lewis fixed things up around the hotel in the quiet, snowy months. Lewis noted the specifics of the small changes and their overall impact on the hotel. 

Lewis has been working in hospitality throughout his life. After studying abroad in Moscow and St. Petersburg, he began working in restaurants, bringing him into the world of hospitality.

He has had a career in hospitality for over 30 years, traveling the United States with InterContinental Hotels & Resorts to help manage hotels in New Orleans, Chicago and Cleveland, and assist in opening a hotel in Montreal. His most recent endeavors include being the executive director of patient support services at the Cleveland Clinic where he was hired to translate his skills in hospitality and guest services. Lewis also was manager of the Teddy Roosevelt Hotel and the historic Downtown Association of New York City. 

Now Chautauqua feels like home to him. After leaving New York City, a friend called him to talk about a possible job opportunity. After hearing the name Chautauqua, he knew exactly what he was in for. Lewis, after moving to Cleveland in 2002, had met and began vacationing with a family who regularly stayed at the Institution during the summers. He wandered the grounds and was naturally drawn to the Athenaeum. Noticing small things at first, he loved the hotel, but wanted to add his own touch. Once the opportunity to work at the Athenaeum came, there was no way he could pass it up.

But it would take time, and a lot of work for his vision to be realized.

“You see that little tissue box?” he asked. “It’s a tissue box, but it’s also a stack of books; an athenaeum is a place where you store books.”

These small, laser-focused changes, Lewis said, are what will begin to set the hotel apart and attract more guests. Other changes are underway as well, with a longer plan set up to follow in the upcoming years.

The usage of apps like OpenTable for restaurant reservations to bring in outside community members has been an important aspect of hospitality to Lewis. Apps like OpenTable grant people who could otherwise not afford a gate pass three hours to eat, drink and experience a Chautauquan landmark.

“During the season we want to give them an opportunity to come in here and sit on this porch, have a glass of wine, eat dinner and not be prohibited because of the gate pass,” Lewis said.

As he began to detail the staff changes and other restaurant facelifts, Head Chef Edward Work, almost on cue, walked by and gave a happy wave across the field. Lewis said his idea of kitchen support, a plan of hiring new workers to manage the kitchen, work payroll and taking pressure off the head chef will uncomplicate the inner workings of a high-pressure area of the Athenaeum.   

Even as Lewis talked, floorboards were laid, beams were repainted, and Chautauquans wandered around, admiring the work. With a gargantuan amount of work before Saturday’s deadline contractors hummed through with speed.

He has left no stone unturned in terms of renovations and does not plan to stop in the next two to three years. He has proposed the addition of mobile bars, making for easier services during evenings, parties and weddings as well as other events such as Amphitheater entertainment, and easing the stress on the current bar staff. Other plans include replacing porch furniture, cleaning out areas below the porch, extending it to the side of the restaurant and stripping and fixing support beams for the overhanging roof.

“It’s a unique environment; I’m going to start brand new,” Lewis said. “It’s the adage of ‘how do you eat an elephant?’ And it’s one bite at a time. So we’re making the refinements, we’ll continue to do that. There’s a lot of energy you can feel, you’ll sense it when you come.”

From decorative additions to complete renovations, Chautauqua Institution faced over 40 construction projects this off-season.

Despite the magnitude of these changes, John Shedd, vice president of campus planning and operations, said this year’s workload did not compare to previous projects the Institution has completed.

“It has been a busy off-season for us, for sure,” Shedd said. “It is a fairly big year, but it’s not way out of normal proportion. If you compare it to when we did the Amphitheater, it’s nothing. I try to remind myself that if we can take that on, we can basically do anything.”

Shedd said regardless of the specific project, the priority was preserving historic features while adding modern conveniences to “further enhance the Chautauqua experience.”

“We always maintain the historic elements by strictly following the guidelines for historic preservation,” he said. “Those guidelines allow you to upgrade things for modern use as long as you preserve certain elements of it. We do our best to consult with the right people to make sure everything is aligned with those guidelines before moving forward on any project.”

With winter weather conditions continuing through late spring, exterior construction was frequently delayed. The completion of these projects would not have been feasible without the Institution’s contractors and their willingness to work around the clock, according to Shedd.

“Our crews are amazing, literally miracle workers,” Shedd said. “We can turn to our contractors at any time, even the last minute, and it still all gets done. None of this would be possible without them. We’re very fortunate to have such hard-working people on our team. They’re the reason I am always optimistic about our ability to be ready when those gates open.”

Schedd said the biggest changes to the Institution are as follows:

Main Gate and Ticketing Offices

In order to improve circulation, the ticket windows have been shifted to one side of the building. The other side has limited entry points and now houses office spaces. Additionally, new floors were installed. To preserve its historic value, the same architect who first renovated the building from its original use as a train station was hired for the project.

Roads and brick walks

Roads such as Palestine and Miller Avenues, along with Turner entrance, have all been repaved. Since it is not possible to repave them all at once, roads were evaluated on a need-based spectrum. The roads with the highest pedestrian, bicycle and scooter traffic were completed first to assure maximum safety. With transit roads, it depended on the severity of damage. In addition to roads, brick walks were re-leveled near Odland Plaza and Clark Walk, and between the Amphitheater and Janes Avenue. 

Odland Plaza

New, interactive smart screens will be installed in Odland Plaza. The smart screens will take the place of the wooden kiosks that used to sit outside for the purpose of posting announcements. From now on, people will need to contact the Department of Marketing and Communications to get their announcements electronically posted. In addition to those smart screens, two new flat screens will be installed by Smith Memorial Library.

Hultquist Center

The Hultquist Center is now home to the Poetry Makerspace, in the space previously held by the CLSC Veranda. With the Hultquist being a hot spot for meetings and public presentations, a new design was implemented to more clearly delineate the audience space and the speaker space on the porch. The two levels of the building were also re-leveled for ADA compliance.

The Octagon

The CLSC Veranda, in the meantime, has moved to the Octagon, now the CLSC Octagon. Interior damage to plaster and wainscoting was repaired and the building is now insulated to make it useable year-round. New air conditioning was installed to protect the product, along with an acoustic ceiling and lighting.

Plaza Market

As part of the strategic plan, the Chautauqua Foundation hired several new employees. To create more office space to accommodate the new hires, the wall in between the former market and the Colonnade was removed. The Plaza Market has now relocated in the Colonnade, into the space that previously housed the Poetry Makerspace. New flooring and wall finishes were added as well as a renovated bathroom for ADA compliance.

Miller Edison Cottage

To restore the garden outside of Miller Edison Cottage, a philanthropic auction took place in which donors bid to contribute to different components of the design. The original landscape was designed by one of the very first female landscape architects in the country. A copy of her design was used along with the historic preservation guidelines to decide how to restore the garden and choose plants suitable for the local environment. In addition to that, new stone pathways were placed.

Children’s School

A new indoor/outdoor pavilion was created to replace the old structure outside the Children’s School. The new pavilion is much larger and will now allow programming to be implemented on-site. Even though the pavilion is not attached to the Children’s School, a historic preservation architect was consulted to ensure the new pavilion will be complementary.

Even though these changes are still in the rearview mirror, Shedd is already shifting gears for the future. A master plan was created to identify the best use of the campus and highlight where his team should and should not build in the upcoming seasons.

Beginning July 3, Shedd will be presenting aspects of the master plan to the community every two weeks this season in the Hall of Christ.

Chautauqua Institution is introducing a series of new forums for Chautauquans to engage with the “150 Forward” strategic plan — a compilation of overarching goals, key objectives and cross-cutting imperatives to launch the Institution into a renewed future and then forward another 150 years.

Institution administrators will host weekly Strategic Plan Information Sessions and IDEA — Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility — Listening Sessions and biweekly Master Plan Information Sessions throughout the summer. These sessions will replace prior years’ Wednesday Porch Discussions.

“Because we understand there’s work to do, and we believe the community should inform that direction of work, we thought it was important to listen before we continue to engage in that work,” said Shannon Rozner, chief of staff and vice president of strategic initiatives.

The IDEA Listening Sessions, led by Rozner and a consultant hired by the Institution, will be centered around open-ended questions designed to spark and facilitate discussion. Rozner stressed that these listening sessions should primarily consist of community members offering input on how to make Chautauqua more inclusive, diverse, equitable and accessible.

“We’re hoping we won’t talk nearly as much as the community does,” she said.

At the Master Planning Information Sessions, Vice President of Campus Planning and Operations John Shedd will present a wide range of possible, future uses for the grounds.

“The ideas that will be presented are guidelines — not strict, hard-fast plans — that will give us a roadmap to help us think thoughtfully about land use when we are planning future projects,” Shedd said. “The plan has had an energizing effect on many of the people who have seen it and we are confident that it will inspire us all as we look toward the next 150 years.”

The Strategic Plan Information Sessions will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Thursdays, and IDEA Listening Sessions will be at 3:30 p.m. on varying days. The Master Plan Informational Sessions will be biweekly at 3:30 p.m. on varying days; all forums will be held in the Hall of Christ.

Additionally, Chautauquans can voice concerns, leave comments or ask questions about the strategic plan through the online forum at 150FWDFeedback.chq.org.

Umbrellas, raincoats and galoshes were the accessories of choice for Chautauquans this week, as heavy showers turned the brick walk into a river and routine walks to the Amphitheater and Hall of Philosophy into quick dashes to avoid the raindrops and puddles. Instead of dampening spirits at the close of Chautauqua’s 2018 season, the rain left beauty in its wake as a fitting farewell to the summer: Those who ventured out into the storms were rewarded with stunning views of the sun shining through the clouds, and rainbows spanning the skies over the grounds.

What makes Chautauqua homes unique is less the snaking porches and froths of gingerbread trim, and more the property deeds proudly displayed in front foyers: a lineage of owners documented like one’s own ancestry.

Steve and Pati Piper, owners of “The Buckeye” at 20 Center, refer to past owners by name as if they were friends, and portraits of the original owners, Mr. and Mrs. Ward, are the largest art on the first-floor walls. Their home was built in the 1870s on a tent platform; Steve Piper said his parents bought the property in 1963 for $3,500, which included not just the house, but dishes, 19th-century furniture and even vintage chamber pots (which, fittingly, now hold the cat litter). When he pokes the ceiling of a second-floor bathroom, it has supple give: He explained that it’s tent canvas at the core, coated with layers upon layers of paint.

“We kept it old Chautauqua,” he said. “It’s as much Chautauqua’s history as it is our own.”

Jane Buch, owner of Park Place at 31 Clark, also takes pride in her house’s 19th-century construction, but has enjoyed mixing old with new, accenting the building’s four apartments with arrangements of vintage wares like lace collars, spoons and cheese graters alongside her own artwork. She describes the style as “Victoriana,” and while most visitors think it’s just very well preserved, Buch said “nothing about it is original,” after all the restorations and repairs.

And in this mix of wood and canvas, the steel walls of 23 Hurst mark another historic era. “Steel Away,” owned by Zoe and Ken Barley, was manufactured by Lustron after World War II, in an attempt to quickly provide housing for returning soldiers. The Barleys now belong to an email group where a dwindling number of Lustron owners swap advice that sounds like caring for a vintage car: how to best combat rust, or find rare metal parts no longer for sale.

Zoe Barley said the upkeep is well worth the effort: “I think if you let one of these go, it would be a mistake.”

Igor Gersh is a professional viola player who has played in orchestras in New Jersey and Chicago after emigrating from Russia. But Gersh, 63, also has an expertise that not every strings player has — being a luthier.

During the seasons at Chautauqua, Gersh works as a luthier to help strings players with their instruments, at the little “violin shop” — as Gersh himself calls it — with a window open on the porch of Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall. During the rest of the year, Gersh practices his craft in his private studio in Baltimore and works part-time at Potter Violins in Washington D.C.

Gersh attended conservatory to study music performance. But all his life, he’s been the “repair person for my house and everything.” Gersh also said that he “really like(s) to work with wood.”

He attended Chicago School of Violin Making for three years, while he was a freelance musician in the city at the time.

“I was sitting in between two chairs: a musician and a luthier, but now I am a full-time luthier,” Gersh said.

Maya Fields, viola student in the Music School Festival Orchestra, needed help with her instrument at the very beginning of July. The weather was very humid, Fields said, and the tuning pegs on her viola were affected by the humidity.

“The C peg was affected to the point that I was unable to turn it,” Fields said.

Fields went to Gersh to ask whether he could put some peg dope on her viola’s C peg, so that she could be able to tune her instrument “with ease.” Fields said Gersh did so gladly.

“I asked him if I owed him anything for the job,” Fields said. “He told me that I didn’t owe him anything for his work, and I thanked him for what he had done for my instrument.”

Yejoo “Esther” Lee, violin student in the MSFO, remembered another instance of Gersh’s help.

“I asked to buy a mute once because I lost mine, and when I mentioned that I would return with money, he just handed me one, free of charge,” Lee said. “I was extremely grateful because I was in desperate need of a mute for all of the pieces we were playing that week.”

Gersh has been coming to the Institution for 11 years, and he described Chautauqua as a “great” and “unbelievable” place, where he has formed deep connections with many strings players in the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra and MSFO, and many other Chautauquans.

“I consider myself to be very lucky to be here, because each time, after all the years of coming, it’s like a family,” Gersh said. “Everybody knows me. Everybody likes me. I like everybody. … It’s unbelievable.”

Gersh’s wife, Irene, came to Chautauqua with her husband at the beginning of this season.

“I witnessed how everyone was giving him hugs. He got lots of hugs,” she said. “… It warms your heart.”

Gersh not only fixes the technical aspects of a string instrument, but he also rehairs, repairs and restores the bow, if necessary.

“It’s very important to do the rehair right because it affects the balance. It’s very tricky, (with) many small details involved,” Gersh said.

Gersh works part-time in Washington D.C. for Dalton Potter, who told him that Gersh has “a touch.” Gersh said he finds it difficult to explain in words what it is that he feels he should do with a string instrument.

“I think I have an advantage, because I am a musician, and I feel what the performers need, for bow hair, for adjustment, anything,” Gersh said. “And they like it. … They like how I rehair the bow. Maybe I have a touch, even though I can’t explain what it is.”

What strings musicians do with the bow, Gersh said, “is (how) you produce the sound, and it’s very, very important.”

“The instrument is very important, but so is the bow. I really believe that the bow is even more important than the instrument,” Gersh said. “Because it’s your voice. It’s your tongue. It is what you do with the right hand with the bow, not what you do here, with the left hand.”

Daniel Kaler played Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 as a soloist with MSFO on Aug. 13. Kaler said Gersh’s work “had been super helpful in allowing me to go after all of the musical ideas that I wanted to express more freely.”

“Igor is a really wonderful luthier that the Institution, the music program, and the CSO are all very lucky to have,” Kaler said. “In the several years that I’ve known him and have had issues with my instrument or bow, he has always made time to help me out and has been immensely helpful. He does work of the highest caliber and has my highest recommendation.”

This summer, for instance, Kaler said, he has had many issues with his cello’s sound post, overall playability and string height. He said every time he came to Gersh with his worries and concerns about his equipment — on however short of a notice — Gersh “was always there and was a real lifesaver.”

According to Kaler, Gersh is also starting a company of his own, called My Bow Express.

“(It) would allow me to ship my bow to him for a rehair from wherever I am,” Kaler said. “I’m really happy to be able to use his services not only in the summer, but year-round.”