Hunter Museum of American Art

Miss Mary, the sculpture also known as the Fundraiser, has been off view for nearly a year. She was taken off view after being damaged during a First Sunday. However, after weeks with a conservator Miss Mary is happily back on view in the special exhibition, Themes of Identity.

Miss Mary has been greatly missed by our visitors, especially school groups. After the initial shock of seeing Miss Mary waiting forever patiently for the next donation, visitors came to expect her presence in the gallery and she quickly became a favorite of most of our young visitors.

I’ve given many school tours in my two years at the Hunter Museum and students were always eager to see Miss Mary and to share her with their friends. However, I think I most enjoyed the reactions of students seeing Miss Mary for the very first time. Few works in the collection shock visitors the way Miss Mary can - she still catches me off guard sometimes. Students will quickly realize that there is something a little off about the sweet old woman sitting in the corner and flock to her with curiosity.

Recently, I gave a tour to a group of third graders from Apison. Many of the students had visited the Museum before, were familiar with Miss Mary and couldn’t wait to see her and share her with their friends. One little girl in particular was so disappointed when she rounded the corner of the contemporary gallery and didn’t see Miss Mary that she left the group to check around every corner in the gallery. I assured her that we would see Miss Mary at the end of the tour, but she couldn’t wait, asking about Miss Mary in every new room we entered - “is she in here?”

Finally, we found Miss Mary in the Themes of Identity exhibition. The little girl was relieved to see the familiar face and proud to share Miss Mary with her friends. The rest of the class quickly matched her enthusiasm for Miss Mary, surrounding her pedestal and bombarding me and their teachers and parents with questions. I can always count on Miss Mary for a great tour finale.

Have you met Miss Mary? Please share your memories of her below.

Erin Noseworthy, Manager of Multimedia Interpretive Programs