Cast Bronze Commemoration in the 21st Century
I really do know that the sculpted bronze castings on the left that we conceived of and just installed as part of an extensive for a Centennial celebration at the Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany GA are not really comparable in beauty to Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise below.
Michaelangelo named the masterpiece "The Gates of Paradise"
Yet they really are lovely and I show them here because they represent a unique evolution in bronze castings. All it takes to cast an image in bronze like ours for Phoebe is good photography and an understanding of how lights and darks within a photo will translate into the “highs” and “lows” of a casting. Anyone’s photo can result in a three dimensional cast metal product.
An age-old tradition (remember the “Bronze Age“?), cast plaques have been a standard for commemoration and donor recognition literally for centuries. Yet just in my lifetime, hand-set type has replaced by photographic typographical reproduction which meant that logos and anyone’s typestyle preferences could be reproduced in bronze perfectly. This photographic advancement in castings (bronze and aluminum) is called “Imagecast” by Matthews, is a natural “next step” for the industry.
We’ve been using Imagecast reproductions as a replacement for hand-sculpted castings for quite awhile whenever it’s appropriate for a client’s need. Certainly it is cheaper than having an artist sculpt for a casting in bronze. And at the same time, since the outcome is a realistic, almost exact, reproduction of an image, the impact is much more meaningful to most viewers and donors. It’s a treat to have the pleasure of seeing a cast image as a replica of the photographic image .
And here’s one more photo of the entire Gallery on the 2nd floor. The 1st floor here houses their completely re-purposed and renovated Distinguished Leadership Gallery which was completed at the same time. This newly recharged philanthropy center celebrates this community’s remarkable commitment to giving and is an absolutely beautiful conclusion to a very satisfying client relationship.
Distinguished Leadership and Centennial Galleries at Phoebe Putney Hospital
Written by Robin E. Williams
2012 Color Trends
As Creative Dire
ctor with Robin E. Williams Incorporated it is my role to keep up with design trends similar to my past work at Hallmark with retail and product development. This Saturday I found myself researching and writing from my favorite bookstore in Asheville, NC with a French coffee press by my side. As I flipped through DDi magazine, I noticed an article on color forecasts for 2012 that I thought was worth sharing with all those presently involved in the interior design of health centers, university student centers and other facilities trending towards sophisticated, warm, natural and homey environments. The article presented by Sherwin-Williams, particularly caught my attention as my childhood involved spending many hours in Sherwin-Williams with my mother who worked with them as a color consultant advising consumers. Enjoy! Continue reading »
Traditions, Old and New
Recently, on a trip though Greenville, South Carolina, I had the opportunity to visit the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research, which is a dynamic collaboration among private industry, government organizations, and academia. Our firm has been involved with several projects at CU-ICAR since 2006, but it was my first opportunity to visit the campus in several years. I was struck by the modern tone set by the architecture and the vibrancy of the partnership. A short walk through the Carroll A. Campbell Jr. Graduate Engineering Center revealed a part of the outcome from our involvement with one aspect of the project – I’d only seen images from the installation to that point. Much like the CU-ICAR itself, our work is a partnership, unifying voices, sometimes quite different voices, into harmony, and the pieces seem representative of that spirit. Continue reading »
Recommendations for Recognizing Scholarship Donors
In conversation with an existing client, we discussed these emerging trends in recognition strategy for scholarship donors. How do these ideas compare to current practice at your institution?
Recognition of endowment giving of all sorts is now often presented in formal public displays. We are encouraging appropriate permanent recognition to correspond to the emphasis on named endowments. Most frequently, there is a high entry level for naming an endowed scholarship, often exceeding the entry level for physical naming opportunity. Permanent recognition for these naming opportunities must correlate to the scope of recognition offered for any facility-based naming opportunity of the same dollar amount.
Recognition efforts are designed to encourage repeat giving to support scholarships. For instance, non-endowment scholarships may be pledged for multiple years, with 3-5 years as the minimum. In those situations, recognition is based on the total amount given, often bringing the donors to higher levels over time than the entry level for an endowed scholarship. Scholarships are not formally named until the pledges are completed, although stewardship activities commence immediately, based on the pledge amount.
Recognition programs that celebrate mid-level donors do much to enhance and broaden their repeat giving. Institutions often have funds, endowed or otherwise, that allow for the pooling of smaller gifts. Donors to those funds are most often recognized by campaign or project. To promote continued giving, I suggest that these listings be annual, not permanent. Donors remain on the list only by giving again. Cumulative totals will contribute to lifetime giving recognition totals but will not translate into a naming opportunity.
Written by Anne Manner-McLarty
Filed under Best Practices for Donor Recognition, Donor Recognition Programs, Stewardship, Think Before You Thank | Tags: Best Practices for Donor Recognition, Capital Campaign, Donor Recognition, donor wall, Scholarship Giving, Stewardship, Think Before You Thank, Trends in Fundraising | Comment (1)Design Your Recognition Displays to Encourage Change
This is an easy one for fundraisers to accomplish when planning a recognition display. Plan the display from the outset for change. Quick, easy, and economical change. Change is critical to garnering new interest from viewers (prospective donors, all). If you think about it, any static display becomes “just a fixture” after the newness has worn off. The content is forever “yesterday’s newspaper”. And most recognition fabricators are very familiar with how to integrate digital panels mechanically into their framing systems. It’s become so much easier for fundraisers to can make the switch-out. Thus, change actually occurs.
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