When I joined the curatorial team at the
Chrysler Museum in October 2011, southern hospitality greeted me from every corner of the Norfolk community. This warm welcome actually began several months earlier with a phone call from a woman who humbly identified herself as a longtime museum volunteer: Linda Kaufman. As I thanked Mrs. Kaufman for her congratulatory wishes and offers of advice on my impending relocation to Virginia, I had little idea of the vast extent of her "volunteer" work and the ways in which her passion for art have transformed the Chrysler and many other institutions. That simple phone call demonstrated a facet of her leadership and generosity that cannot be quantified: countless small gestures and genuine personal exchanges to encourage young scholars and to make the newest members of the Chrysler's staff feel welcomed and valued.
Crawford Alexander Mann III
Brock Curator of American Art, Chrysler Museum of Art
Pickle Dish, American China Manufactory (Bonnin and Morris), Philadelphia, 1771-72. Soft-paste porcelain with lead glaze; height 4 3/16, width 4 1/2
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