CHATHAM, NEW YORK, April 06, 2021 – Shaker Museum, which stewards the most comprehensive collection of Shaker material culture and archives, announced today that it has been awarded a two-year grant of $230,000 from the Henry Luce Foundation. The grant is for the inaugural permanent collection installation, Shaker Belief, Shaker Life, Shaker Community, which will be presented at the launch of the museum’s new facility in downtown Chatham, NY, currently in development.
Read the full press release here.
Collections Manager
Sharon Duane Koomler is a Shaker scholar and traditional letterpress printer living in upstate New York. She has academic degrees in American Folklore from Indiana University and Western Kentucky University. Sharon has worked at Shaker Museums from Kentucky to New Hampshire as an educator, curator, consultant, and director. She has written and published on Shaker material culture and spirituality, and lectured widely on Shaker art, life, and belief. Sharon has a particular interest in the under-researched social aspects of Shaker life and ways in which Shakers practiced inclusion and intentionality.