45th Anniversary Commemorative Book November 2015 | Page 26

MAC and the Rebirth of Cape May

Mary McKenney (2014-present), the
MAC Board has provided just the steady
languishing condition and, after a major
“hand on the tiller” that the organization
1996-1997 overhaul, was converted to
has needed to weather these choppy
a multipurpose facility. Starting with
seas. Without succumbing to panic, the
the Twinings Teapot Collection is the
Board has encouraged the kind of “trial
fall of 1997, the Carriage House Gallery
and error” experimentation that has
(renamed the Carroll Gallery in 2014,
harnessed the creativity and talents of
in honor of Tom & Sue Carroll) has
Board and staff members, alike.
hosted an array of changing exhibits
Perhaps MAC’s most ambitious
that have hugely advanced MAC’s
undertaking of the ‘00s was its efforts to
museum and educational missions.
interpret Cape May’s important World
Then, with corporate sponsorship from
War II history. The centerpiece of this
Twinings Teas and a grant from the
venture was the successful completion
Casino Reinvestment Development
of MAC’s third major restoration project
Authority, MAC launched HX\