Annual Report FY 2018 | Page 10

Special Projects SIGNIFICANT MONUMENTS CONSERVATION ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE Towards its long-term goal to conserve eleven “high priority” monuments from its significant monuments collection, Mount Auburn completed two monument conservation projects in FY2018. Composer Mary Bichner, Mount Auburn’s second Artist-in-Residence, completed the second year of her two-year appointment in the fall of 2017. Bichner, who composed and recorded twelve new classical works inspired by Mount Auburn’s spring and autumnal landscapes during the previous year, celebrated the end of her residency with two sold- out concerts in Story Chapel in June and November of 2017. In addition to the two public performances, an album of Bichner’s compositions was released in June as a free digital download, and Bichner’s twelve arrangements were added to Mount Auburn’s new visitor app as a curated tour. Cemetery staff worked closely with the Unitarian Universalist Church to raise funds for the conservation of the monument to the beloved Unitarian minister and social reformer Reverend William Ellery Channing. The 19th-century marble monument, designed by artist Washington Allston, was washed, stabilized, and conserved and a border of groundcover was planted to enhance the lot and protect the monument’s base. A celebration of the conserved monument and rehabilitated landscape took place in October 2017. In January 2018, Mount Auburn announced the appointment of playwright Patrick Gabridge as its third Artist-in-Residence. Gabridge will spend calendar year 2018 developing a series of plays inspired by Mount Auburn, which will be produced as public performances in the next fiscal year. Also completed this year was conservation of the Copenhagen angel by noted 19th-century sculptor Martin Milmore and dedicated to the memory of Maria Frances Copenhagen. Conservators washed, stabilized, and repointed the monument with support from individual and institutional donors as well as funds from the Cemetery’s Preservation Endowment Fund. Following conservation, the family lot was planted with groundcover to further protect and enhance this significant monument. 8