Latest news with #EmilyDickinsonMuseum
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Emily Dickinson Museum to unveil ‘passive' carriage house
AMHERST — The Emily Dickinson Museum will celebrate on Tuesday the $1 million reconstruction of a 170-year-old carriage house that once stood on its Amherst property and is slated to become the first 'passive' museum structure in the country, according to officials. The ribbon-cutting ceremony, hosted in partnership with the downtown Business Improvement District and the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, will take place at 5 p.m. at 280 Main St. 'We wanted to present and interpret the structure just as Emily Dickinson herself would have seen it in the mid-19th century,' the museum's executive director, Jane Wald, told The Republican in an interview last week. 'We know that this matters very much to visitors who come to see where she produced her poetry.' The carriage house, demolished in the early 1950s, stood to the east of The Evergreens, the home of Dickinson's brother, Austin, and his wife, Susan, part of the museum complex that recently reopened for tours. The construction of the carriage house was based on insurance maps, deeds, early town maps and a single existing photograph of the original building, which stored the family carriage and housed stalls for horses. Its reconstruction, designed by Connecticut-based edmStudio architects, uses 'passive' strategies such as continuous insulation, airtight construction and high-performance windows. Museum officials said they expect to win certification from the Passive House Institute US Inc., making it the first such commercial building in Amherst, as well as the 'first passive museum building and passive historic house reconstruction in the country.' Archeologists previously obtained artifacts from the carriage house site, including medicine bottles, knobs and a lock set from a door in The Evergreens. 'It was used as a storage area or an outdoor closet where the family would just put things they're no longer using,' Wald said. Its reconstruction, by Teagno Construction Inc., of Amherst, 'reflects Dickinson's regard for the natural world and the inspiration she drew from it,' Wald said. The house will first function as a visitors center and museum store, while the main homestead will be restored to its original functions. These included a scullery kitchen, laundry room, woodshed, pantry and living corridors for domestic staff, Wald said. After the final restoration, the carriage house will become an educational program space. Wald said that recent cuts in federal arts funding have reached the museum, including a $115,000 grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services for digitized documentation. 'There's an understanding in the museum world that more funds are now not going to be available,' she said. 'Without those funds, we need to assess what the impact will be.' Wald said that recent scholarly work on the poet has included a focus on 'class and privilege' and 'ecologies,' or her relationship with the natural world. 'Without question, Emily Dickinson is a global icon,' Wald said. 'Her influence is continually being felt among new generations of poetry readers.' Sources include the recent Apple TV+ comedy-drama series 'Dickinson' and singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Wald said that musicians across genres continue to set Dickinson's poems to music, including classical, country, pop, rock and rap. 'Interest in her poetry continues to grow exponentially, at least my observation of the last, last number of years,' Wald said. 'Her poetry really speaks, or can speak, to everyone.' In addition to the ribbon-cutting, the Emily Dickinson Museum will host its annual Poetry Walk through downtown Amherst on Saturday, in honor of the 139th anniversary of the poet's death. This is a free public program. To learn more about Poetry Walk, visit Read the original article on MassLive. Read the original article on MassLive. Read the original article on MassLive. Read the original article on MassLive. Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Department of Education announces end to student loan grace period
CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – The Department of Education has announced a change to student loan repayments that will impact millions of borrowers. The Department of Education has announced they are ending any leniency on student loan repayments, impacting more than five million borrowers. Borrowers have mostly been in a grace period since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but now the Trump administration says it will come to an end. Emily Dickinson Museum loses federal grant due to budget cuts That means they will begin garnishing wages, or withholding a portion of a person's earnings, for potentially millions of borrowers whose payments have been frozen 'The loan forgiveness program, it was embraced,' said Congressman Richard Neal (D-Mass.). 'It was bipartisan at the time, and I think the commitment that we made should be honored.' Beginning May 5, the department will begin involuntary collection. After a 30-day notice, they'll start garnishing wages for borrowers in default. The administration may also resume applications for the income-driven repayment programs, which allow borrowers to pay back their loans based on their monthly income. Also starting on May 5, the government will be withholding tax refunds for borrowers in default. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Emily Dickinson Museum loses federal grant due to budget cuts
AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) – Cuts to federal funding are impacting the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst. Amherst hockey player signs with Washington Capitals The museum recently shared that on April 9th, a grant they were awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services has been terminated. Back in 2023, the museum was awarded a $117,000 grant by the federal agency to digitize records that are related to its newly catalogued collection and to locate any related information in other repositories with Dickinson family materials. The notice sent to the museum says the grant is 'no longer consistent with the agency`s priorities and no longer serves the interest of the United States and the IMLS Program.' To support the museum, visit their website. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Federal agency cancels $117,000 grant set to go to Western Mass. museum
A federal agency has cancelled a $117,000 grant that was set to go to the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, according to the museum. On April 9, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) notified the museum that the grant had been terminated, the Emily Dickinson Museum said in a Facebook post. The museum had been awarded the grant in 2023 to help it digitize records related to a newly catalogued collection and locate related information among existing records. 'The notice states, 'IMLS has determined that your grant is unfortunately no longer consistent with the agency's priorities and no longer serves the interest of the United States and the IMLS Program,'' the Emily Dickinson Museum wrote. The Institute of Museum and Library Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday. 'Our work to amplify Emily Dickinson's revolutionary poetic voice — by opening her family homes to visitors, by interpretive and educational use of her family's material legacy, by holding up her enduring poetry — continues with support from the Museum's friends and our unending gratitude," the museum wrote. You can to the Emily Dickinson Museum online here. Vigils bring Easter firsts for new WMass Catholics Once a squatter's delight, Patriot Property points to success with Mattoon Street apts. 70th Westfield River Wildwater Canoe Race — less drama, more paddling A message of love and the importance of organ donation 'Due process' hangs in balance in Garcia case (The Republican Editorials)
