Five Questions With: Benedict Leca

Benedict Leca has been executive director since January at the Redwood Library and Athenæum in Newport. Before that he was chief curator and director of curatorial affairs for the Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario. Founded in 1747, Redwood is the oldest lending library and the oldest library building in continuous use in the country. Here, he discusses his goals and objectives for the organization.

PBN: What is your top priority as executive director and how are you making sure it is met?
LECA:
I hesitate to say top – as in single – priority, given that my objectives for the Redwood are so intertwined. We want to grow as an institution, producing more enriched and varied content that can on one hand be scholarly, that is, befitting a research center, and on the other accessible and inclusive (or both). It is a function of being an athenaeum that you necessarily serve multiple constituencies at once.
And so – as examples – I’m looking to develop our museum function as an exhibition venue, especially since we have the finest dedicated exhibition space in Newport. Likewise, I want to heighten our publication profile, so I am working on two exceptional book projects, treating historical topics tied to Newport and New England respectively, having already launched the new paperback edition of “Lively Experiment: Newport 1639-1969,” under the Redwood imprint.
I’m also looking to bring more speakers of renown who can bridge the traditional divide between the scholarly and the popular. Last month, for example, we had the Pulitzer-prize winning author David McCullough speak on his new book devoted to the Wright brothers.
All of these initiatives require resources, and the obverse of this programmatic drive, and one of my central priorities, is fundraising and placing the Redwood on a sound financial footing. Programming and fundraising are of course connected. In short, we want to be all that we can be as a cultural institution and solidify our place as the historic intellectual center of Newport, and do this sustainably.

PBN: Which of your special collections is in need of the most support either from researchers, the board or the public and how are you providing that?
LECA:
As a former curator, and for always, a book collector, I’m always looking to expand our special collection holdings, even if they are not “needy” in any negative sense. One of our strengths on the art side is American portraiture of the 18th century, and I would very much like to encourage public support from all Rhode Islanders who are interested in this important art form and who might be interested in donating a family portrait to be enshrined for eternity in the Redwood collection.
For the special collections on the library side, my objectives are two-pronged. I am currently working on acquiring a comprehensive collection of primary material on 18th
-century painting to correspond to the portrait collection. I want, as may be possible, to re-create the imaginary working library of a Colonial portrait painter.
Meanwhile, by virtue of what we are – the oldest public neoclassic structure in America – it is imperative that we continue to grow our collection of early modern architecture material.
So it is a great pleasure for me to communicate our recent acquisition – as of two weeks ago with the help of the Breslauer Foundation – of a collection of 53 titles of 17th- and 18th-century British architecture books to strengthen one of our core special collections strengths (early modern architecture). We are thus providing for these “needs” through both popular and institutional support.

PBN: With the history of Newport and Aquidneck Island as well as American culture as your focus, what are some notable collections the public can access?
LECA:
Three Redwood Library collections stand out which buttress our focus on Newport and 18th- and 19th-century American culture generally.
The Newport Collection of over 5,000 books (as well as hundreds of archives and manuscripts) is indispensable when researching Newport as well as Aquidneck Island. We carry not only items about Newport and the surrounding area, but also about and by the many important historical authors notable for their Newport connections, such as Henry James and Edith Wharton.
The Doris Duke Preservation Collection was initially funded by the Newport Restoration Foundation in 2005. The subject focus of the nearly 1,000-item collection is New England Colonial and 19th-century architecture with an emphasis on the preservation and restoration of both the exterior architectural structure as well as interior decorative elements such as wallpaper and textiles, and details such as windows, doors and moldings. These books are instructive for the practicing architect and preservation expert as well as for students with scholarly research interests.
Finally, the Redwood Library and Athenaeum’s collection includes more than 150 paintings, primarily portraits, dating from ca. 1659 through the 21st century. Paintings by John Smibert, Robert Feke, Gilbert Stuart and the Redwood’s loyal friend and great benefactor, Charles Bird King, among many others, are featured throughout the public spaces of the library. Resources about these artists are extensively covered in the aforementioned Newport Collection.
Although these collections are open to the public, nonmembers are charged a nominal $10 research fee (free for students with ID).

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PBN: How does your youth program work, how many children participate and how are you looking to develop programming?
LECA:
Our mission is at bedrock an educational one, and thus must necessarily encompass a core focus on engaging and educating young people. We do this both in the programming we provide and also in the relationships that we try to foster.
Across from the original Redwood building is the Ballard Annex, which houses our children’s library. There, we provide not only a comprehensive selection of children’s books, but also a full slate of readings and activities for hundreds of children every month. We also have a recently developed toy-lending library – and not just regular toys, but rather specialized toys with a significant learning component.
We also aim to provide learning experiences and opportunities for young people of all ages. To this end, we are engaged in the MUSE program in collaboration with the Newport Art Museum, which is a program that brings students from Portsmouth High School to the Redwood to learn about museum work, including such things as collection management, installation and text writing.
Meanwhile, we have signed on with the Newport String Project, a classical music ensemble spearheaded by two very talented young women, who have agreed to be our resident music troupe.

PBN: What are your top goals for 2016 and how will you implement them?
LECA:
My top goals for 2016 in many ways echo the objectives I described above, with the central one being an increased programmatic reach and, in turn, a greater membership base.
We want to provide yet more quality programming – a richer visitor experience – to yet more people of all types. And this isn’t only achieved in terms of varied content, but also in terms of improved physical spaces and features at the Redwood.
For example, I’m pushing ahead with a reconfiguration of our beautiful central “reception” room (where historically one “received” the desired books). In my opinion, it is a space that needs to be more inviting to readers and visitors – people who wish to sit down to either read or contemplate. For this reason, we will be encasing once free-standing vitrines and repurposing cabinets to yield more displays as well as the space to create reading areas, thereby providing both a more comfortable reading experience and a richer, more coherent museum-viewing experience.
In the end, we always want to work to better serve members, tourists and researchers, devising ways that will facilitate learning and intellectual discovery, the Redwood’s historic stock-in-trade, and inciting people to come and come again.

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