People who are not already donors, if they're interested in supporting the Museum, are invited to attend a fundraising gallery preview and reception. They should call the Museum to get an invitation, of which there are a limited number. Invitations have already been sent to the Museum's donors.

The event is May 11, 7 pm. A reception at the Whittemore Robbins House follows, with hors d'oeuvres, music and wine included. The Museum is asking for a $40 per person donation. People who can't get to the reception will be eagerly welcomed on the weekend.

On Saturday, May 12, and Sunday, May 13, Mothers Day, the Museum will be open to everyone for free as usual, with extended hours, from noon to six.

Two new acquisitions will be unveiled at the reopening of the Museum's Ideals and Allegories gallery. The first is a recent Museum purchase, a rediscovered, previously unknown masterpiece by Dallin from 1903. We have identified it as Lethe or Oblivion. Lethe, (pronounced Leeth-ee), is a figure from Greek mythology, the goddess of a river at the edge of the Underworld.

The second is a new casting of Dallin's Victory of 1918, made by the Springville Museum of Art in Utah, in exchange for a copy of Arlington's Allegorical Figure of Massachusetts from the top of the Robbins Memorial Flag Staff. The bronze original can be seen close-up in the gallery; a plastic resin replica is now on top of the Flag Staff.

Also new in the Museum: Two important works on loan to us: Governor Bradford, plaster, and a 1970s bronze copy of Indian, 1887. Made before before Dallin went to study art in Paris, it's his earliest known Native American sculpture.