It’s been a landmark year for the Sing Sing Prison Museum (SSPM), and we thank you for being a part of it!
As Executive Director, I am pleased to report that we have made significant progress toward the Museum’s goal to tell the story of Sing Sing Prison and to create a center for a conversation about criminal justice reform. I am writing to you because your past support contributed to our success and we continue to need your help with what's to come.
Our future home, the former prison Powerhouse site, will soon be secured through a five-year lease agreement between the village of Ossining and the state of New York. Thanks to $2.875 million in state funding we can begin to work on Powerhouse renovations and we will use generous funding totaling $280,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities and American Express for research, exhibitions and general operating support.
Our future home, the former prison Powerhouse site, will soon be secured through a five-year lease agreement between the village of Ossining and the state of New York. Thanks to $2.875 million in state funding we can begin to work on Powerhouse renovations and we will use generous funding totaling $280,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities and American Express for research, exhibitions and general operating support.
Community support has been instrumental in achieving our mission.
Serenity Garden
Photos Courtesy of Christopher Estberg
We sponsored a gardening program for men in the Sing Sing Correctional Facility’s mental health unit. It grows outside the original cellblock built by Sing Sing’s first incarcerated individuals in 1825.
FundraisingSSPM board members and individual donors have committed more than $500,000 for operations and Westchester County appropriated $250,000 for museum improvements.
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The Wait Room
Photos Courtesy of Fred Elmes
We produced the East Coast premiere The Wait Room, a dance performance created and performed by Flyaway Productions with support from the New England Foundation for the Arts; Bethany Arts, the town of Ossining and other contributors. More than 500 guests attended these performances, and we were written up in the New York Times.
Community & EducationWith support from the Westchester Community Foundation and in collaboration with faculty from Ossining and Peekskill high schools, we created an interdisciplinary criminal justice curriculum.
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Our goal in 2020 is simple: to complete the first phase construction at the former Powerhouse.
Photo Courtesy of the Ossining Historical Society Museum
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Photo Courtesy of J.H. Pokorny Associates
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This includes preservation work on the structure and outfitting a Preview Center to prototype exhibitions and programs. We will work with the nationally recognized design team of Ennead Architects, Thinc Design, and their associates to conduct community engagement workshops, design the Preview Center experience and create a new SSPM concept plan.
Our remarkable Board of Trustees members are creative, thoughtful, energetic and generous. I am so impressed by their passion and commitment to our mission. I was also fortunate this past year to work with a great team of dedicated associates—Jerry Faiella, Nancy Gold, Hilary Strimple, Rebecca Goodman, and Victoria Gonzalez—who have made countless contributions to fulfilling our ambitious agenda. They have my sincere gratitude for many accomplishments past, present, and future.
It is a singular honor for me to work with the board to achieve our goal of becoming one of America’s best criminal justice museums.
Our remarkable Board of Trustees members are creative, thoughtful, energetic and generous. I am so impressed by their passion and commitment to our mission. I was also fortunate this past year to work with a great team of dedicated associates—Jerry Faiella, Nancy Gold, Hilary Strimple, Rebecca Goodman, and Victoria Gonzalez—who have made countless contributions to fulfilling our ambitious agenda. They have my sincere gratitude for many accomplishments past, present, and future.
It is a singular honor for me to work with the board to achieve our goal of becoming one of America’s best criminal justice museums.
Will you help us continue this momentum into 2020
with a tax-deductible donation?
Sincerely,
Brent D. Glass
Brent D. Glass