The New Year will mark the tenth anniversary of the M. D. Guinness
Collection of Mechanical Musical Instruments & Automata having been
installed permanently at the Morris Museum in Morristown, New Jersey.

Over this decade, the museum has hosted nearly one million visitors and
conducted over 3000 "live" demonstration tours, not counting specially
arranged group visits and an ever-changing program of educational,
instrument presentations, not to mention loans of Guinness treasures to
other locations.  We feel that this is a cause to celebrate, and so the
year 2017 will feature a series of events related to the collection.

The Morris Museum here announces a fund-raising campaign to modify the
Guinness Entry Gallery -- the renovation to be completed next summer.
The existing gallery will be redesigned for showing-off a rotating
selection of even more stunning instruments from both the Guinness
collection and from outside, private collections, while showing an
introductory film on a large flat screen monitor.  Traffic flow will
improve as visitors pass directly into the 4,000 square feet permanent
exhibition, and the 1913 Popper's "Rex" orchestrion will greet everyone
as they pass through this gateway.

We ask kindly for your support as we raise the funds for the renovation.
The endowment left by Mr. Guinness does not cover capital improvements
beyond the collections initial installation, so donations are essential.
The museum is very grateful that East Coast Chapter of MBSI has kicked
off the campaign with a donation of $2,000.

The total estimate for the project is $17,000, and a breakdown and
floor diagram of the proposed layout are available upon request.
Donations of any amount to the Morris Museum are tax-deductible.  A
plaque recognizing the donor or "in memory of" will adorn the gallery
upon completion.  We hope that you may consider a year-end gift towards
this exciting initiative, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Jere Ryder - Guinness Collection Conservator
Morris Museum, Morristown, New Jersey
tel.: 1-973-971-3724
jryder@morrismuseum.org.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]

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