e-mail:zavrel@meaus.com
Friends,
We hope that you have enjoyedvisiting our web site. Come back again to keep informed about newevents at the Museum. But some day do visit us in person!
The Museum is located 20 minutesby car from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York, andabout 35 minutes south from Niagara Falls. We located in thehistorical heart of Clarence, surrounded by many antique shops. Ourimmediate neighbors are the popular Asa Ransom House - a finerestaurant and one of the 'Romantic Inns' of America, the ClarenceHistorical Museum and the Clarence Town Park.
Through my own personalengagement to promote a cultural dialog between Europe and Americaover the past 20 years, I came to know and became friends with anumber of leading European artists, intellectuals, and scientists.Also they are interested in having closer contact with Americans, andover the two decades they have supported the work of the Museum inmany ways.
The Museum has a growing and quiteinteresting collection of 20th and 21st century of theclassical-realistic tradition. Since most other art museums andgalleries show mostly "modern abstract art", our collection sets usapart.Visitors tell us again andagain how impressed they are to find such a fine collection inBuffalo. The Museum hasbeen open since 1994, and is becoming known and respected also inEurope.
We have afine collection of bronzeand marble sculptures and reliefs, portrait-busts, lithographs,woodcuts, etchings, and paintings by prominent European artists ofthe 20th and 21st centuries.Among them are KurtArentz, Salvador Dali, Arno Breker, Ernst Fuchs, Jean Cocteau, HenryMoore, Marc Chagall, Charles Despiau, Paul Belmondo, and others.
In 2002, the "Eleanorand Wilson GreatbatchCollection" wasestablished to honor not only the famous inventor of the pacemaker,but inventors in general. Artists from all over the world now havethe opportunity to donate one of their representative works of art tothis unique collection.
But now we urgently need to putthe Museum on a more secure financial basis. Then we will be able tostart on our major dream for the future -SCULPTUREGARDEN.
The piece of land behind theMuseum, with a few trees and a little brook will make a nice settingfor the Sculpture Garden. We have already set up the first largesculpture - the "BigLooper" by Alan van Every.Two other sculptures already in our collection -"Ode toJoy" by the Swiss sculptorRenate Stendar, and "SeaOtter" by the famousartist Kurt Arentz from Germany are also meant for thegarden.
Because of my long engagementin the artistic dialog with Europe (all done on a people-to-peoplebasis, with no government support at all!), some of theseartist-friends will let us have one or two of their works of art onvery favorable terms. Butthese opportunities do not last indefinitely. Like with everythingelse that happens in life, "when the constellations are right" onehas to say "yes" at once. From experience we know that a missedopportunity will never come back again.
Therefore, we need to haveadequate financial resources. And when the right moment comes, wewill have the sculptures produced and shipped to usimmediately.
In this way, we will build up animpressive collection of larger bronze sculptures by prominentEuropean artists of our time.We hope that by the year2009 the Sculpture Garden will become a unique and attractiveaddition not only to our Museum, but also will benefit the Town ofClarence as an increasingly popular touristdestination.
However, to succeed we needhelp.
We have put together an outlineof the various options that are available to our potential sponsors.Please consider your financial possibilities and your inclinations,and think about how you can support our work.
To accomplish something greatand worthwhile is not easy. It requires not only the initialenthusiasm, but the strength and energy to continue for an extendedtime, often under unfavorable circumstances.
Those of us who have started theMuseum and brought it along this far, have reached the end of ourfinancial possibilities a long time ago. Now we can go forwardonly with the help new friends, new lovers of art and new supporters... will you help?
"Die Zukunft ist heute" -"THE FUTURE ISTODAY" was a motto of adear artist-friend of mine, and I fully agree with that. It means,'what we do today will be our future tomorrow.' Let us shape ittogether!
We look forward to hear fromyou.
Sincerely,
Consul B. John Zavrel
Director
For most people, a donation ofCASH is the most familiar and most frequently used method ofcharitable giving.
Since the Museum of European Art is a tax-exempt, non-profit organization, deductions are tax-deductible to the donors in the year in which they make them.
But there are other ways inwhich one can make a donation at this time to theMuseum:
1) Make a donation ofstocks
2) Make a donation of property(real estate, personal property, etc.)
3) Make a donation of a works ofart, rare art books, coin or stamp collections, etc.
The donor gets a tax-deduction forthe CURRENT MARKET VALUE of the item donated. In the case of highlyappreciated property (such as stocks, land, buildings or works ofart) this can result in a substantial tax saving to thedonor.
Make a BEQUEST IN ONE'S WILL for acharitable donation to the Museum in the form of cash, stocks, realestate or works of art.
Also in these cases, the estatewill be able to take a deduction for the charitable donation equal tothe CURRENT MARKET VALUE of the item donated.
This can be especiallyadvantageous to the donor when there is a substantial estate whichmay include assets and property which is valuable, but which cannotbe converted to cash on a short notice (such as a closely heldbusiness, valuable art collection, undeveloped land, etc.)
For future expansion and success of the Museum in the long run, finding some major donors is of VITAL importance.
B. John Zavrel, Director
MUSEUM OF EUROPEAN ART
10545 Main Street
Clarence, NY 14031
Enclosed is my tax-deductiblecash donation of $ _______ to support the work of the Museum asfollows (please circle one):
1) Pay off themortgage
2) Establish the SculptureGarden
3) Generalpurposes
I also wish to make atax-deductible donation of stocks or property to the Museum, asfollows (please describe):
Please contact me to makearrangements for the transfer.
I would like to make a majorcommitment to support the future, long-term development and successof the Museum by making abequest in mywill. I wish to leavethe following property as a charitable, tax deductible donationdonation to the Museum:
Please contact me to makearrangements.
Name_____________________________________
Street____________________________________
City _________________State______ZIP _______
Telephone _________________ Fax_____________
e-mail_____________________________________
THE MUSEUM OF EUROPEAN ART
10545 MAIN STREET, CLARENCE, NEW YORK 14031 (U.S.A)
Tel.: (716) 759-6078, Fax: (716)759-1983, E-mail: zavrel@meaus.com
World Wide Web: http://www.meaus.com
Non-profit educationalorganization; tax-exempt under IRC 501 (c) (3).
B. John Zavrel Founder & Director
HONORARY MEMBERS &ADVISORS: KurtArentz (Germany), Renate Stendar (Switzerland), Alessandra DellaValentina (Italy), Ruth Zucker (Israel), Jan Künster (Germany),Ernst Fuchs (Austria), Marco Bodenstein (Germany), HermanPfattheicher (Belgium), A. Vojtek (Czech Republic), Helga Tiemann(Germany), Prof. Arcadi Nebolsine (New York), Dominique Egret(France), Patrick Adenauer, Prof. Peter Ludwig (Germany), RogerPeyrefitte (France).
Collection: Sculptures, lithographs, marble and bronze reliefs, paintings, and drawings by important artists of the 20th century. Archives on the artists in the collection. Art books and rare books library. Major Goals: Pay off the existing mortgage and loans Establish the Sculpture Garden Expand the art collection