Supporter Spotlight is a feature where we shine a light on our members and donors to learn about their connections to the Frye and why they support the Museum.
Senior Dual Members Bill and Barb Lavery share a special connection to the Frye Art Museum: “We met and married while in Germany, so we have loved to bask in the Frye Founding Collection. We both admire the Frye’s collection of 19th-century German art. We have often visited the large painting of Königssee, which reminds us of our three years in Bavaria.”
Barb appreciates the Museum’s commitment to the combination of art and music, honoring founders Charles and Emma Frye’s love of classical music. Bill admires the contemporary exhibitions shown at the Frye, sharing one recent memory that particularly stood out to him: “I remember Cherdonna Shinatra: DITCH—the exhibit of colorful murals in 2019 when out the very walls came a catching assembly of wonderful dancers to mingle with all the visitors about the hall.”
Explaining why they support the Museum, the Laverys say, “The Frye’s commitment to the citizens as a free public museum is a wonderful gift for Seattle. We much appreciate its impact on the city. It is a haven in a town of exceptional growth and change. And we love the exceptional Museum Store.”
As members, Bill and Barb actively support what they love about the Frye: exhibitions featuring works from the Founding Collection such as Human Nature, Animal Culture: Selections from the Frye Art Museum Collection; exhibitions supporting local and global artists; and arts engagement programs for people of all ages and backgrounds.
Dániel Somogyi. View of Königssee, 1878. Oil on canvas. 46 5/8 x 59 3/16 x 3/4 in. Founding Collection, Gift of Charles and Emma Frye, 1952.230. Photo: Spike Mafford