Volunteer Spotlight: Kathy Kendall

In this series, Manager of Visitor and Family Engagement Emily Bray profiles volunteers within the museum. Phillips volunteers are an integral part of the museum and help in many ways: greeting and guiding guests through the museum, helping with Sunday Concerts, assisting patrons in the library, helping out with Phillips after 5 and special events, and so much more. Our volunteers offer a wealth of expertise and experience to the museum, and we are delighted to highlight several them.

Kathy Kendall, Phillips Music Volunteer

Kathy Kendall

What year did you start volunteering at The Phillips Collection?

2011

What do you see as the most valuable aspect of your volunteering?

Sitting in the Music Room listening to prize-winning musicians from many countries has not only given me enormous pleasure, hearing the classics played with such fervor and skill, but has also broadened my taste for new and unusual music. We’re all sharing the experience together; sometimes the room just vibrates with excitement. I am delighted to be there, and to help the staff and the audience with the tickets, the programs, and the questions that arise.  We can be an extra hand.

The musicians have extremely busy schedules, and generally leave soon after the concert.  Occasionally, however, the musicians have time for a brief foray into the gallery, and I take them to see Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party. The Renoir and Friends: Luncheon of the Boating Party exhibition and excellent panel presentation about the painting helped me to deepen my knowledge of that treasure.

What do you do when you are not volunteering at The Phillips Collection?

I am about 90% retired as a professor of political communication, having taught at the University at Albany, State University of New York for 37 years, and then at the University of Maryland, College Park, in the Department of Communication. I still work with a few graduate students at UMD; publish occasionally on topics such as communication in the presidential primaries; and attend professional conventions. In my photo, I’m sitting in the model of the Oval Office at the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas, happy that more and more women are stepping forward and running for office. 2018 should be a banner year for female candidates.

What is your favorite room or painting here?

For the music volunteers, the Music Room is a logical favorite. The oak paneling, the high windows, the beautiful paintings, and the historical ambiance (these concerts began in 1941) provide the perfect setting for the glorious chamber music.

If you had to choose one word to describe Phillips, what would it be?

I would have to choose several—human scale, calm, and intense focus on creativity.

Share a fun fact about you.

I like the funnies, and read some comic strips every day in the Washington Post. What will happen tomorrow in Spider Man, Pickles, Mark Trail, Peanuts, Sally Forth, and Doonesbury?

Is there anything else you would like to share?

I fell in love with DC on the Washington Semester Plan in college, and can’t imagine a better place to be. The Phillips is a vital part of my life.

Volunteer Spotlight: Faezeh Foroutan

In this series, Manager of Visitor and Family Engagement Emily Bray profiles volunteers within the museum. Phillips volunteers are an integral part of the museum and help in many ways: greeting and guiding guests through the museum, helping with Sunday Concerts, assisting patrons in the library, helping out with Phillips after 5 and special events, and so much more. Our volunteers offer a wealth of expertise and experience to the museum, and we are delighted to highlight several them.

Faezeh Foroutan, Phillips Music Volunteer

Faezeh Foroutan

What year did you start volunteering at The Phillips Collection?

I started volunteering with Phillips Music some seven years ago.

What do you see as the most valuable aspect of your volunteering?

Coordinating all the volunteers during the Phillips Music season.  We have a large number of volunteers varying between ten and twelve.  For every Sunday concert, we assign two volunteers. This requires careful coordination and planning in advance to make sure that volunteers are available and that they attend the concert of their preference.

What do you do when you are not volunteering at The Phillips Collection?

I am currently retired, but I worked as an economist for the World Bank for over 25 years.

What is your favorite room or painting here?

The Music Room is really my favorite. It is elegant; intimate for concerts; has great paintings on the walls; and most importantly from my perspective, has great acoustics.

If you had to choose one word to describe the Phillips, what would it be?

I would choose two: dedication and passion.

Is there anything else you would like to share?

I feel very privileged to be a volunteer at The Phillips Collection.  Every person you meet, from volunteers to interns to the highest-ranking staff, is totally dedicated, knowledgeable, and above all, kind.  The combination of music and visual arts, not to mention the building itself, makes the Phillips stand as a jewel in the crown of Washington, DC.

Volunteer Spotlight: Chuck McCorkle

In this series, Education Specialist for Public Programs Emily Bray profiles volunteers within the museum. The Phillips Collection volunteers are an integral part of the museum and help in many ways: greeting and guiding guests through the museum, helping with Sunday Concerts, assisting patrons in the library, helping out with Phillips after 5 and special events, and so much more. Our volunteers offer a wealth of expertise and experience to the museum, and we are delighted to highlight several them.

Chuck McCorkle standing in front of The Phillips Collection

Chuck McCorkle

For volunteer Chuck McCorkle, helping people has been at the core of his life endeavors for many years, taking him to the other side of the world and to The Phillips Collection, where he has a personal connection with some of the artists in the museum’s collection.

Chuck returned in April from Sierra Leone, where he volunteered as a mental health therapist to help medical caregivers deal with their difficult, and often traumatic, work in treating Ebola patients. Chuck had been consulting with Partners in Health, providing exit interviews with medical caregivers over the phone, when they asked if he would be interested in traveling overseas to help in person. He spent about four weeks on the ground in Sierra Leone working directly with medical caregivers and local staff, many of whom were Ebola survivors coping with the loss of their own family members to the disease.

Chuck McCorkle in front of The Colloseum in Rome, Italy.

Chuck McCorkle in front of The Colosseum in Rome, Italy.

Chuck graduated with an art degree from Indiana University and received a 2 year fellowship at the Fine Arts Work Center in the 1970s. It was there in Provincetown, MA that he initially met and worked with abstract painters Myron Stout and Jack Tworkov, assisting in packing artwork, stretching canvases, and learning what it was like to be a living artist.  In the 1980s, after having moved to Boston, Chuck began to see an increasing need for help to fight the newly recognized AIDS epidemic. This became a career changing event as he began volunteering on the local AIDS hotline. Soon after, he began working for the Massachusetts AIDS Bureau developing psychosocial support programs statewide. After receiving his MSW, he became an HIV therapist at Massachusetts General Hospital, again developing programs for clients, including a Consumer Advisory Board for the clinic.

In 2012, Chuck retired from full time social work and moved to the DC area. While in Boston he had been a volunteer at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in both the galleries and for the music program. Upon moving he sought out volunteer opportunities where he could utilize his interest in the arts and music. During one of his trips to The Phillips Collection, he stumbled upon a familiar name: Myron Stout. “I was flooded with tenderness for the man and the convergence in our lives that brought us to be friends. Lots of wonderful memories,” Chuck recalls thinking, “Of course the Phillips would have a Myron Stout in their collection.”

Art has also played an important role in his personal contemplative practice. Upon moving to the DC area, he began working collaboratively with the Shalem Institute where he is one of the leaders of a pilgrimage to Assisi, called “In the Footsteps of St. Francis and St. Clare.”

Chuck has been an Art Information and Phillips Music volunteer at the museum since 2013. He helps visitors navigate through the galleries and offers insights on the museum history and artworks. In addition, he is a music volunteer where he assists concertgoers during Sunday Concert performances. Chuck believes social work and art have similar and very important qualities—helping people understand themselves and the world around them. Both are creative endeavors which can lead to personal transformation.