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Endowment

The Bradley family endowed a prominent painting to Woodstock Academy. This photo was taken in the same spot depicted in the painting by Dennis Miller Bunker. Courtesy photo.

 

 

Bradley family donates

prominent painting 

to Woodstock Academy

WOODSTOCK — Edward Bradley and daughter, Annice Bradley Rockwell (Woodstock Academy ’87) recently endowed a prominent 1886 oil painting of a Woodstock scene by renowned artist Dennis Miller Bunker to The Woodstock Academy in memory of Arleen Bradley, an admired Woodstock teacher who was known for being exceptionally kind.  

With this meaningful gift, valued at $125,000, the family desires to accomplish two very important things—to honor and celebrate the local connection to a significant artist and to continue to honor the memory of Arleen Bradley who had a genuine love of fine art and a passion for education.

Dennis Miller Bunker, whose work hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., was known for some of the finest examples of early American Impressionist landscapes.  Mentored by Boston socialite Isabella Stuart Gardner, Bunker spent summers at locations including South Woodstock.  After much research and inquiry, the Bradley family discovered that the scene portrayed in the original oil painting is of Henry Bowen’s Roseland Lake from the Senexet Road view.

In order to preserve Dennis Miller Bunker’s painting for the generations to come, the Bradley family decided to endow the painting in perpetuity to The Woodstock Academy for all to appreciate and enjoy.  A commemoration of the historical significance of the painting in alignment with The Academy’s 215th anniversary in 2016 is currently being planned.

To further the impact of the gift, a framed photograph of the current landscape was reproduced as an oil-on-canvas and was given to Woodstock Middle School, where Arleen Bradley taught for more than 20 years.  Family members met with Woodstock Middle School principal, Paul Gamache, conveying their hope of inspiring younger students to have an appreciation for art and their beautiful town.   Both Edward and his daughter Annice have expressed that without a doubt this painting is being brought right back to where it belongs—Woodstock.  Remarking on the exceptional events that led to this special acquisition, the family conveyed that when remarkable things happen they are meant to be shared.

Annice Bradley Rockwell and her father, Edward Bradley, met with The Woodstock Academy Headmaster, Christopher Sandford, The Woodstock Academy Executive Director of Institutional Advancement, Jonathan Sturdevant, and The Woodstock Academy Foundation President, Martha Beckwith, to present the original painting at the exact location where it was painted in 1886.  

 

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