On Thursday, May 29, the Hudson River Museum will host Bright Lights: A Hudson River Museum Gala. This year’s event celebrates luminaries in our community, the thriving arts and entertainment industries in Yonkers and beyond, and our next generation of leaders. We are thrilled to be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the HRM Junior Docent Program, Robert Halmi, Founder and CEO of Great Point Studios, and our wonderful, longtime HRM Trustee Hope Davis.

Hope Davis has served with distinction on the Board since 1998, and we are immensely grateful for her expertise, generosity, and remarkable dedication to the Museum’s and the community’s success. The HRM will present her with the Isidore Konti Medal, named in honor of one of the Museum’s illustrious founders. Hope is retiring from the HRM’s Board of Trustees this year after 27 years of dedicated service.

For Hope, art and life have long been intertwined and the Museum has been an integral part of her life. Working with three directors over the course of nearly thirty years, she has served on the Executive Committee, the Program Committee, and co-chaired the Collection Committee and the Gala Committee. Hope introduced many new supporters to the Museum and facilitated connections between the HRM and the New York art world. Her in-depth knowledge of the art world proved invaluable in considering potential gifts and acquisitions.

Hope completed her BA at NYU in the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program under art historian and author Irving Sandler. Upon graduation she worked at Sotheby’s PB 84 Division, where broad training across the fine art market fueled her enthusiasm to pursue graduate work at NYU’s Institute of Fine Art. As Director of American Art at M Knoedler & Co, Hope organized scholarly exhibitions on James McNeill Whistler and Winslow Homer, positioning her to launch Hope Davis Fine Art as a private dealer specializing in American art with a focus on works on paper.

While Hope and her husband Bob Braddick were raising their daughters Clara and Valerie in Harrison and Irvington, Hope developed and led Eyes on Art, an interactive art appreciation program presented by parent volunteers at public and private Westchester schools. With her recent move to the Berkshires, she has embraced the local art scene, organized exhibitions of regional artists, and become an advocate for the protection of museum collections. Hope actively continues her work as a USPAP certified appraiser of American art and she is newly a passionate creator of hand-built pottery.

All at HRM celebrate her contributions to a stronger, more vital HRM!

Learn more about the upcoming gala.

Photo: Hope Davis, HRM Gala Honoree. Lynda Shenkman.