Getting to Know You
Reciprocal Members Joan and Howard Minsky
The Minskys spend a lot of time in museums.
Residents of Mount Lebanon, Joan is a retired fourth-grade teacher and
Howard is a practicing attorney. Now that their three children are grown
and off on exciting careers, the Minskys pursue their passion for “art-related”
travel. They have visited museums and cultural sites all over the world—two
favorites are the Musee D’Orsay in Paris and the Phillips Collection in
Washington, D.C. With so much mileage under their belts, we asked the Minskys
to comment on the museums in their own back yard.
Favorite Carnegie Museums:
Carnegie Museum of Art. We always come
to the International. We didn’t care for it at first, but the more we learned
[through docent tours and repeat visits] the more we liked it. The
Andy Warhol Museum—We took our two grandchildren and they loved it. They
identify with the modern art much more than we do.
Favorite experience:
Bringing my young students to the art museum
was the biggest thing. They were glued to every picture. I remember when
they saw Monet’s Waterlilies, they just sat on a bench and stared. They
couldn’t believe they were lucky enough to see an original.
-Joan
Good reasons to be members:
Reciprocal privileges. When we
visit other museums, we always ask whether our Carnegie membership card
entitles us to free admission and discounts on shop merchandise. Guest
privileges. Our membership level enables us to bring guests to
the museums. I invited a close friend to come with me, and she enjoyed
it so much that she eventually joined. -Joan
Last word:
I wasn’t into art when I went to college and
didn’t take advantage of the museums at all. It wasn’t until we began to
travel that I realized how interesting they are. I don’t know exactly what
attracts me?maybe it has to do with my interest in photography?but I make
sure that I take in a new exhibit whenever I can. –Howard
After Hours at Bear Run
It’s summer, it’s hot, and the best place
to be is outside. Join Carnegie Science Center and the Western Pennsylvania
Conservancy for a members-only, family event at Bear Run Nature Reserve
(Mill Run, PA, near Fallingwater), Friday August 20 from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m.
There will be stargazing, astronomy activities, and night hikes along woods
and streams with glimpses of Fallingwater glowing off in the distance.
Overnight camping with breakfast in the morning is also available. Look
for your invitation this month.
Great Gifts
Kaufmann’s and Carnegie Museums are teaming
up to offer members a unique gift idea: a Kaufmann’s Gift Card and a Carnegie
Museums membership. Here’s how it works--when you purchase a Gift Card
at one of Kaufmann’s eight Pittsburgh locations between July 12 and July
25, you’ll receive a discount on a Carnegie Museums gift membership (membership
discount forms provided when you purchase your Gift Card*).
* Gift Cards available while supply lasts.
Kaufmann’s is the local sponsor of Carnegie Museum of Art’s exhibition
Merchant Prince and Master Builder: Edgar J. Kaufmann and Frank Lloyd Wright,
on view through October 3.
Member Tips
Renew your membership before it expires, and
we’ll send you free Omnimax tickets* as a special thank you! When your
renewal notice arrives in the mail, return it promptly with your membership
contribution. Your Omnimax ticket vouchers will be sent along with your
new membership card. *Offer includes 4 passes at Combined Family
level, 2 passes at Science Center Family and Museums Family levels, and
1 pass at all Individual levels (Student memberships excluded).
Traveling this summer? Don’t forget to
pack your membership card. Membership cards with Carnegie Science Center
privileges are honored at more than 200 science centers in this country
and abroad. Reciprocal members also enjoy free admission to 29 major art
and natural history museums. To find out if there is a participating museum
or science center near your vacation destination, stop by the membership
desk on your next visit or call 622-3314.
Donor Profile: The Next Generation
Meet Jill and Craig Tillotson. They could
be the poster family for the “new” Pittsburgh. Born and raised in the Pittsburgh
area, the Tillotsons have chosen to stay and raise their four children
here. They live in the North Hills, Craig works in the city, and they care
about organizations that contribute to their children’s development and
help make Pittsburgh stronger.
Craig is Executive Vice President with
Hefren Tillotson Inc., founded in 1948 by his grandfather and now one of
the largest investment firms in the region. His sister and father are also
involved in the firm. “Our business has been here for over 50 years and
we don’t want to see the town decline or young people leaving,” says Craig.
“Places like Heinz Hall and Carnegie Museums add to the quality of life
here. It’s one of the key reasons we’re a corporate supporter.”
The Tillotsons have also been individual
members of Carnegie Museums since 1992 and last year joined the Patrons
Circle. Besides free admission, the benefits they enjoy most are member
previews and the ability to bring family and friends to the museums as
their guests. Recently, they attended their first Patrons Circle Dinner,
which featured writer and historian David McCullough. The Science Center,
however, is the main attraction.
“We’re big Science Center people,” says
Jill. “The children love it. They learn a lot of things, but they
don’t even realize it because they’re having so much fun. Then down the
road, they’ll make a reference or a connection to something they learned.”
Adds Craig, “I think it’s great that there is a place you can take kids
that they’ll enjoy but is also non-threatening and educational. They have
as much fun at the Science Center as they do at any arcade.”
When asked why they increased their support
to the Patrons level, Craig says “Because we can and I think we should.
It’s in our personal and business interests to see the cultural life of
this region maintained and developed. You look at a town like Houston,
with three times the population, and I think we have much more than they
do. We feel proud to bring people into Pittsburgh.”
Giving Made Easy
Ways to meet personal, business, or tax needs,
in addition to supporting the work of the museums.
Any Bonds Today?
Any bonds of freedom, that’s what I’m
sellin' This refrain from
Irving Berlin’s 1941 song is familiar to anyone who remembers World War
II. Thousands of Americans responded to the appeal by buying Series
E U.S. savings bonds to help the war effort. In later years, the
Payroll Savings Program simplified the purchase of countless Series E and
EE bonds, many of which were later exchanged for Series HH bonds.
These savings bonds, bought for patriotic
or prudent reasons, can be ticking time bombs in the estates of the holders.
The accrued interest on the bonds, most of which were purchased for half
of their face value, is taxable income, and the tax comes due immediately
upon any redemption or transfer of the bonds.
If the holder dies before redeeming them,
then, unlike most other estate assets, U.S. savings bonds are subject to
income tax in addition to estate and inheritance taxes. Combined taxes
can total over seventy-five percent of the value of the bonds, leaving
only about twenty-five cents on the dollar for individual heirs receiving
the bonds.
The only way to avoid this double taxation
is to bequeath the bonds to a tax-exempt charity like Carnegie Museums
of Pittsburgh, which would receive the full value of the bonds, without
any reduction for estate or income taxes. Note that a lifetime gift
of bonds to a charity is treated the same, for tax purposes, as a lifetime
gift or a bequest to an individual – the accrued interest is subject to
income tax.
Bequeathing savings bonds to a charity
and making cash bequests to individual heirs, rather than vice versa, effectively
increases the amount going to individual heirs rather than the government,
because cash bequests are not subject to income tax. For further
information on how your U.S. savings bonds can be used to support the work
of Carnegie Museums, please call Sally Davoren, (412) 578-2478.
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