Boston Athenæum
Ongoing: Subscription Campaigns: Contributions in Support of Community. Proponents of the Internet believe that crowd-sourcing is a recent technologically driven innovation. However, throughout the centuries Bostonians have pooled financial resources for various causes in a process popularly called “subscription.” This exhibition explores the complex dynamics of targeted fund-raising through coordinated investment by examining the institution’s extraordinary holdings of paintings, sculpture, prints, photographs, rare books, and archives, as the material evidence of individuals working together to achieve lofty goals while simultaneously fostering a sense of community through participation in a shared vision.
