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Jane and Bob Mayer’s interests in art and medicine come together through their support for the �������ϲʿ����ֳ�ֱ��’s conservation team. “We first began to understand the impact of conservation after a beloved family artwork that had sustained a tear was conserved and framed by an expert,” shares Jane, former hospital social work director and longstanding �������ϲʿ����ֳ�ֱ�� Advisor and volunteer. “With expert repair, it looked perfect again!”

The couple realized how essential the �������ϲʿ����ֳ�ֱ��’s own team of experts were to the Museum, caring for the world-renowned collection for future generations to enjoy. “I like that they approach treating a work of art the way we would a human patient,” says Bob, a gastrointestinal cancer oncologist. He named the recent “case” where �������ϲʿ����ֳ�ֱ�� staff used medical endoscopy equipment to better understand and treat a Japanese Buddhist temple sculpture.

As a volunteer Gallery Instructor guide for school groups, Jane enjoyed bringing students to see Conservation in Action projects, where visitors can watch conservators working on extensive treatments of major objects, and learn about the techniques used. The students were fascinated by the work on a 600-year-old Monopoli altarpiece, and seeing a “painting undressed.”

When Jane and Bob began to think about their legacy, they decided to create an endowment fund in their names to help future generations explore the intersections between art and science at the �������ϲʿ����ֳ�ֱ��. Their fund will support public programs on conservation, including Conservation in Action. Jane shares, “We like that an endowment fund will live on forever. We hope our kids and grandkids will become involved in our charitable causes—and also be inspired to embrace their own.” Jane and Bob plan to make an additional gift to their �������ϲʿ����ֳ�ֱ�� fund through their estate, furthering their family legacy and increasing the fund’s impact in the future.

When Bob first visited the �������ϲʿ����ֳ�ֱ�� with his parents in the 1950s, he remembers it as a dark, formal space. He notes now that, “It’s been wonderful to watch the �������ϲʿ����ֳ�ֱ�� expand and modernize. With the breadth of the collection, you need go no further than the walls of the Museum to expand your understanding of the world. To us, the changes we’ve seen at the �������ϲʿ����ֳ�ֱ�� in recent years parallel the conservation work; it’s keeping a place that is so important to the cultural fabric of Boston vibrant and alive.” We are deeply grateful to Bob and Jane.