1991
artist and project director Anna Schuleit takes a first, unplanned walk over the grounds of the Northampton State Hospital, while she was a junior at Northfield Mount Hermon School
1992
several more visits to the site; first drawings and writings about Northampton State Hospital
1994
Beginning of her studies at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island; two hours from Northampton, MA; major in painting and art history.
1995-96
Initial interviews with former patients and employees of Northampton State Hospital;
learning about its history.
Weekly visits to 15 different psychiatric hospitals in Massachusetts (Northampton, Taunton, Danvers, Westborough, Grafton, Waltham, Belchertown, Tewksbury, Fernald, Lyman, Monson, Boston, Foxborough, Gardner, Worcester); beginning of a documentation of these institutions, through photographs, drawings, and paintings; first permissions to enter and document several state hospital buildings, not including NSH
1997
Study with the sociology professor Phil Brown at Brown University, in his course „Perceptions of Mental Illness“; Phil Brown becomes the mentor of Anna Schuleit’s thesis project „Habeas Corpus“ in her senior year at the Rhode Island School of Design; chief critics of the thesis are RISD painting professors Bobby Oliver and Richard Merkin; critics include Dyke Blair and Rackstraw Downes
Visits to state hospitals in Massachusetts continue
1998
Anna Schuleit graduates from RISD with honors in painting and a certificate in art history; then attends a summer residency at the Blue Mountain Center, NY, where she develops the idea for a sound installation of J. S. Bach’s Magnificat inside the historic buildings of Northampton State Hospital
Proposal drafted for a sound installation of Bach’s Magnificat at Northampton State Hospital, and first feedback/encouragement/support received from Phil Brown and the NSH historian J. Michael Moore (this was crucial for building up courage to present the idea to anyone else)
1999
Proposal finalized and printed as a limited edition (500)
Project presented to Philippe Herreweghe, conductor of the Magnificat recording, and to his music label Harmonia Mundi in Los Angeles; support and enthusiasm from both
Four-week artist residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, Canada
First contact with the state agency that is in charge of the building: strong discouragement of the idea.
Contacted and gained strategic (written) support from: (in chronological order) Historic Northampton, agreed to become the non-profit umbrella organization for the project; Department of Mental Health, Western Mass. Area; The Community Builders, Springfield; Northampton Arts Council; Northampton Historical Commission; Senator Stanley C. Rosenberg; Massachusetts Historical Commission; Smith College; Massachusetts Cultural Council; University of Massachusetts Medical School; Center for Public Representation; as well as the artists Christo & Jeanne Claude, NY, and several renown psychiatrists from Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry
Anna Schuleit attends an artist residency at the Dorset Colony, Dorset, VT.
12/12/1999: The permission for Habeas Corpus is finally gained (!!!) after dozens of support letters are sent to Boston and several Mass. politicians express their support for the project again. However, strict requirements were to be worked out by the state lawyers, centered on insurance issues (liability risk was the greatest obstacle). Date of the event is set for Nov. 18, 2000 (Anna’s choice: cold season, better sound, no “picnic- atmosphere”, no lingering on the hilltop (insurance issue), but most importantly: it was intended as a *standing* tribute while the building is without foliage, while it is bare and naked).
Applications for project grants written and sent off; project website started; first volunteers recruited
January 2000
The idea for an academic symposium on Friday, Nov. 17, came from Harvard psychiatrists at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center (Lester Grinspoon, Carl Salzman, Ken Duckworth, Alan Green);
first regular planning meetings; idea for an ex-patients forum, which was separated from the symposium and moved to Sat. morning, Nov. 18, to lead up to Habeas Corpus; Rosalyn Carter is informed about the project and invited her to be our moderator, she was unable to attend but wrote a letter to be read at the patient forum, which the moderator Steven Schwartz did; former governor Michael Dukakis hears about the project, offers his help and becomes our keynote speaker; Carl Salzman sets out to get funding for the symposium from pharmaceutical companies
Spring 2000
Planning meetings continue; speakers for symposium are identified, then contacted
DMH Western Mass. support for project stabilized
Anna Schuleit attends an eight-week artist residency at the Mac Dowell Colony, NH
Continuing work on funding, grant applications, meetings w/ volunteers, press, negotiations with sound companies, idea for exhibitions with Michael Moore and Stan Sherer
June/July 2000
Planning continues; funding rejections from foundations: “project too short-lived”, especially the music part (only 28.5 minutes long = “no lasting impact”);
idea for a limited-edition poster to raise funds with: print of Northampton State Hospital photograph of 1914;
The evolving project www.1856.org website has already been visited by 10,000 people
August 2000
Project crisis: no funding, except for the symposium and the exhibitions; costs for the sound installation currently at $150,000.
8/12/00: miraculous donation of $25,000 from a woman on the West Coast, by telephone;
she had heard about the project from a journalist at Newsweek;
The project is saved.
11,000 invitations printed and mailed to a mailing list compiled by over 10 different organizations and agencies, incl. the Dept. of Mental Health.
Current sound company is unable to lower their sound budget any further after it is already lowered from $150,000 to $100,000 - funding crisis!
Approx. 50 volunteers at this point; weekly meetings at Smith College; Sage Hall at Smith College reserved for symposium and forum; fees waived.
exhibition with the Anchor House Artists added to the events
September 2000
Poster of Northampton State Hospital in 1914 is printed and is beginning to sell; fundraising continues.
Symposium speakers are confirmed, most of them agree to speak for free; symposium agenda for Nov. 17 is finalized.
Group forms in Northampton to plan the forum for and with former patients, more than 800 former patients of NSH are invited by direct mail
Current sound company drops out of the planning process after one year of negotiations – new crisis: no sound company 2 months before the events!
Another milestone: a sound engineer calls from the sound company Klondike Sound, and offers his interest and help. Meetings with the new company, walk-through of the state hospital to determine costs.
Legal documents in preparation with the state; insurance quotes; structural engineer hired for the required evaluation of the possibility of structural damage being done to the building by the sound
October 2000
Preparation of the event brochure and the limited edition CDs of the Magnificat, both for sale at the events
German film team arrives and documents the project preparations, including a walk-through of NSH with sound engineers and the small-scale sound test of the Magnificat in the former auditorium of the hospital.
NPR interview with Charleen Scott; other local press
Klondike Sound hired as the sound company for the installation;
budget made, changed, then finalized
Volunteer team meetings intensify with the involvement of the new sound company; specific planning made for set-up/take-down days; idea for windbreakers to unify team during events; volunteer found for embroidery
November 2000
Last preparatory walk-through of the state hospital with Klondike Sound and several electricians;
local electrical company hired to lay 5,000 feet of cable for power supply, which has to be removed after the installation
Permits obtained from the local police, e.g. “parade-permit” for the public to walk up the hill on Nov. 18; parking permits for symposium + forum; state police security hired for Northampton State Hospital during the set-up and take-down days, Nov. 13 - 19, 2000.
Completed team of 73 volunteers, many of which are students at Smith College. Others include students from local high schools and from Northfield Mount Hermon School, teachers, former state hospital employees, former patients, artists, photographers, filmmakers, journalists, et al.
Multi-million dollar liability event insurance policy set up;
legal documents finalized; the actual permit to use the building is 17 pages long, signed by the acting commissioner of DCAM and by Anna Schuleit, artist and project director.
Local press helps to spread the word about the events; Smith College public relations department helps with contacts; Harmonia Mundi USA sends out press releases nationally, to music critics and music magazines
Topic-related exhibitions open at the Northampton Center for the Arts and at the Anchor House, from mid-November through December 2000
1856.org project website has its highest daily visitor rate ever: over 4,000 visitors on the day before the events begin, on Thursday, Nov. 16
Planning ends, events begin on Nov.17, 2000 - under the overall title The State Hospital: In Memoriam
www.1856.org is currently being expanded to include in-depth documentation of other state mental hospitals in Massachusetts and the surrounding states.