Faces on Fifth: Robert W. Pillsbury, President of the Salmagundi Club

In this installment of Faces on Fifth, our ongoing series on the people behind Fifth Avenue’s businesses, institutions and buildings, we speak with Robert W. Pillsbury, President of the Salmagundi Club.

Located at 47 Fifth Avenue in the last intact brownstone on Fifth south of Harlem, the Salmagundi Club is one of the nation’s oldest arts & culture organizations and has counted some of America’s greatest artists and architects among its members, including stained glass master Louis Comfort Tiffany, architect Stanford White and painter Childe Hassim. Pillsbury has been President of the organization since June of 2013, having served as the Club’s First Vice-President since 2009.

“I first came to visit the club over a decade ago,” Pillsbury says. “A friend of mine had work exhibited in the American Watercolor Society show, an annual exhibition, and as I stepped through the door it was as if I could hear a voice in my head saying: ‘I have to be part of this place.’” 

Pillsbury joined in 2001 and in 2007 was asked to chair the Club’s Junior Scholarship, a program that allows artists between 21 and 35 years old to join at reduced rates and participate in club exhibitions and activities.  Under his watch the program more than doubled its number of participants. “It’s important to bring as many young people in as possible,” Pillsbury says, “The next generation of members always have to be involved.”

Pillsbury notes that the Salmagundi Club offers numerous levels of public access, from exhibitions and openings to art classes that can be paid for on an “as-you-go” basis.  “We encourage walk-ins and first-time visitors,” Pillsbury says. “It’s part of how we serve the community as well as members.”

A current major project is a renovation of the Club’s interiors that has seen the permanent collection placed in storage while bringing exhibition spaces up to gallery standards: reinstallation of the collection should be complete by spring of this year.   Original details will remain untouched, including the pair of humorous tankard-bearing gargoyles that greet drinkers in the club’s unique Gothic bar.  Sculpted by artist Philip Martiny and installed after 1917 when the club took ownership of the property, they are among the numerous architectural features that make the club a historic treasure as well as a vital community resource.

“It’s been inspiring to work on the renovation,’ Pillsbury says. “We’ve found dates left by the original carpenters in chalk – from 1853.” As a jewel of Lower Fifth Avenue, the Salmagundi Club will undoubtedly endure: may the gargoyles raise their tankards to the centuries to come.

The Salmagundi Club’s website is at www.salmagundi.org

Photo provided by Robert W. Pillsbury

3 responses to “Faces on Fifth: Robert W. Pillsbury, President of the Salmagundi Club”

  1. Michael Bisson says:

    You never cease to amaze me bob pillsbury!!!

  2. Linda Espanol says:

    President Pillsbury, nearly a decade ago you treated me to an evening @ Salmagundi Club (visually delightful & tasty). Again, cousin Bob, know that gratitude still resides in my heart for this memorable introduction!

  3. Mara Sfara says:

    Robert you are an amazing asset to the club. Thank you for all of your excellent work!
    Mara

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