Press Release

                                               July 12, 2023

In Salisbury, a group of concerned citizens have formed a committee to support efforts to keep the Ward Museum collection in the original museum on Schumaker Pond. Their mission is to expand the existing Ward Foundation Board to include new community leaders whose experience would be invaluable in establishing an operating budget, committees for program planning, and community fund raising including public and private grants. This expanded mission would complement the existing Board’s commitment to continuing the carving championship competition and ongoing educational programs and in no way would they replace that commitment.

What prompted the group to form was the sudden announcement by Salisbury University earlier this year that they were closing the Ward Museum and distributing the art collection across a new gallery to be renovated in the Powell Building on West Main Street, as well as at the Nabb Center for Research on Delmarva History and Culture, in addition to loans of portions of the collection to other institutions and the sale of some items from the collection.  University statements that estimates of the cost of renovating the museum on Schumaker Pond along with the renovation of a downtown gallery seemed inconsistent with the University’s commitment to withdraw from its historic partnership with the Ward Museum. In addition, the display space in the downtown gallery would be but a fraction of the space in the uniquely designed Ward Museum on Schumaker Pond.=

Salisbury University officials have been told by the State Board of Regents to terminate their responsibility of running the Museum from current priorities and to concentrate efforts on its mission of student-centered education. At the same time, an online petition that now has over 5,300 signatures attests to the interest of the community to preserve the Ward Museum on Schumaker Pond. The working group of citizens are confident that a mutually satisfactory solution can be found through meeting with the President of Salisbury University. 

The Ward Museum on Schumaker Pond is a unique institution with national distinction. Dedicated to the art of carving from decoys once just used for hunting, it now hosts the exceptional works of art contributed from carvers all over the world. This cultural asset to Salisbury was founded by the community to serve not only as a museum, but also an educational facility and economic tool as an active expression of regional culture. It is an icon that deserves to be preserved.