2023 New Hampshire Benefit

May 6, 2023

We are pleased to announce that thanks to New England supporters and guests who came out to celebrate, we surpassed our fundraising goal for the 2023 MacDowell New Hampshire Benefit hosted by MacDowell Fellow and Board Member Peter Cameron (8x, 84-08) and featuring MacDowell Fellows Rodrigo Martínez Torres (19) and Joanna Rakoff (03, 19). This year, the New Hampshire Benefit returned to Bond Hall, the heart of the MacDowell campus, where artists-in-residence dine and gather.

The evening started with a cocktail reception in the James Baldwin Library, where guests had the opportunity to meet Chiwoniso Kaitano, the new Executive Director of MacDowell. Then, dinner from the MacDowell kitchen was served in Bond Hall, followed by artist presentations. Learn more about the artist participants and view a slideshow below.

Black and white photograph of MacDowell supporters gathered in the main hall at MacDowell at the New Hampshire Benefit in 2014. Four people are seated at a table in the foreground with a tall floral arrangement on the left.

(Jonathan Gourlay photo)

Scenes from the 2023 New Hampshire Benefit

Three people pose together for a photo outside of the library. The stone façade and large windows of the library is behind them

Board member Darrell Harvey, Board President Christine Fisher, and her husband, Todd Fisher, on their way from the James Baldwin Library to Bond Hall. (Cassandra Yerkes photo)

Three women pose together for a photo, each of them smiling and leaning close to one another.

MacDowell staff members Jenni Wu, Gina Hsu, and Robin Cherof greeting benefit guests as they enter the James Baldwin Library. (Cassandra Yerkes photo)

Three women pose together for a photo inside the library. They have their arms wrapped around one another and are smiling brightly. A large wall of windows is behind them.

Board President Christine Fisher, board member and NHB Committee member Monica Lehner, and board member Barbara Senchak in the library during the event's cocktail hour. (Dan Millbauer photo)

A man and a woman pose together for a photo outside of the library. The man's arm is around the woman and they are both smiling brightly. It is a sunny, spring evening.

Terry Reeves and board member Darrell Harvey on their way into the James Baldwin Library (Cassandra Yerkes photo)

Two men standing together outside on a sunny, spring evening. They are laughing and one man has his hand to his head.

Board and New Hampshire Benefit Committee member Scott Manning and Peter Cameron, Fellow and the evening's host (Cassandra Yerkes photo)

A woman stands in a sun-filled room in the library. She listens closely to the conversation she is having.

Executive Director Chiwoniso Kaitano chatting with guests in the James Baldwin Library (Cassandra Yerkes photo)

A small group of people engage in conversation inside the library. A large bookcase and a window behind them.

Rodrigo Martinez Torres, Fellow and presenting artist for the evening, and Fellow Frank Yefeng Wang speak with a guest during the cocktail hour in the library (Dan Millbauer photo)

Three women laugh as they pose for a photo together inside the library. There are bookshelves behind them.

Nancy B. Roberts, Tori Haring-Smith, and Terry Reeves enjoy conversation in the library

A man and a woman laugh with one another while having a conversation inside the library. Their faces are lit with bright light from outside that is coming in through large windows.

Cor Trowbridge and Jamie Trowbridge, board and New Hampshire Benefit Committee member, in the library (Cassandra Yerkes photo)

Two women pose together for a photo inside the library. They have their arms around one another and are smiling brightly.

Fellows Caoilinn Hughes and Nami Mun (Jonathan Gourlay photo)

Two guests arrive to the library, walking up a stone pathway. They are greeted by a woman at the front door. It is a sunny, spring evening.

Tori Haring-Smith and Nancy B. Roberts arrive at the James Baldwin Library, they are greeted by MacDowell staff member Stacey Bosworth (Cassandra Yerkes photo)

A man and a woman pose together for a photo inside the library. The man has his arm around the woman's shoulder, and there are large windows behind them,.

Resident Director David Macy and Deborah Butler (Cassandra Yerkes photo)

A crowd of people gather inside the library, talking in smaller groups. The room is lit with bright sunlight streaming in through large windows. The walls of the room are lined with tall bookcases.

Benefit attendees gather in the James Baldwin Library for conversation and cocktails before heading to Bond Hall for dinner and artist presentations (Jonathan Gourlay photo)

Benefit attendees gather in the James Baldwin Library for conversation and cocktails before heading to Bond Hall for dinner and artist presentations (Dan Millbauer photo)

Two women engage in conversation in the library. One woman faces the camera and is shrouded in bright sunlight that is coming through a large window. The light illuminates her smiling face and colorful floral shirt.

Fellow, NHB Committee and board member, and President of the FEC, Emily Noelle Lambert (Cassandra Yerkes photo)

Two women pose together for a photo in front of a large piece of artwork.

Executive Director Chiwoniso Kaitano and Deborah Butler in the library (Jonathan Gourlay photo)

Two men lean against a wall inside the library, listening to a conversation.

Michael George and Fellow Simon Han (Jonathan Gourlay photo)

Two groups of women are engaged in conversation in the sun-lit library. There is a large wall of windows behind them looking out to the sunny, spring evening.

Executive Director Chiwoniso Kaitano and Fellow Jessica Stern have conversations with guests (Cassandra Yerkes photo)

Three men stand together inside the library for a photo. They are all smiling and standing against the wall.

Board member David Baum, Rick Cohen, and Todd Fisher (Jonathan Gourlay photo)

A group of five people pose together for a photo outside of the library. The stone façade of the library is behind them

Larry O'Connor, Mary Morris, Steve Maughan, Mary Maughan, and Sara Vecchiotti on their way to Bond Hall for dinner and artist presentations (Cassandra Yerkes photo)

A man and a woman pose together for a photo outside of the library. The stone façade of the library is behind them

Gloria Anderson and Anthony Lenos on their way from the library to Bond Hall (Jonathan Gourlay photo)

A man and a woman pose together for a photo outside of the library, their heads titled toward one another. The stone façade and large windows of the library is behind them

Jeannie Suk Gerson, Fellow and board member, and her husband Jacob Gerson (Cassandra Yerkes photo)

A group of people pose together for a photo outside of the library. The stone façade and large windows of the library is behind them.

Board members Susie Hackler and Tom Putnam, Deborah Butler, Babs Putnam, board and NHB Committee member Jaime Trowbridge, Resident Director David Macy, and board member Andrew M. Senchak (Cassandra Yerkes photo)

Tori Haring-Smith with Jeanne and Peter Henriques on their way to Bond Hall (Cassandra Yerkes photo)

Event attendees sit at round table inside of Bond Hall, a large room. They are chatting with one another and awaiting the presentation to start. The tables are strewn with drinking glasses, bottles or wine and bouquets of flowers.

Benefit guests gather in Bond Hall for the remainder of the evening to enjoy dinner and presentations from Fellows (Cassandra Yerkes photo)

MacDowell Fellow and the evening's host, Peter Cameron, addresses the guests as the program begins (Dan Millbauer photo)

A man stands on a small stage in front of a large stone fireplace. He is speaking into a microphone as he addresses the audience.

Host and Fellow Peter Cameron speaks to guests from a small stage in front of the grand fireplace in Bond Hall (Jonathan Gourlay photo)

A woman stands on a small stage in front of a large stone fireplace. She is speaking into a microphone as she addresses the audience.

Fellow Joanna Rakoff reads some of her work and speaks to the power of a MacDowell residency (Jonathan Gourlay photo)

Event attendees sit at round tables in a large room, chatting with one another and finishing their dinners. The room is dimly lit.

Guests engage in lively conversation while eating a wonderful meal prepared by MacDowell chef Scott Tyle (Cassandra Yerkes photo)

A man sits at an electronic piano, speaking to the audience before beginning his performance. He is on a small stage in front of a large stone fireplace.

To close out the evening, Fellow Rodrigo Martinez Torres performs a song he has written (Cassandra Yerkes photo)

Event attendees sit at round tables inside of Bond Hall, a large room. They are chatting with one another and awaiting the performance to start. The performer is at the front of a room on a small stage, sitting at an electric piano.

New Hampshire Benefit guests applaud Fellow Rodrigo Martinez Torres after his performance, the final presentation of the evening (Cassandra Yerkes photo)

Artist Participants

From left to right: Peter Cameron by Joanna Eldredge Morrissey, Joanna Rakoff by Mark Ostow, Rodrigo Martínez Torres by Jose García Rojas

Peter Cameron is a MacDowell Board member and a fiction writer who is best known for his novels Andorra, The Weekend, The City of Your Final Destination, Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You, and What Happens at Night. He is the founding editor of Shrinking Violet Press, where he has published two books of MacDowellania: Dieter at MacDowell: Summer, 1939 and Untied: Memoirs by Mary Carswell, the former Executive Director and MacDowell board member. He lives in New York City and Sandgate, Vermont.

Joanna Rakoff is the author of the international bestselling memoir My Salinger Year and the bestselling novel A Fortunate Age, winner of the Goldberg Prize for Fiction and the Elle Readers’ Prize. Rakoff’s books have been translated into twenty languages, and the film adaptation of My Salinger Year, directed by Oscar-nominee Philippe Falardeau, opened in theaters worldwide in 2021 and is now streaming. She has been the recipient of fellowships and residencies from MacDowell, Sewanee, Bread Loaf, Jerome Foundation, Authors’ Guild, PEN, Ragdale Foundation, Art OMI/Ledig House, and Saltonstall; and has taught at Columbia University, Brooklyn College, and Aspen Words. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, O: The Oprah Magazine, Vogue, Elle, Porter, and elsewhere, and her new memoir, The Fifth Passenger, is forthcoming from Little, Brown in 2024.

Rodrigo Martínez Torres is a composer interested in the abstraction of popular musical languages as a tool for new creations. He is also a multi-instrumentalist who performs in different genres and styles. Born in Mexico City in 1992, he studied music composition in Academia de Arte de Florencia and in Núcleo Integral de Composición (CDMX). He holds a Master’s in Electroacoustic Composition from Centro Superior Katarina Gurska (Madrid, Spain), and is currently pursuing an MA in Digital Musics at Dartmouth College, where he was the winner of the 2020 Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble Composition for his piece “Mambo Urbano” for chamber orchestra. Besides being a composer whose music has been performed internationally, he has played in many ensembles, including as a vocalist and composer in Monstruos del Mañana, in the Mexican band Supersilverhaze, and as a bassist in La Chinaca, a cumbia band based in London.

New Hampshire Benefit Committee

Andi Axman
Ellen and Ed Bernard
Eleanor Briggs
Ellen Draper
Amelia Dunlop
Peter and Katherine Frid
Betsy Gardella and Jim Smith
Sarah Garland-Hoch
Frank Guerra and Scott Manning
Kit Henry
Rosemary James
Emily Noelle Lambert
Robert Larsen
Monica Lehner
Dave and Terry Martland
Mollie Miller
Jamie Trowbridge

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