RoyCroftCampusCorporation

Change is in the Air at the Roycroft Campus!

    

Change is in the air. The Roycroft Chapel is transitioning towards it's revitalization!

    Take a look at the article in the East Aurora Advertiser announcing the official closing on the purchase of the Roycroft Chapel by the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation this week. The Foundation is the very same that restored the beautiful Roycroft Inn in 2005. The Chapel building previously has served as the Aurora Town Hall. This week the Town has purchased a new site and will be moving on, securing the future restoration of the Chapel.

     It's exciting to see progress as we unite and restore the Roycroft Campus "as if Elbert Hubbard and the Roycrofters never left". Stay tuned with the Roycroft Campus Corporation to see all the changes in store!

-Amanda

Reading on Roycroft Collecting

     Roycroft collecting was recently a topic featured in The New York-Pennsylvania Collector. The March 2008 edition of this regional antiques paper called on expert Grant Hamilton to write "More to Collect with Roycroft", a thorough overview of Roycroft collectables.

      Periodicals, Books, Metalware, Leather, Furniture and even Ephemera and Photographs of the movement is highly collectable. Today's second hand market is still stocked with examples of the Roycroft Legacy. It's not the bargain market of the past decades, but today's collector is lucky to have a wealth of information and excellent examples of Roycroft history.

      A fantastic source of information exists through the Roycroft Campus Corporation. Stay tuned with this blog, which is always full of Roycroft lore. The historic Roycroft Inn and Campus are featured in the same article mentioned above in the latest issue of The New York-Pennsylvania Collector.  Make plans for a trip to see the Roycroft collector's paradise here in East Aurora, NY.

-Amanda

Message from Douglas Swift, Roycroft Campus Corporation President

          Occasionally a project comes along that actually overwhelms you with its potential.  I've been blessed to become a part of such an opportunity.  The draft for the next chapter of the Roycrofters has just been started. Working with a group of experienced and skilled board members and a dynamic Executive Director,the Roycroft Campus Corporation, share the goal to rebuild the Roycroft business as if its doors had never closed.  Long-term we hope to own and restore all fourteen of the original buildings.  In April 2005 the Roycroft Campus Corporation acquired the original copper shop built in 1902.  The Copper shop will include work and demonstration spaces, classes and seminars, a gallery featuring works of Roycroft Artisans, a museum, and visitor center.  The restoration of the Roycroft Campus is a monumental undertaking.  Fortunately most of the important structures are still standing and repairable.  The price tag has yet to be determined but it will be considerable.  We need many types of support, community, professional consultants, academic and arts community, and a small army of volunteers.  Most of all we need your financial support.

          Elbert Hubbard and East Aurora were once household names, it is our hope that they will be again. Douglas Swift, Roycroft Campus Corporation President

Message from Christine Peters, Executive Director of the Roycroft Campus Corporation

          Nestled just twenty miles southeast of Buffalo, New York is a the unique village of East Aurora, home of Elbert Hubbard's Roycrofters, the restored Roycroft Inn, and the Roycroft Campus.  The Roycroft Campus Corporation has undertaken the challenge of protecting and revitalizing the Campus buildings and grounds.  We see this as both a community and national project.  The purchase of the Copper Shop, including the site and remains of the original Power House, being our first major steps in this direction.  We understand this project will take much dedication, talent, and funding.  We are committed to the challenge.  We ask that you fly beside us and extend a helping hand.  Yours in head, Hand, and Heart.  Christine A.Peters, Executive Director

Roycroft Campus Vision

          "Preserve and promote the historic Roycroft Campus and the ideals of the Arts & Crafts movement as if Elbert Hubbard and the Roycrofters had never left. "