The recent affiliation agreement between the university and Reynolda House has been praised by both parties for creating opportunities for further education by the pooling of resources. It also serves to reunify the pieces of the original estate, presenting a vastly different, yet seemingly appropriate picture of the dream of Katharine Smith began long ago.

A Common History

Richard Joshua Reynolds and Katharine Smith purchased the original Reynolds estate, comprising 1,067 acres, between 1906 and 1923. The house was built in 1912-17.

Much of the estate was the vision of Mrs. Reynolds, who oversaw plans for the four-acre formal gardens and painstakingly directed the cultivation of 350 acres of farmland.

The estate became an agricultural model, showcasing the latest agricultural and domestic science techniques and including a dairy barn that was the most modern of its time.

The community and farm buildings, which serviced twenty resident families, now comprise the Reynolda Village shopping center.

Lake Katharine, a 16-acre manmade lake now filled by stream-carried silt, served recreational purposes and provided water to the gardens and grounds through a pumping system.

A July 7, 1917 article in the Winston-Salem Twin-City Sentinel called the Reynolda estate "a pride of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County because of its beauty and worth from a civic standpoint, and also because of its influence and material aid in developing the agricultural interests of the county, and assistance in promoting the welfare of rural life in this section.

Following the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds and an interim period in which trustees managed the estate, Mary Reynolds Babcock, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds, and her husband Charles became the owners in the mid-1930s.

In the late-1940s, the couple donated a large portion of the estate for the construction of the university, which officially relocated in 1956.

Between 1958 and 1962 the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation donated the greenhouses, formal gardens, and 125 acres of land to the university to establish Reynolda Gardens of Wake Forest College.

Reynolda House itself, however, was established as an independent nonprofit institution in 1964. The Reynolda House, Museum of American Art first presented to the public a collection of American art in1967.

The current art collection reflects American art from 1755 to the present and includes works by Georgia O'Keeffe, Stuart Davis, Jacob Lawrence and Jasper Johns. It has gained national recognition and was labeled "the finest concentration of American art in a public collection south of Washington (D.C.)" by Princeton University art scholar John Wilmerding. The attic showcases a collection of vintage clothing of the Reynolds family, as well as a display of the children's toys.

The interior of the 64-room home maintains decor in the tastes of the original owners. The basement was mostly decorated by Mary Reynolds and Charles Babcock and includes a billiard room, shooting gallery, bowling lane, squash court and an indoor pool incased by glass panels.

According to Judith Smith, Reynolda House coordinator of marketing and public relations, the museum currently receives nearly 53,000 visitors each year.

An 'Evolutionary' Step

On Jan. 15 Reynolda House President Barbara Millhouse and President Thomas K. Hearn Jr. announced the formation of an affiliation agreement between the university and Reynolda House, Inc.

In a letter published in Reynolda House's newsletter, Millhouse said, "This affiliation is consistent with the decision of my parents, Mary Reynolds and Charles Babcock, over 50 years ago to donate a large portion of the Reynolda Estate to Wake Forest College, then a small, yet promising, institution of higher learning."

Hearn welcomed the affiliation. "We have a common history and heritage on this campus, and we have a common mission in the largest sense since the museum is a place of learning and education," Hearn said. "So it seems appropriate that in the very long-term future, we'll share a common destiny."

Citing previous cooperation between the university and Reynolda House, Hearn said, "In a way this is an important development but in another way it's kind of an evolutionary step."

According to John Anderson, the vice president for finance and administration, the affiliation agreement maintains Reynolda House's status as a non-profit corporation and separate entity.

"In other words, what is was is what it is now," Anderson said.

The agreement also stipulates that the president of the university has the right to hire and fire the executive director of the museum and that the university board of trustees will elect the museum board of directors.

Anderson said the relationship is similar to that the university shares with the health sciences corporation and medical school, but different from that with Reynolda Gardens and Reynolda Village, which the university directly owns and operates.

The Reynolda House, Inc. maintains ownership of assets and property, although the corporation itself is an affiliate of the university. Employees remain employees of Reynolda House, rather than becoming university employees.

Although Anderson currently serves as the university's representative to Reynolda House, he expects that the provost's office will eventually serve in this capacity.

Hearn hopes that the university can bring a new constituency of guests to Reynolda House, directing visitors and guests to see museum "both for its intrinsic value and to say something else about the opportunities available for studying and living on this campus."

'The sky is the limit'

One of the first projects between the university and Reynolda House will be the construction of three-floor, 29,000-square-foot addition to Reynolda House. The new wing will include a visitor's center, gallery, multi-purpose room, library and archives, and classroom and studio space.

Reynolda House has sustained an independent capital campaign for the project and has already raised over .4 million of the million goal. University construction supervisors will oversee the building process.

No date for beginning construction has been set.

The university and Reynolda House have also discussed the revival of the American Foundations course, a six-week summer program open to university students as well as those from other institutions. The course was taught at Reynolda House by university professors and offered university credit.

According to Hearn, the course attempted to blend music, literature and visual arts, emphasizing the resources of the Reynolda House. It was discontinued in 1999 when the executive director retired and an interim director took over.

Hearn said that rather than researching an artist or time period, students would research one of the paintings in the collection. "Part of what's wrong with liberal education is that people learn a little about a great many things, but the real pleasure and satisfaction from great works of art is to learn a lot about a few," Hearn said.

The museum is also interested in reviving the program, according to Smith.

The university and museum also see new potential for further community outreach. Hearn hopes that Reynolda House can provide a public face to reach audiences that the university has not previously served.