Norman Rockwell Museum Appoints Director and CEO

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.—The Board of Trustees of the Norman Rockwell Museum (NRM) announced the appointment of Graham C. Boettcher, Ph.D., as the Museum's new Director and CEO.

Boettcher joins NRM at a moment when it is embarking on its next chapter of strategic growth, capital improvements, and expanded national and international influence.

Boettcher comes to the Museum following a 20-year tenure at the Birmingham Museum of Art (BMA), where he has served as the R. Hugh Daniel Director and CEO since 2017. Under his leadership, the BMA experienced sustained institutional growth, including the endowment of key positions, the gift of major new collections, and national recognition for innovative exhibitions, digital initiatives, and community-centered programming.

Boettcher succeeds NRM Director and CEO Laurie Norton Moffatt, who is retiring this summer. Under her leadership of over 40 years, Norman Rockwell Museum has grown into a nationally recognized center for American illustration—expanding its collections, preserving Norman Rockwell's archive and studio, and advancing scholarship, traveling exhibitions, and engagement with the nation's top illustrators and millions of visitors.  

"We are excited to welcome Graham Boettcher to lead the Norman Rockwell Museum," said Dolf Berle, Chair and President of the Board of Trustees.  "After conducting a nationwide search for a leader who possesses both the scholarly as well as executive qualities needed to grow our mission, we were delighted to find Graham."

Boettcher's appointment reflects the Museum's commitment to its mission as a leading center for American illustration that advances the values of kindness, respect, and social equity Norman Rockwell portrayed, stated a press release.

A Yale-educated art historian, Boettcher has dedicated much of his career to exploring how visual storytelling shapes civic values and American identity. His specific expertise in the work of Norman Rockwell is well-established; in 2012, he curated the Birmingham presentation of Norman Rockwell's America and organized the concurrent exhibitions "Norman Rockwell and Coca-Cola: Two American Classics" and "The Golden Age: American Illustration from the Collection of the BMA."

"Illustration is 'the people's art,' providing a critical lens through which we might better understand our nation's ideals, aspirations, and contradictions," said Boettcher. "As an artist responding to a period of rapid social, political, and technological change, Rockwell's work is more relevant than ever."

At the Birmingham Museum of Art, Boettcher was recognized for his open leadership style, successively navigating complex municipal systems while prioritizing the museum's financial stability and long-term sustainability. He also championed accessibility, transparency, and inclusivity, helping to position the BMA as a national model for community-centered programming and collections that broaden the art-historical canon, according to a press release.

Additionally, Boettcher's experience in capital planning and facilities management—including securing significant funding for deferred maintenance and accessibility improvements—will be valuable as the Norman Rockwell Museum advances its goals for campus enhancements and continued international growth.

Boettcher earned his Ph.D. and M.Phil. in the History of Art from Yale University, where his research focused on the politics of family and nation in antebellum American art. He also holds an M.A. from the University of Washington and a B.A. from Yale. An active member of the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD), he has served on numerous national committees and boards, reinforcing his reputation as a trusted and respected voice in the global museum community.

"Norman Rockwell Museum occupies a singular place in the American landscape," Boettcher noted. "With its rich and iconic collections, the Museum is uniquely positioned to play a significant role in fostering civic dialogue on a national level, and I'm excited to join in that important work."

Boettcher will officially assume his role on August 31. Having spent 11 years in New England, Boettcher added that he is looking forward to returning to the region, noting, "The Berkshires' extraordinary concentration of arts institutions provides a space rife with possibilities for unique and meaningful collaborations."

Becket Looks to Wind Power for Energy Savings

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:17AM / Tuesday, October 20, 2026

The single turbine is a low maintenance and has a 50-year life. The town went with wind power after finding a solar installation would be too difficult. 

BECKET, Mass. — The town unveiled a wind turbine Monday that will reduce electricity costs and show the benefits of renewable energy produced by wind.

Residents, town and state officials gathered outside the Town Hall for the ribbon cutting on a project first conceived nearly a dozen years ago.

The wind turbine stands 100-feet tall next to Town Hall and is from Oklahoma manufacturer Bergey Wind Power. It has a 50-year life and is a direct-drive permanent-magnet design, meaning it has no gearbox, making it low maintenance.

According to Garth Klimchuk, chair of the Becket Energy Committee, the town started discussions about a wind turbine in 2014. The turbine is expected to generate about 36,000 kilowatt-hours. Klimchuk said Town Hall uses about 24,000 kilowatt-hours, with excess power expected to go to the Highway Department. This is expected to save $9,000 annually from the electricity cost.

"This turbine is just going to be such a good thing for the town. It is really incredible. Zero-cost electricity. Zero cost to the town. Carbon free. Just a huge, huge milestone for us," he said.

The town received a grant from the state Department of Energy Resources totaling $139,500. The remaining funding for the project will come from a direct-pay investment tax credit under the federal Inflation Reduction Act. If the town does not receive the funding, voters at the annual town allocated $100,000 just in case, but Klimchuk said the town will only need about $60,000 to $70,000 if necessary.

"It's going to help the community. Hopefully, it'll lower our tax bills. And as we look at everything going around around the world right now, energy volatility has been with us for a long time. It's going to stay with us for a long time," said state Sen. Paul Mark. "So any move we can make as a community, whether as Becket specifically, as Berkshire County as a whole, but anything we can do to bring some of the reliability into our own hands, to produce a bit on our own, and just guarantee that in a renewable, safe way moving into the future, I think is going to pay off dividends."

The town has spent more than a decade reducing municipal energy consumption in a variety of ways including HVAC upgrades and LED street light conversions, bringing it to a Level 2 Green Community status.

While solar had been considered, interconnection constraints and limited grant opportunities made it harder to achieve. But the high elevation of Town Hall and a Small Wind Site evaluation done in 2023 and 2024 found the site was perfect for a turbine with favorably high winds.

State Rep. Leigh Davis praised the project as an example of a small town addressing a larger energy challenge through persistence and collaboration. She stressed that the single turbine represents a practical step toward reducing reliance on fossil fuels and said Becket's effort could serve as a model for communities across the commonwealth. 

"You hear about all these kind of big wind farms and solar farms and all these ways that we're gonna you know create green energy, but at the same time what we're not being sensitive to the landscape, and what I appreciate about this is that this is it's a single turbine, but it represents so much more," she said. "You're right. It's really adding to the ability for this town to contribute to green energy and to bringing our reliance on gasoline fuels back down to solving big problems."

Mark Rabinsky, deputy director of DOER's Green Communities Division, said the state supports municipalities with technical assistance and grants, and that reducing municipal energy costs can leave more resources for other local priorities. He presented the turbine as an example of state support working alongside local knowledge and decision-making. 

"I think that this is a really a great example of what green communities can do," he said. "I'm obviously a really big fan of the green communities program, but I think that connection between the state, what we're doing at the state, and that local level, and relying on the local knowledge here with Becket is a true testament to what we're doing."

Select Board Chair William Elovirta thanked everyone for being here and shared his memories of first coming tp Becket in 1946 before utility electricity arrived. His family and neighbors used small 32-volt generating plants and batteries. He recalled utility workers installing poles and wires by hand around 1947.