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Drew University Alum, Madison Organization Team Up for Exhibit

The Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge exhibit is on display at the Museum of Early Trades & Crafts

October 2024 – Drew University alum Mallory Mortillaro C’13, G’15 has co-curated an exhibit with the local Museum of Early Trades and Crafts (METC) on Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge, a philanthropist and the daughter of Standard Oil co-founder William Rockefeller Jr.

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Mortillaro, left, with METC Curator Claudette Stecher Lopez and METC Director Deborah Farrar Starker.

Mortillaro is the curator of collections at the Hartley Dodge Foundation located in Madison’s town hall. She previously made news for unearthing Auguste Rodin’s long-lost bust of Napoleon and identifying the historic provenance of a portrait of Abraham Lincoln which has since made its way to the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Both findings were made in the Hartley Dodge Foundation’s sizable collections.

This spring, Mortillaro was approached by METC to collaborate on an exhibit on Rockefeller Dodge. Several months later, the exhibit of more than 100 items is on display in Madison’s METC.

“We knew people in the area knew the name Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge, but over time the details of who she was and the important contributions she made to the area are not as well known as they once were,” said Mortillaro. “This gave us a great chance to share her story with the community.”

The exhibition tells the story of Dodge’s life, the tragic loss of her son, her passion for dogs, the three decades she spent putting on one of the country’s largest dog shows, her passion for collecting art, and the many gifts she made to Madison and the surrounding area.

“Mrs. Dodge has become a very important figure in my life as I have spent the last decade working with her collection, including the Rodin sculpture and Lincoln portrait,” said Mortillaro. “It feels good to get her story out there and remind people of the important lady that she was.”

METC’s Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge exhibit will be on display through early January. Learn more about it here.

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