CRAFT BUILT ON 2025 ANNUAL REPORT
OUR TEAM
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Chris Van Orden,
FROM OUR DIRECTOR
Hello,
Danielle Gabriel, Secretary
Linnea Hegarty, Treasurer
Carlos Carmonamedina
Jerry Foust, PhD
Jamaal Lemon
Marisela Rodela
Being a small downtown private house museum in a city of Smithsonians is challenging, even when larger societal unease is not threatening the landscape of our nation’s capital. When the overwhelming troubles of the world have felt too big for our small non-profit to tackle, we have always come back to one core idea: using our strengths to strengthen our community.
Benjamin Turner
STAFF
Kimberly Bender* CEO & Museum Director
Alex Fraioli Assistant Director
Director of Preservation
Jenna Febrizio, PhD Curator
Kai Walther Development Manager
Kimberly Totten Collections Manager
Mari Davenport Operations Manager
Jaclyn Bivens* Director of Operations
Tyler Mestan*
Bar Program Manager
*Former sta
We did this during the pandemic when, in the first few months of the shutdown, we launched Christkindlmarkt in April, which quickly rallied support for local makers and small businesses with tens of thousands of dollars in sales. This year, we focused our energy on providing a welcoming and safe space for everyone in our community. In practice, this looked like a pop-up exhibit exploring your feelings about the world over the last year, a celebration of what it means to you to be an American, quiet nights in the museum for you to read or think, more opportunities to gather with your neighbors to create crafts, and a general e ort to be more patient and understanding. Over the next year, the museum will continue to use its strengths to create more opportunities to gather, rest, and learn together.
I plan to be an important part of the Heurich House Museum’s work this year - not as a leader, but as a new donor. After 15 years at the museum, I am stepping down as executive director. The Heurich House will forever be a part of me - it made me who I am and taught me almost everything I know. I am so excited to see what the museum’s next chapter looks like! Our community members have always been such an important part of our work, and I hope you will all join me in continuing to support the organization as it evolves.
Kimberly Bender CEO & Museum Director
Visit our website to make a donation or learn about upcoming programs.
EDUCATION PROGRAM
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Our public history education program o ers tours, exhibits, public programs, and fellowships that enable visitors to relate empathetically with the Heurich family and those who worked alongside them.
In 2025 we focused on building connections and providing respite space through craft, reflection, and conversation. We redeveloped our tour guide training program, hired more guides, and expanded tour dates in order to bring more people into the museum. Our Curator embarked on a new research project to learn more about the craftspeople who helped design and build the Heurich House. The emphasis on craft extended to regular programs like Get Crafty, which invites people into the garden for free crafting sessions inspired by objects and craftsmanship in our historic house.
OCCUPATIONS IDENTIFIED BY THE MUSEUM’S CURATOR THAT WOULD HAVE PLAYED A ROLE IN BUILDING THE HOUSE, ALONG WITH STORIES OF 10 ARTISANS AND CRAFTSPEOPLE WHOSE NAMES WE DIDN’T PREVIOUSLY KNOW
We also hosted Unprecedented, a community-curated exhibit made of up physical, written, or drawn artifacts representative of people’s experience and feelings since the 2024 election. Our two Humanities Scholars in Residence each hosted a talk based on their research, helping expand our understanding of DC history.
3,064 PEOPLE ATTENDED 29 PUBLIC PROGRAMS 19 OF WHICH WERE FREE “M OF THE TOUR WAS THE LITTLE PERSONAL TOUCHES ABOUT EACH OF THE STAFF AND FAMILY MEMBERS, THE PROMPTS TO THINK ABOUT WHAT EACH ROOM WOULD HAVE FELT LIKE FOR DIFFERENT STAFF MEMBERS, AND POINTING OUT SIGNS OF WEAR AND TEAR.” -Tour Attendee, 2025
150 PUBLIC TOURS GIVEN TO 818 PEOPLE
URBAN MANUF CTURING INCUB TOR
The Heurich Urban Manufacturing Incubator strengthens our local small-scale manufacturing community by providing economic opportunities through appropriate interventions in business life cycles, collective action, and social enterprises.
2
MAKERS TOOK PART IN OUR INAUGURAL MAKER FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
Over the last year, we continued hosting markets and workshops to help makers diversify their revenue streams. We also introduced a pilot Maker Fellowship, combining revenue-generating opportunities with personalized coaching for two beginner makers. The fellows “graduated” with a free booth at Christmas Markt, joining 39 other vendors, 77% of which were in their first five years of business. For the first time, Christmas Markt vendors were selected by a jury made up of the museum’s CEO, Assistant Director, and three people well-versed in the local maker community.
The Incubator was also proud to publish a Maker Bill of Rights, outlining how we will work with makers in all of our programming. In publishing this document, we hope to build trust with the makers we work with and inspire others to take ethical approaches to their work with makers.
SMALL-SCALE MANUFACTURING BUSINESSES SUPPORTED, 75% OF WHICH ARE OWNED BY MEMBERS OF UNDERREPRESENTED COMMUNITIES
84 MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC LEARNED FROM 7 LOCAL MAKERS AT MAKER-LED WORKSHOPS
“THE ATMOSPHERE IS INCREDIBLE! YOUR STAFF VOLUNTEERS WONDERFUL AND HELPFUL. YOU DO AMAZING THINGS TO MARKET AND BOOST LOCAL BUSINESSES CURATION ALSO PERFECT. A GOOD VARIETY VENDORS -Christmas Markt Vendor, 2025
PRESERVATION PROGRAM
154 FEET OF ORIGINAL IRON FENCE REMOVED FOR RESTORATION
The Museum collection contains over 6,000 objects and archival materials related to the Heurich property, the Heurich family, and the Christian Heurich Brewing Co. The collections and property are key resources for our continued empathy-based research and interpretation.
110 PAGES OF DRAFT
EMERGENCY ACTION PLAN WRITTEN
This year we worked with Rebecca Kennedy of Curae Collections to create an emergency management plan and train our core sta on emergency response. Our Collections Committee reviewed, and our board approved, a comprehensive collections management policy to guide the development, management, preservation, and use of the museum’s collections. We also worked with architect Sandra Vicchio and a team of engineers to create a plan for the museum’s HVAC replacement and window preservation. We undertook the planning tasks to replace the Conservatory roof and restore the main iron fence surrounding the property, both of which started this winter. These projects are only possible because of new and generous donors and grants from the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, National Endowment for the Humanities, and EventsDC.
TIE-THROUGH QUESTION OF RESTORATION VS. PRESERVATION - [THE TOUR GUIDE] DID A GREAT POINTING OUT WHY THE HEURICH HOUSE PRESERVATION APPROACH IS USEFUL IN SHAPING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF [THE MUSEUM].”
-Tour Attendee, 2025
$125,216 DONATED AND GRANTED FOR CAPITAL FUNDING
CAMPUS ENVIRONMENT
A NEW MODEL FOR HOUSE MUSEUMS
We strive to be a di erent kind of house museum - one that serves as a community hub.
Visitors can attend a lecture in the conservatory, visit our HOME/BREWED exhibit while sipping on a beer Heurich once made, and make a craft with their friends in the garden.
A THIRD SPACE
Every day, the garden is filled with a cross-section of the city, from federal government and embassy workers meeting up, to students studying, to families with their kids visiting an open house, to newcomers looking for friends at a craft night.
PROGRAM
CONNECTOR
The Heurich family's brewery and German food traditions are why we exist, and our biergarten is the heart of our museum. It connects our programs to each other and connects us to our community.
REVENUE
EXPENSES
IN GRATITUDE
We are very grateful to the individuals and organizations who contributed to our work over the past year. Your generosity allows us to support modern-day artists, tell empathetic and inclusive histories, serve as a community gathering space, and enhance our neighborhood’s cultural and economic ecosystem.
INDIVIDUAL DONATIONS
OVER $100
Walter Albano
Janice Anderson
Eric Christensen
COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE
Allison LaCroix
Kim Robinson
CORE
Carlos Carmonamedina*^
Elizabeth Clark-Lewis
Florence Fasanelli
Jerry Foust*^
Danielle Gabriel*^
Carol Galaty^
Linda Golub^
Matthew Green
Adela Griswold
Linnea Hegarty*^
Knight Kiplinger^
Joy Kraybill^
Jamaal Lemon*^
Frank Leone^
Edward MacMahon
Beth Merricks^
Je Nelson
Rebecca Ravenal
Marisela Rodela*^
Susan Sadjadi
Chris & Jen Suellentrop
Jonathan Talbot
Deborah Thomas^
Austin Turner^
Benjamin Turner*^
Chris Van Orden*^
Anonymous (8)
*Board ^ Multi-year
INSTITUTIONAL
Golden Triangle BID
AllerVie Health
ANC 2B
DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities
DC History Center
ORGANIZATIONAL PARTNERS
DC Brewers’ Guild
DC Makers’ Guild
Right Proper Brewing Co.
ORGANIZATIONAL PROGRAM PARTNERS
American Alliance of Museums
Arts Club of Washington
Capital Jewish Museum
Charles Sumner School Museum & Archives
DC Preservation League
DC Public Library
Dupont Circle BID
DSLBD
Elliot Carter
James Renwick
Alliance for Craft
Lost Lagers
Made by Us
Rainbow History Project
Recast City
Tudor Place
University of the District of Columbia
Dupont Circle Main Streets
Jenni Bick Custom Journals
Pizzeria Paradiso
Spur Local
Tabard Inn
COLLECTIONS ITEMS
DONORS
Constance Bennie
William Jones
Oatlands Historic
House and Gardens
Thomas Steinbauer
HUMANITIES SCHOLARS IN RESIDENCE
Elizabeth Clark-Lewis
Neil Flanagan
MJ Rymsza-Pavlovska
MAKER FELLOWS
Brianna Kumar
Denise Williams
CHRISTMAS
MARKT JURY
Carlos Carmonamedina
Messay Derebe
Rebecca Ravenal
