The director and curator of the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art are finding raising funds in the late chairman?s name emotionally taxing.

Director Tom Butterfield and curator Elise Outerbridge decided to name one of the Museum?s main galleries after the late Richard (Rick) Faries, who died suddenly.

?This is an emotional thing for me because Rick was a wonderful man,? said Mr. Butterfield, ?And the thing that fascinates me was the depth and breadth of people that filled his world.

?Another thing is that so many people have said that he was their best friend and many people seemed to be able to get close to him.

?In a word, he had a quality that was accessible and something that more of us should have. He was just a lovely man and we thought it was very appropriate that people like Rick, who have worked hard in the community are not forgotten.?

Mr. Faries had been on the Masterwork?s board for 13 years and was also its chairman.

Mrs. Outerbridge said: ?Rick, Tom and I spent a lot of time talking, dreaming and philosophising about when the collection grows where we are going to house it.

?It was something that he really and truly believed in and he was keen to create this whole museum. He loved the whole process of creating. If anyone remembers the old restaurant Once Upon a Table, we had the view of it being a museum, but that was kiboshed and we went up and down the Island looking for places that we could call home.

?Rick was always behind us 100 percent, he was always a building kind of a person, so when we were given this property in the Botanical Gardens, he had been on the board for a time, but it really rekindled his interest in Masterworks all over again.?

The memory that the curator remembered most was ?Rick walking down that alley, with a clean shirt on, his cup of coffee, a salad with a big grin on his face.

?He was so excited about the building project and it was so great for Tom and I to know that we had this kind of support in our chairman.?

They have found that in order to complete this section of the Museum they needed an additional $600,000.

?Because the prices of building has risen since the beginning of the project, six months ago we had to pull back on the project a little and concentrate on the main gallery,? added Mrs. Outerbridge.

?It is so complicated and sophisticated in as far as the climate control and we had to allocate the funds we are raising towards that. We had to take into consideration the price of steel, which had risen dramatically from when we first started.

?There have been a lot of cut backs and one of the things was to phase out the the West Wing and Rose Gallery while we got the main wing done. But we realised that we would have to incorporate both galleries into the main museum. So we are in the process of creating the Rick Faries Gallery, in the west wing or the cow shed, but that gives you an idea of the grandness of the room.

?Except for the fact that it echoes at the moment, and there is a lot of moisture in the ceiling, but as far as the space is concerned it is a beautiful gallery space. So, we are in the process of raising an additional $600,000, but this is a very specific project which will go towards that particular project. So far Tom or we have raised almost half with very generous support from Rick?s friends.?

They have found that his friends are 100 percent behind the gallery and fundraising has been very interesting.

?This has been really encouraging because some of his friends are either not members or aren?t really museum people,? she said, ?And people give to people. Everybody that we?ve called have said, ?Rick was my best friend?. And he could have had a million best friends because he was such a likeable guy.

?We have been very fortunate to have had this response for something that is a huge capital project.?

Mr. Faries? widow, Carol, was very pleased when she heard what the Gallery would house.

?The Gallery would be used for local contemporary arts, maybe not exclusively not local, but contemporary arts which are painted in Bermuda of Bermuda,? added the curator.

?It has big walls and there is a lot of large work being done and a lot of installations so we are hoping that it will hold what is being inspired by Bermuda right now.

?We were really spending a lot of time thinking of where we would put local art, because we never intended not to include it in the Gallery, but it was about incorporating it with the rest of our collection. This way we will be able to have this wonderful large wing for either group or individual shows.?

Mr. Butterfield added that when they came up with the idea of the now defunct or changed ?Artists Up Front Street? 12 years ago, Mr. Faries immediately saw the vision.

?He was not chairman at the time, he was one of the board members and he would show up and every so often and would buy a piece of work to show further support and that is the kind of person that he was.?

The Masterworks director added that he was delighted that they are going to be able to have a wing like this.

?There is a current criticism that there is not enough areas for the artists to exhibit and that may or may not be true, I am not sure of that,? he said.

?Some of the commercial galleries have gone to have a lot of retail businesses and it has nothing to do with the art per se. It has something to with the retail climate in Bermuda.

?I don?t think that one is exclusive of the other ? it is a symptom of the Island and having additional space is a worthwhile thing to do.?

Mr. Butterfield said unlike many of their other campaigns, this one has been and is unique.

?This has been an unusual campaign because of the emotional attachment to it,? he said.

?It?s like, ?can I send you a letter and are you supportive of doing something for Rick?, and the answer invariably is, ?yes, I?d like to do something?.

?I wrote everybody on the board and I said, ?I will not be calling you? I am leaving it with them to make that decision.

?The donations have ranged and it is about wherever people are comfortable. There is no set criteria and everyone is giving from their heart.?

For more information on the Richard (Rick) Faries Gallery Campaign ( Masterworks on 236-2950.