The Attleboro Arts Museum’s Bonneville Dougher Art Lovers Book Club launched in January 2010. Museum member Vic Bonneville proposed “an artful book club” idea and the program began on a trial basis. After the success of the first meeting it was clear that the club should carry on.
Through the years the club has met over 50 times and welcomed close to 2,000 curious minds to its public meetings. From the wildlife art of John James Audubon to the cubist masterworks of Pablo Picasso, participants have explored a broad range of artists and art movements.
In 2024 the program’s name expanded. The Bonneville Dougher Art Lovers Book Club title honors Vic Bonneville and Margaret Dougher, both instrumental in the book club’s impact and longevity.
The Bonneville Dougher Art Lovers Book Club meets in either the Museum’s Ottmar Gallery, in its art studios, or via Zoom. It differentiates itself by including an “artful” guest speaker, author, or film at every meeting.
Free and open to all.
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NEXT MEETING
Chasing Beauty by Natalie Dykstra
Guest Speaker: Author Natalie Dykstra
Date: Saturday, February 28th from 2pm – 4pm. Attleboro Arts Museum’s Ottmar Gallery.
Free and open to all. Reservations are appreciated by February 27th, 2026. Email: office@attleboroartsmuseum.org or call 508-222-2644 x10.
Chasing Beauty is the lively and detailed story of Isabella Stewart Gardner, the creator of one of America’s most stunning museums and collector of tapestries, rare books, prints, fine furniture, paintings and other exquisite treasures.
Dykstra writes lovingly on Gardner, with special attention to “Belle’s” discerning eye and steely determination.
Natalie Dykstra
Natalie Dykstra (pictured) won a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for her work on Clover Adams: A Gilded and Heartbreaking Life as well as grants from the Schlesinger Library and the Massachusetts Historical Society, where she was elected an honorary fellow in 2011. She received a 2018 Public Scholar Award from the National Endowment for the Humanities to support Chasing Beauty: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner. Dykstra is emerita professor of English and senior research professor at Hope College, where she taught writing, literature, and the arts for twenty years.