n mid-June 1982, during an informal meeting between historian and educator Ralph A. Robertson, historian William E. Cecil, and editor Janice Clayton, all of Niagara Falls, it was decided to form an official committee that would establish a 1986 Sangster Celebration. By October, 1982, the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University (then the Buscaglia-Castellani Art Museum) had become involved, and plans were formed to develop exhibitions of not only all 153 Sangster etchings, but also corresponding work by a contemporary photographer, and other exhibitions of local artwork at the Castellani. The founders of the Amos W. Sangster Niagara River Centennial Committee were William D. Cecil and Ralph A. Robertson. In 1980, Cecil presented a lecture on Sangster at the Lewiston Historical Society, which Robertson attended. Clayton became involved through her work as an editor researching the art holdings of Occidental Chemical (then Hooker Chemical). In the first prospectus for the Sangster Celebration, the Committee stated its raison d'�tre and goals as follows:

"Celebrating the centennial of the Niagara River scene as depicted by Sangster can be a major art event in the life of the Niagara Region. It can be a major educational event in the schools on both sides of the border depicting 100 years of changes. It can be part of the celebration of the opening of the first state park in the United States, the Niagara Reservation, July 15, 1885. It can be a booster for tourism, not only locally, but abroad. ... The Committee will produce an exhibition of the published etchings of A. W. Sangster made of the Niagara River scene....It will also produce an exhibition of the Niagara River scene as depicted by a contemporary artist or artists."

-Sangster Celebration Committee Prospectus, June 4, 1983

From these beginnings, an ambitious series of exhibitions were organized, including the commissioning of John Pfahl's Arcadia Revisited portfolio. Throughout the process, the members of the Sangster Committee, which grew to include roughly 20 members, were active participants and co-planners with Museum Director Sandra H. Olsen. This model of community participation in museum programming remains a hallmark of the Castellani Art Museum's on-going mission.