Helen Bigelow Merriman

[4] Merriman and her husband were among the founders of the Worcester Art Museum, giving a large donation and serving as trustees and members of the board.

[4] She led the museum's early efforts to build its collection and lent or donated a number of works including pieces by Pierre Subleyras, Paulus Moreelse, Edmund Tarbell, and Arthur B.

[4] Merriman was a champion of women artists, and it was through her that the museum acquired or exhibited works by Sarah Wyman Whitman and Cecilia Beaux.

: Or, Thoughts in the Direction of Man's Spiritual and Physical Integrity (1888), The Perfect Lord (1891), Concerning Portraits and Portraiture (1891), and Religio Pictoris (1899).

Religio Pictoris explores the relationship between art and religion and attempts to demonstrate a fundamental unity between the material and spiritual dimensions of life.