This weekend: New Danforth Art Museum to open

FRAMINGHAM - When the Danforth Art Museum at Framingham State University opens its doors next month, Executive Director Debra Petke believes visitors will see “the best of what we were” before the locally-established institution was evicted in 2016 from its downtown home into an uncertain future.

On Sunday, April 14, what Petke described as a “hybrid” of the former Danforth Art museum since acquired by FSU after a long, contentious public process, will reopen in a new, improved home with the optimism that comes from surviving a three-year ordeal.

“Visitors will experience a better and much more pleasant environment with very sophisticated digital lighting and heating in a space designed to be a museum,” she said in her second-floor office of the museum's new home in the Jonathan Maynard Building at 14 Vernon St. on the historic Centre Common.

The new Danforth will continue to highlight contemporary artists and works from the museum's collection, including many exciting pieces never shown before.

“I want the museum to be a resource for discussion about history and politics and ethics. We should be a lively place,” Petke said. “Visiting a museum should be a theatrical experience with the lighting and color and how art has been displayed.”

For the first time since town officials evicted the then-named Danforth Art museum from an aging municipal building with a failing boiler, the public can enjoy its eclectic collection of 3,500 works of art from American masters, a groundbreaking local artist and contemporary painters, photographers and printmakers, including many from the Bay State.

Judith Riegelhaupt, one of the Danforth's original founders in 1975, plans to be there.

“I can't wait,” said the retired education administrator and longtime Framingham resident. “I saw the museum school (on the third floor) in the Maynard building and it was bright and beautiful. I'm very hopeful for the museum.”

Riegelhaupt said she believes the Danforth “will absolutely be fulfilling its original mission” to bring exciting art and education to Framingham when it reopens under the auspices of FSU.

“I think it's very fortunate, a perfect match,” she said.

Petke credits FSU President F. Javier Cevallos and Executive Vice-President Dale Hamel for reaching out with a plan to incorporate the Danforth into the university, providing financial security and continuing support as the only museum owned by a state college or university in Massachusetts.

“The museum has found a second life as part of the university,” said Petke. “I truly believe the Danforth had no future unless FSU stepped in.”

After becoming FSU's president in 2014, Cevallos said he had visited the Danforth with his wife and had been impressed by its “incredible collection.”

On learning of its eviction, he said worked with Petke, FSU staff and Danforth supporters to find viable ways to preserve “an incredible asset” for Framingham.

“I'm not an artist but I love art. It was very hard to think of Framingham without the Danforth,” said Cevallos.

He supported the eventual plan for FSU to acquire the museum, its collection and the Maynard building because it kept the Danforth in the community while providing a valuable new resource for the university and its students.

“We are delighted to have helped keep the Danforth in Framingham and look forward to helping it continue its vital role,” said Cevallos.

As a result of the “partnership” with the Danforth, Cevallos said FSU is exploring ways to “incorporate it into the life of the university”

He said the Department of Art and Music presently maintains sculpture and ceramics studios in the first floor of the Maynard building and faculty are exploring ways use exhibits to complement studies in art, history, science, philosophy and other disciplines.

Cevallos has also worked with Petke and other institutions to support efforts to designate the Centre Common as a Cultural District, which would make it one of 45 in the state.

“There are so many historic buildings, beautiful churches and the Edgell Grove Cemetery. And there are so many events like concerts and farmers' markets. Designating the Common as a Cultural District would have a positive impact on the city's economy and appeal as a tourist destination,” he said.

For Petke, the key to the Danforth's rebirth has been the “resiliency” of supporters and the institution itself.

Hired in May 2015 to replace outgoing director Katherine French, Petke never expected the eviction notice she received on her first anniversary at the museum.

“We were stopped in our tracks by the eviction,” she said. “Now, it's a different sort of evolution. We had to reinvent ourselves.”

Asked what sustained her during the three-year process to negotiate acquisition of the museum and its collection by FSU along with its purchase of the Maynard building, Petke cited the community's support and her own “tenaciously stubborn” drive.

“It was an immediate education on how deep the Danforth's roots were in the community,” she said. “Everybody had a story to tell me about their relationship with the museum.”

At its April 14 reopening, the Danforth will host exhibits in all its six galleries organized by curator Jessica Roscio, who came to the museum in 2015.

The new galleries, Petke said, have “more hanging space” for art than found in the museum's former Union Avenue site.

Highlighting a renewed emphasis on local and contemporary regional artists, especially from Massachusetts, the exhibits include “Landed: Selections from the Permanent Collection,” and “Armchair Travel: work by Emily Belz, Rachel Lois Loischild, S. Billie Mandle.”

Filling two galleries, “Lois Tarlow: Material Vocabulary” features nearly seven decades of work by the Newton artist that reflects evolving trends in contemporary painting.

Both Petke and Roscio are especially enthusiastic about one of the museum's special exhibits, a permanent display of an installation replicating parts of the Framinham studio of pioneering African-American sculptress Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller that features special “open storage” cabinets allowing visitors to view some of the more than 300 works and artifacts made by Warrick Fuller.

Looking ahead, Petke cited key goals she hopes to fulfill over the coming year.

“First, we want to fully integrate into the university to be a resource for the faculty and students. Then, we want to construct a five-year plan that lays out not just exhibitions but the fundraising plans and how we build our programs,” she said.

Petke credited staffer Noelle Fournier for continuing to run the Danforth Art School on the third floor where 40 part-time teachers instruct more than a hundred children and adults.

Additionally, Petke said she hopes to complete the “long process” of the Danforth being accredited by the American Association of Museums.

“We have to ensure all policies are in keeping with best practices. We're most of the way there,” she said.

For Marc Cote, an artist, art professor and founding dean of FSU's College of Arts and Humanities, the acquisition of the Danforth, is a win-win for both institutions and the community at large.

“As a university, it is an amazing thing for our presence in the community. We will be the first state university or college with a collecting museum. It's great we have such a cultural institution that's connected with our university. It speaks volumes to how well-rounded we are as a university,” he said.

Cote observed that within FSU's administrative organization the Danforth is designated as “a center” like the Christa Corrigan McAuliffe Center and John C. Stalkler Institute of Food and Nutrition, one of 12 centers with specialized educational goals.

A former board member at the Danforth, he said the acquisition with FSU should help allay former concerns about fiscal uncertainty.

“For the Danforth, it made a lot of practical sense for the Danforth to merge with us. This gives the Danforth a real sense of security but still an opportunity to flourish on its own,” he said. “The way we've created the relationship allows for some degree of autonomy.”

Cote observed that FSU benefits from the acquisition by providing fresh opportunities for hands-on study by students minoring in museum studies. He added that FSU is exploring the possibility of a master's degree program in museum studies that would make use of the Danforth's resources.

Cote said Petke and Roscio have been “very receptive” to exploring interdisciplinary “possibilities” with FSU faculty, including art history, studio art and the commercial art and fashion design programs, and further cooperation with the university's Mazmanian Gallery.

A Framingham resident, Cote now chairs the seven-member Danforth Art Advisory Board which serves as an intermediary liaison between the Danforth and the university.

Three advisory board members are from FSU and three were designated by the Danforth. Annie Murphy, executive director of the Framingham History Center serves as the seventh “independent” member.

While the museum is now part of FSU, Cote said the Danforth will “have a good deal of autonomy.”

“The Danforth is run by accomplished professionals, Debra Petke and Jessica Roscio. We want it that way,” said Cote. “Jessica Roscio has a pretty independent range (to organize exhibits). We have not been driving the exhibit schedule. Roscio has. We want it to be amenable to suggestions. We've already seen a cooperative spirit.”

Cote said Petke, an “accomplished” fundraiser, remains the “point person” to lead fundraising efforts for the museum.

Murphy, the “independent” member of the advisory board, said the agreement incorporating the Danforth into the university seems to have established “sufficient checks and balances” to preserve its identity.

“I think everybody is working hard to respect the autonomy of the Danforth as a cultural institution,” said Murphy.

With the opening just two weeks away, Petke has been working with Roscio to put finishing touches on the new exhibits, the first shows to be hosted in the Maynard Building.

A month after taking over the museum in 2015 before the troubles began, Petke had predicted, “Ten years down the road people will look at what’s happened at the Danforth and be very impressed.”

With considerable help from FSU, that prediction is coming true more than ever.