Description
The Project:
The Washington County Museum of Fine Arts seeks to accomplish the reinstallation of a suite of three permanent collection galleries devoted to 18th and 19th-century American art. The WCMFA collection is a relatively small but reputable one, and for many years has been shaped and programmed with input from the former University of Pennsylvania Art History chair and leading scholar Elizabeth Johns. The project proposed here entails a significant physical refurbishment of the galleries and a reconceptualization of the presentation of this portion of the collection. Completion of these galleries will result in a continuous suite of spaces devoted to the American art collection. Luce Foundation funding, granted in 2014, underwrote the installation of the adjacent galleries of 20th-century American art.
Rationale for Funding:
The WCMFA does an admirable job of presenting their collection of American art, along with active programming, to a four-state region that is otherwise culturally under-served. Rather than continuing to rely of the excellent services of Elizabeth Johns, the museum has recently endowed and filled a permanent, full-time curatorial position in American art, demonstrating the fullness of their commitment to work on the collection and in the field. The galleries slated for refurbishment are among the oldest and finest in the museum, but they have long been neglected. A particularly important facet of the project will be the construction of adequate hanging walls, which will allow the museum to abandon its present and far-from-deal system of hanging rods. The combination of revived galleries and a newly-appointed curator’s fresh voice in the presentation of these works of art are sure to enliven this regionally notable collection. This grant additionally can be considered to be addressing the completion of a project in which the Foundation’s American Art Program had already invested.