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The
mission statement of the Cape Museum of Fine Arts
(CMFA) states that its goal is to build a museum that
will “illustrate the role of Cape Cod and the Islands
in the history of American Art since 1899”. It’s a
noble and daunting goal.
It is “noble and daunting”
because a museum located in an area rich in “museum”
quality galleries that exhibit “museum” quality
artists is a weighty undertaking not to be assumed
lightly. It is daunting. Who do you select? What
mediums and styles? What subject matter? And how do you
separate yourself, a museum, from the dozens of
surrounding galleries that show comparably good work?
It
is also noble, because, as the founders saw it,
and because it is as true today as it was when
the idea was conceived, the works of talented Cape
artists are quickly absorbed into private collections.
Whatever record that had been kept of those individuals
who contributed to the rich cultural history of the Cape
and Islands has been sketchy at best. But with a museum,
dedicated to preserving that work, successors of the
American Impressionistic tradition of Henry Hensche and
Charles Hawthorne, would be preserved along side the
progeny of surrealists like Hans Hoffman.
To preserve, at least, some
of this work, is the goal of the Museum, a goal that by
all standards is being met with grand success.
A brief history:
The Museum, founded in 1981 as the Scargo
Lake Museum, came about through the inspiration and
dedication of two local residents: Henry Hall a well
known potter and teacher, and Roy Freed, a local lawyer,
both of whom thought it important to preserve something
of what was being produced, both as a tribute to those
who created the work, since many of the artists who
painted the most well-known works were aging; and in
recognition of the truly captivating place that
unquestionably inspired their efforts. They
incorporated, formed a Board of Trustees and conducted
their first meetings in each other’s living rooms.
In 1982 the Board of Trustees voted
to change the name of the Scargo Lake Museum to
the Cape Museum of Fine Arts. By 1984 charter
membership soared and the need to grow beyond the
limited space that had been leased in 1985 in the
Theatre Marketplace in Dennis, Massachusetts became
evident.
In 1986 two major events occurred
that propelled the Museum in the direction we see it
today. In April, the Davenport West family of
Harwichport donated a building to the Museum. Then, in
June, the Raymond Moore Foundation, which owned land in
Dennis, agreed to lease out a portion of their 26-acre
site to the CMFA. The only problem was: how do you get a
building in Harwichport to land in Dennis? Answer: if
you want it bad enough, you truck them.
And that’s exactly what happened.
On September 15, 1987, accompanied by banners, balloons,
music and enthusiastic supporters, nine trucks loaded
with pieces of the old Harwich building made their way
from Harwichport to Dennis, taking two days for the
transfer to be completed. It was an exciting and chaotic
time, covered by the local press. The seeds were
planted: a site and building had been acquired. But
there were problems. According to the architect, the
building, although gratefully appreciated, didn’t make
much of a museum, not the kind everyone wanted. “The
original CMFA building was a collector’s house and
gallery, donated and moved to the site,” says
architect John DaSilva. “It was modified for use as a
museum, but still felt relatively private: more like a
club for a few devotees than a place of welcome for a
broad public or a place for celebration of fine art.”
DaSilva
says, among other things the old house had “an
un-adorned, haphazard assemblage of marginally
functional elements. . . lacking space for bigger, more
important traveling exhibits and for a reasonable
selection of the growing permanent collection.” Simply
put, almost as soon as it was acquired, “the Museum
had outgrown the ‘house’”.
Two months after moving to its new
location demolition started and work on the renovations
began. Phase 1 consisted of completing the Hope/McClennen
Gallery. Phase 2 consisted of completing the $1.5
million Fleet/Hunter
Gallery. The completed Museum, today, is supported
by 1,800 members, over fifty businesses that assist it
through special memberships, a dedicated staff of
employees and guides (docents in museum vernacular) and
200 volunteers. And that’s to say nothing of the
25,000 visitors who can pick and chose from any one or
more of the twelve exhibitions that occur annually. Its
1,200 piece permanent collection is comprised of far too
many talented artists to single any out for special
recognition.
A sense of purpose:
The feeling of camaraderie and
sense of pride and purpose is pervasive. I visited the
Museum on three separate occasions and on each visit was
met by people who were genuinely excited about the shows
occurring inside. It is evident that the mission: to
provide a repository for important works of Cape artists
both living and dead, and still to come, is shared by
everyone who works in the Museum. From its cozy Gift
Shop to front desk and office, pride in the CMFA is
palpable. You get the feeling that the Museum has
become, or maybe always has been, the sum of everyone
who ever helped make it what it is today. From the
identity of contributors whose names are carved in red
bricks lining the serpentine walkway across a landscaped
lawn leading to the front entrance, to the architects
and builders whose names adorn walls leading into
various galleries, the CMFA radiates warmth and
congeniality and bids everyone welcome.
The Museum:
But
it takes more than these admirable traits to succeed.
The Museum today is a success in every sense of the word
because of what it has been able to accomplish.
Those who work at the Museum
attribute a lot of that accomplishment to the vision of
the Trustees and the hard work of Suzanne Packer and
Gregory F. Harper, its former Director/Curators.
The only year-round museum in the region, the
CMFA, which was designated a “Star Museum” by the New
York Times in 2000, occupies 24,000 sq. ft. of space
and is still growing. A new wing, Phase 3, to be
dedicated to educational purposes, including open studio
space with natural and artificial light, will be added
soon and is anticipated to be up and running by the
summer of 2002.
Inside, the Museum is divided into
brightly lit and spacious galleries; ten by my count.
Some were as small as a child’s bedroom, still others
were spacious and open, and still others were no more
than sections of larger rooms. Regardless of
apportionment, each display offered the viewer an
interesting cross section of mediums.
On the first floor is a wonderful
gift shop that actually sells original consumer friendly
priced works of art and craft. The emphasis here is
quality works, not schlock. Also on the first floor are
the major galleries.
The largest galleries are the Fleet/Hunter
Gallery that is spectacularly lit by natural light,
the Hope/ McClennen Gallery, again a
spacious, beamed cathedral ceiling area, and the Polhemus/Savery
Gallery, or Cape Focus Gallery, where local artist
Robert Roark’s hugely popular display hung. It is in
this gallery that works of contemporary living artists
will be displayed.
A separate floor-to-ceiling
windowed room for sculptured works, divided into two
galleries, the Yasuna/Denny Sculpture Gallery and
the Hart/Signore Gallery overlook a pleasant yard
that somehow fits just perfectly with the three
dimensional works on display.
On the lower level, a modern 92
seat movie theatre features documentaries and specially
selected films that appeal to those who find guilty
pleasure in non-commercial film presentations. The walls
of the theatre, remember this is a museum,
feature outstanding photographic displays. And in a
hallway exhibit, also on the lower level, sits the Stout
Gallery where a dozen or so works on paper are
displayed. This area may need a little more TLC and
variety, since space doesn’t appear to be a problem.
The second floor houses office
space, a conference room and an art reference library.
The feeling on the main level where
the major galleries are located, especially, is not so
much Boston Museum of Fine Art, formal and
gothic, as it is National Museum, in Washington,
D.C.: bright, airy, with its plain white walls, track
lighting and ample space to hang sumptuous displays. In
this respect, architect DaSilva seems to have achieved
exactly what he set out to accomplish. “CMFA sought
not only an image appropriate for a traditional museum,
but to establish itself as a regional, rather than local
institution.”
If I had one complaint it would be
the absence of thick leather couches in all areas to sit
and enjoy the art. (I attribute this need for additional
sitting space to bad knees) The Guild of Boston
Artists on Newbury Street in Boston and the National
Museum come to mind as two places that provide such
a welcome convenience.
Work on display and in
inventory:
Two recent displays that come to
mind that hint at the greatness the Museum can be and
the service it can provide are the hundred-plus
paintings that hung between April and July, 2001, as
part of the 12th Annual Exhibition of the American
Society of Marine Artists exhibition, and the
equally spectacular “True Visions” display of the
Paintings of C. Arnold Slade. It is displays such as
these, coupled with the presentation of outstanding work
of local artists in the Polhemus/Savery Gallery
area that promise to make the Cape Museum of Fine Art
a truly Metropolitan class gallery.
Final thoughts:
Both Lou Ann Harrington, Deputy
Director and Peg Vetorino were gracious hosts in person
and by phone. The CMFA is truly a regional gallery whose
handsome presence in the Historic District of Dennis can
only add to the lure of the Cape as a great place to
live and visit. The Museum is located conveniently off
Rte. 6a in the heart of town, easily accessibly to
visitors. Phone: 508-385-4477. Although there is an
admission cost of around $7.00 for adults, the Museum is
well worth the price of admission. There is plenty of
room for displays, and one would hope the Museum makes
the best of it, given the fact that 1,200 pieces of art
are available for viewing seven days a week. Like most
collectors, my view of what I’d like to see most in a
museum is probably influenced by the way I view it at
home: the more the better. |
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