News from the Gallery - Volume 2: April 2023

News from the Gallery

A message from Jessica

Roscio

Now that we have officially welcomed Spring and the days are getting longer I’m looking forward to a new season of activities at the Danforth. It’s been wonderful to see so many visitors in our new exhibition, Visionary Boston, and to celebrate some of the artists who defined contemporary art in mid-century Boston. At the same time, we are eagerly anticipating our Danforth Annual Juried Exhibition this summer. Once again, some of the best contemporary art in New England will be in the galleries. We also look forward to a robust season of Summer Arts in the Art School. There is so much to see and do at the Danforth – I hope you have a chance to visit soon.

Meet Sam Meta Fuller

Museum staff members above: (back row left to right) Katherine Tako-Girard, Mary Erickson, Chandra Taylor, Barry Burlingham, Rachel Passannante, Laura Gayton; (front row left to right) Noelle Fournier and Jessica Roscio.

2023 Danforth

Museum Director and Curator

Executive Director of the Mass Cultural Council visits the Danforth for the first time!

Mass Cultural Council Executive Director Michael Bobbitt made his first visit to the Danforth Museum and Art School on Friday, January 6 where he toured both the Museum and School. Afterwards, Bobbitt took the opportunity to hold a press conference in the Museum announcing the 2023 recipients of $750,000 Cultural District Investment Grant Program to 50 state funded cultural districts. Among the attendees and speakers were State Representatives Jack Lewis, Priscila Sousa, and Kate Donaghue, Natick Center Cultural District Executive Director Athena Pandolf, Managing Director of the Framingham Centre Common Cultural District Jill Schindler, and Susan Nicholl (representing Senate President Karen Spilka). Bobbitt spent the afternoon learning about the many other offerings of the Framingham Centre Common Cultural District.

Photo top center: Michael Bobbitt poses with Danforth staff members - from left to right, Laura Gayton, Jessica Roscio, Michael Bobbitt, Rachel Passsannante, Noelle Fournier, and Chandra Taylor

Photo bottom left: Michael Bobbitt talks grant strategy with the Danforth’s Development Officer Barry Burlingham

Photo bottom right: Michael Bobbitt meets FSU President Nancy Niemi

Introducing

Katherine Tako-Girard

The Danforth’s new Learning and Engagement Coordinator!

My interest in working as a museum educator started soon after I began working as an intern at the Art Institute of Chicago, the summer before starting my graduate studies. The experience solidified the trajectory of my career. After completing my MA in Art History from the University of Chicago, I joined Dartmouth’s Hood Museum of Art and developed Images and ArtStart, two multiplevisit programs for 23 Upper Valley school groups. From there, I went on to hold other museum education and curatorial positions at the Allentown Art Museum and the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University.

I’m passionate about helping others learn about art. My favorite part of teaching in the galleries is when I see that “ah-ha moment” cross the face of a visitor. Learning from looking is an inherent skill we all possess. My job is to help you connect your personal experiences with what you see in an art work.

I’m excited to work at the Danforth. I’ve found university museums to be inspiring learning laboratories. As a learning environment, Danforth is a great place to explore new ways of working and teaching, with objects and visual evidence as well as texts, and new ways of presenting art to wider audiences. The collection offers opportunities for us to actively engage with the FSU and the MetroWest community.

Click on the image to the left to watch Katherine during a recent pre-school tour leading all of her “little bunnies!”

School Vacation Week

Week at the Danforth Art School

School Vacations provide a break from learning routines for children. At the Danforth, we take advantage of these periods to offer opportunities for learning in a different way; one that is centered directly on the child’s viewpoint, using art to teach about intangible things like feelings, kindness, history and culture, as well as more concrete ideas related to science and nature. Our onsite museum is filled with a wide variety of art which the students visit to sketch and share their thoughts and ideas about the artwork. In our art studios, children can experiment with materials and practice making art in a safe, collaborative environment which encourages critical and creative thinking. Even though we take teaching seriously, we make sure children who spend time with us during vacations from school have a lot of fun experimenting and meeting new friends.

-Noelle Fournier Director, Danforth Art School

News from Membership

In March, we rolled out our new membership software Wild Apricot by Personify. We couldn’t be happier with our choice of software and are excited to fully utilize all of the excellent features it offers. One new member benefit is the digital membership cards instantly accessible to our members through their online account. Stay tuned for more!

Beanie Fever takes hold during membership month! Last fall we offered our members fun ways to win our newest swag - the Danforth beanie. Who could have predicted what a hit they would be? Below are just a few of those affected by Beanie Fever....

At the end donors. from the display this Spring. acquisitions

Photos left: Sonya Tanae Fort, 2nd Prize winner, 2022 Danforth Annual Juried Exhibition center: Museum Director/Curator Jessica Roscio and exhibiting artist Jane Szabo right: Framingham State University President Nancy Niemi

News from Collections

end of 2022, the Danforth was gifted over fifty artworks from three donors. These donations are a great addition to our collection as they range the late 1800s to contemporary American Art. We were able to then a selection of these works alongside a few other recent acquisitions Spring. It is exciting to show a selection of these works and other recent acquisitions so soon after receiving! On view through June 4.

Beyond our Walls

It is part of our mission to inspire and engage our community through art — and Jessica and Rachel do that so well in our galleries. Beyond our Walls provides additional exhibition space for the arts — virtually. Beyond Our Walls aims to engage with and highlight more artists from Framingham and the surrounding communities. Artist and Community Engagement Coordinator Mary Erickson serves as a roving reporter; think of her as the curator of Beyond Our Walls.

Photos of Jack’s Abbey mural by artist Mia Cross.

Roving in Framingham with Rachel to discover public art was the beginning of our first post for Beyond Our Walls. The side of Jack’s Abbey was the largest mural we saw. At over 300 feet long, it was a huge undertaking for artist Mia Cross; she used over 45 gallons of paint and 50 different colors! Big splashes of color, organic shapes, and patterns flow to the right and give way to a gathering of people to signify the sense of community that beer and the brewery bring to the neighborhood. I look forward to sitting outside, taking in the art and sipping when the weather is nice!

Click here to read more

Meet Sam Coombs, Danforth Museum Curatorial Fellow!

I first learned about the Danforth Curatorial Fellowship through my professor Yumi Park Huntington, who had emailed me about this job opportunity. The position seemed to include everything that I was interested in learning. I would be researching and writing and learning how the installation and deinstallation of exhibitions work. I was excited to learn about storing artworks and the organization of the permanent collection. I appreciate behind-the-scenes work and I was looking forward to working directly with artworks and museum staff.

Since being here and working with Rachel Passannante, I have learned and witnessed so much about how small art museums run. I certainly ask a lot of questions. I loved learning how to handle certain artworks, experiencing matting and framing pieces, and the procedure of preparing shows before they open to the public. A favorite of my many projects was making scavenger hunts of works on display to entertain museum visitors. By far the best part of this whole job has been curating the Permanent Collection exhibition. I enjoyed looking through the collection, finding works that resonated with me, and then from there finding visual connections between all the pieces. It felt like a puzzle curating the show. I had so much fun with it, taking out works that didn’t quite fit and adding some in that were unexpected but really naturally pulled the rest of the pieces together. It was certainly a collaboration between Rachel, Jessica Roscio, and me. The people here are so wonderful and supportive and make me feel at home here at the Danforth. I put my heart into the show and seeing it all come together into a reality makes me feel incredibly proud. This job has felt like such a fulfilling accomplishment.

Learn more about Meta Fuller on our mobile app!

Download our mobile app on the Google Play or App Store and learn more about the amazing sculptures of Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller on display at our Museum. Our Collections Curator

Rachel Passannate created a digital interactive complete with hot buttons so that the user can quickly identify objects in the gallery and learn more about them on the spot.

Click on one of the buttons below - App Store for iPhone users and Google Play Store for Android - to download the app today!

App Store

Google Play Store

The Danforth in the Boston Globe

Click on the image above to read Cate McQuaid’s review of Visionary Boston in the Boston Globe. The print version was published the first weekend of April.

The 2023 Danforth Annual Juried Exhibition is coming!

It’s that time of the year again! We are accepting submissions for our Annual Juried Exhibition up until Sunday, April 30. Artists must live or work in the New England area and be at least 18 years of age. Submitted works must have been created within the last three years. Click here to see the accepted works from last year’s exhibition catalog!

the scene at the

the Danforth

Photos

top left: Jasmine Chen laughs with Katherine Tako-Girard at her recent talk (courtesy of Lisa Tang Liu)

top right: Museum Director/Curator Jessica Roscio speaks on portraiture during the last Brunch at the Danforth

bottom left: Alexa and Jessica, daughters of Steven Trefonides pose next to the pastel he created of them

bottom center: Visionary Boston co-curator, Thom Adams, at the exhibition’s opening reception

bottom right: Danforth member Jaime Fitts works diligently on a sculpture of her friend at the last Drinks at the Danforth

Up and Coming at the

Danforth

Brunch at the Danforth: Visionary Boston returns April 30!

Photography is at the root of this exhibition, investigating how the medium could be used to alter and create new ways of seeing. The result is vibrant color, otherworldly imagery, and meditations on beauty. Experience the vision with Exhibition Curator Jessica Roscio, have brunch, and journey through the photography, painting, and sculpture in Visionary Boston.

Don’t miss Fashion in Bloom only on view this May!

Established in 2022, the Mancuso Fashion Design Awards support the talent and effort of FSU Fashion Design majors. Four senior fashion design students receive a $1,000 prize in four categories. Inspired by works from the Museum’s Permanent Collection, the Danforth is pleased to showcase the talent of FSU’s Fashion and Design students for the entire month of May.

Community Connnections through Art begins May 20!

In its galleries and classrooms, the Danforth inspires and engages through art. Beyond Our Walls broadens these opportunities. For this series, Community Connections through Art, diverse artists from the surrounding community are invited into the Museum to talk about their art and process, involvement in community art programs, and to share selected pieces of their work to the audience. Guests will have the opportunity to interact with the artists to learn more about their regional art community.

Calendar of Events at the Museum and Art School

Apr 23 Sunday Spotlight Talk

Jill Pottle

Apr 30 Brunch at the Danforth

May 5 Fashion in Bloom opens

May 7 Sunday Spotlight Talk

Photography in Visionary Boston with Gary Samson and Thom Adams

May 14 Drop Into Art

May 20 Community Connections through Art

June 4 Drop Into Art

June 17 Community Connections through Art

June 24 Opening Reception for the Danforth

Annual Juried Exhibition at 6 pm

June 26 Summer Arts begins at the Art School

July 22 Community Connections through Art

*Please note the Museum will be closed from June 5 through June 23 for the installation of our new exhibition.

Become a Danforth Corporate Member!

Your membership investment will leverage your exposure as a corporate community citizen through our extensive subscriber list and social media network while supporting our mission of bringing great art and art education to MetroWest.

See our online brochure by clicking on the link below, or contact me directly and learn how our membership benefits can serve your employees!

Barry Burlingham bburlingham@framingham.edu

Magazine Design by Laura Gayton, Marketing and Membership, Danforth Art Museum

museum hours

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Closed Mondays 14 Vernon Street Framingham, MA 01701

phone: 508-215-5110

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