For Immediate Release
October 29, 2007
Contact: Corey Cronin 781/259-3628, ccronin@decordova.org
DeCordova Receives $477,000 Capital Grant
LINCOLN, MA—The DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park received a $477,000 capital project grant from the Cultural Facilities Fund for the construction of a new museum wing containing a new collections storage and exhibition preparation facility. This significant grant, the second largest in DeCordova’s history, was made by t he state’s new Cultural Facilities Fund (CFF), a joint program of MassDevelopment and the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC).
At present DeCordova does not have any on-site collections storage that meets national professional standards for the operation of an art museum. To remedy this situation, architects and planners Bechtel Frank Erickson Architects, Inc. ( Lexington , MA ) have been commissioned to design a collections storage and exhibition preparation facility. This addition will allow the entire second floor of the DeCordova’s main building to be made into galleries as was the future intent for that area when it was constructed in 1998. The addition will also improve the facilitation of other operational areas such as functions, visitor services, and security. The new two-level, brick and masonry addition of 19,000 s.f. will join the northeast section of the main museum building on the third floor. One level of this addition will be underground.
The new collections storage and preparation space will safely accommodate DeCordova’s 3,200 artworks that are currently in the Museum’s Permanent Collection along with an additional 4,000+ artworks that may be acquired in the future. In addition to providing long term storage for the collections, this space will accommodate the transit of artworks in and out of the Museum. The facility will create a dedicated area for exhibition preparation, which includes carpentry fabrication, matting and framing, and conservation procedures. As DeCordova’s Permanent Collection focuses on art from New England , and the Museum’s exhibition program has a similar commitment, the collections storage and preparation space will allow for the documentation of these activities by providing storage and access for curatorial archives, records, and documentation. This need is particularly important as DeCordova is the only art museum in the region that has a particular New England collection focus.
"On the behalf of everyone who loves DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, I would like to thank the Massachusetts Cultural Council and MassDevelopment, along with Senators Fargo and Resor and other visionary leaders of the Legislature for creating and supporting the Cultural Facilities Fund,” said Acting Director Nick Capasso. “DeCordova’s award of $477,000 is a significant commitment to the Museum’s mission, and also to the entire Massachusetts visual arts community.”
At DeCordova, collections are acquired with the primary purpose of being used for exhibition and education, rather than just for document and research purposes. DeCordova’s collections are kept relatively small (3,200 works) so that the Museum can exhibit them with greater frequency in a variety of interpretive contexts. By having all of the Museum’s art on-site in close proximity to the exhibition galleries and study areas, stored in a way that they are readily accessible for viewing by both staff and other interested members of the public, DeCordova can more readily fulfill its commitment to exhibit these collections often and effectively.
DeCordova currently rents all of its collection storage space offsite. This practice is both costly and does not allow for easy access to the Museum’s collection so that these works can be full utilized by the Curators and members of the Education Department. In addition, the Museum lacks the dedicated space for exhibition preparation; all of these operations are conducted within a 1,200 s.f. shared room on the second floor. This type of work often spills over into galleries and even outdoors during exhibition installation. Additional storage for crates, pedestals, and other materials is housed in a storage container located in the Museum parking lot. And when the Museum takes a traveling exhibition, it often has to rent another storage container to store the empty crates the artwork arrives in. The new facility will accommodate all of these operations with dedicated spaces for a workshop, matting and framing, painting, crate storage and packaging, etc.
Once these functions are relocated from the second floor of the main building, it will free up space for a new exhibition gallery. The second floor will be re-designed to include an expanded Photography Study Space and an Interactive Learning/Media Gallery. These new offerings will appeal to a wider family audience and will draw new visitors, including school groups, to the Museum.
The collections storage facility will also include a dedicated space to store the entire Corporate Art Loan Collection. A long term initiative of the Corporate Membership Program, which has more than 100 members, the Art Loan option is a unique benefit that brings original art into offices. Participating companies receive a professionally curated and installed exhibition featuring work from DeCordova’s Permanent Collection and lending artists. The additional collection storage space will allow the Museum to store more lending art on site and will provide immediate access to the Permanent Collection. This program exposes DeCordova to many new audiences within the Greater Boston area as all of the art displayed includes a DeCordova label. This program reaches out to the corporate community which may not otherwise be introduced to New England contemporary art.
The new collections storage and exhibition preparation facility is part of DeCordova’s Long Rang Master Plan. The first phase of this plan has been completed with the redesign of the Sculpture Park , the reflowed driveway, the addition of a visitor station, and the new path/wayfinding system. More than $1 million has been raised and pledged directly for the collections storage and preparation building project in addition to the Cultural Facilities Fund award, which must be matched one-to-one within a two-year period. Hard construction costs are estimated at $5.3 million but additional endowment funds will need to be raised for the long term care of the addition, along with other Museum facilities. DeCordova is committed to not begin construction until a significant amount of the funds are raised or pledged. Architectural plans for the addition have been drafted and initial site plan review had been approved by the Planning Board of the Town of Lincoln but this permit has expired and DeCordova’s plans will have to be represented.
Click here to learn more about this project.
About the Cultural Facilities Fund
DeCordova is one of sixty-two organizations across Massachusetts that will receive grants ranging from $675,000 to $3,938 from the state’s new Cultural Facilities Fund (CFF). The grants, totaling $16.7 million, were distributed by the MassDevelopment and the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC), which administer the program jointly. Of the amount awarded, $16.2 million will support 45 capital projects; and $478,688 will be used by 17 groups for feasibility and planning studies. The granting bodies received 201 applications totaling nearly $80 million in requests. The number of qualified projects far outstripped the funds available. The projects chosen for funding total $665 million in capital investment.
The grants are part of a groundbreaking Cultural Facilities Fund, jointly administered by MassDevelopment and the MCC to support Massachusetts non-profit cultural organizations with building projects that increase tourism, create new jobs, leverage private funding and expand arts and cultural activities in communities across the state. Leaders of the Massachusetts Legislature and representatives from the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) and MassDevelopment will celebrate the release of nearly $1 million in new funds to improve five cultural facilities in the Metrowest region at DeCordova on October 29, 2007 . This event will celebrate the state's investment in the important work of the cultural community, and to thank Senators Fargo and Resor and other leaders of the Legislature for their support of the Cultural Facilities Fund, and for arts and culture in the Commonwealth.
General Information: DeCordova is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm and on selected Monday holidays. General admission during Museum hours is $9 for adults, $6 for senior citizens, students, and youth ages 6–12. Children age 5 and under, Lincoln residents, and Active Duty Military Personnel and their dependents are admitted free. The Sculpture Park is open year round during daylight hours. The Store @ DeCordova and the School Gallery are open Monday through Thursday, 9:30 am to 7:30 pm , Friday through Saturday, 9:30 am to 5:30 pm , and Sunday 10:30 am to 5:30 pm . The Café @ DeCordova is open Tuesday from noon to 3 pm, and Wednesday through Sunday from 11 am to 4 pm. Guided public tours of the Museum’s main galleries take place every Thursday at 1 and Sunday at 2 pm. Tours of the Sculpture Park are given on Saturday and Sunday at 1 pm from May to Oct. All guided public tours are free with Campus admission. Visit www.decordova.org or call 781/259-8355 for further information.
###
