Washington County Museum of Fine Arts Celebrating 75 Years of Growth

Written by Jeremy Ewing Friday, 26 November 2010 20:36

Hagerstown, MD - The Washington County Museum of Fine Arts celebrates its 75th anniversary with its first ever archival retrospective exhibition, AOur Fondest Dreams and Hopes: Celebrating 75 Years of Growth.  The exhibition will open on September 15, 2006 in the Museum's Groh Gallery B 75 years to the day from when the Museum opened its doors to the public.  Inspired by newly discovered archival material, this exhibition unfolds the history of the institution from its inception as a dream through its present reality as an important center for art and education.

The exhibition will introduce the Museum's founders, William H., Jr. and Anna Brugh Singer, illuminate the important planning stages of the Museum and walk the viewer through the growth of the Museum's collection and building.  The exhibition will highlight archival materials and key artworks acquired in each phase of the Museum's history.  Archival documents will encompass such historic gems as handwritten correspondence from the founder, the original 1931 blueprints, early Museum publications and newspaper clippings from the Museum's past. 

A large selection of photographs will complement these documents and give visitors a sense of how the Museum has grown and changed.  Featured artwork will include F. Childe Hassam's, White House, Gloucester; Thomas Moran's, Lower Manhattan from Communipaw, New Jersey; Norman Rockwell's, Oculist; an untitled work by Gene Davis; the recently acquired Charles Willson Peale painting, Portrait of Elizabeth Tasker Lowndes and other milestone acquisitions to the Permanent Collection.  An interactive component will encourage visitors to share their own memories of the Museum.

The exhibition's title utilizes a quotation from a 1932 letter in which the Museum's founder Anna Brugh Singer closes with the words, A. . . that the Museum may fulfill its purpose, even beyond our fondest dreams and hopes, is the heart's desire of my husband and myself.  Like this excerpt, the exhibition examines the Museum's commitment to its purpose and kindles enthusiasm for the Museum's future Adreams and hopes.

Visit the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts at : http://www.washcomuseum.org/