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Inside the Vero Beach Museum of Art
Lucinda H. Gedeon. Ph.D. Executive Director/CEO Vero Beach Museum of Art
Recently, ARTDISTRICTS visited the Vero Beach Museum of Art and spoke with its Executive Director, Lucinda H. Gedeon. In this interview Gedeon acquainted readers with the museum’s mission, its valuable collection, and its diverse cultural and educational programs focused on reaching artists and its local community.
By Silvia Medina
Silvia Medina - When was the Vero Beach Art Museum established? What is the aim of the museum? When did you assume directorial responsibility?
Lucinda H. Gedeon - The Vero Beach Museum of Art was established as a combined effort of the Alliance for the Arts and the Vero Beach Art Club in 1979 to create a regional center for the appreciation and teaching of the arts and humanities. Following a number of years of fundraising efforts, the Center for the Arts, as it was known at that time, opened its doors to the public on January 31, 1986. In 1999 it launched a successful expansion campaign, which doubled the size of the facility to a total of 54,444 square feet. In 2002 it changed its name to the Vero Beach Museum of Art. I accepted the position of Director/CEO in 2004. I created the Beckwith Sculpture Park in 2007 to serve as a venue for changing exhibitions of outdoor sculptures, and the Museum is currently undergoing a capital expansion to include a new north plaza sculpture park, an enclosed atrium, and a collections wing in 2010-2011.
The Museum was awarded Museum Accreditation from the American Association of Museums in March 1997 and Subsequent Accreditation in March 2008, recognizing the institution for its professionalism, quality of programming, exhibitions, and community outreach. The Museum’s continuing growth is an expression of the community’s interests, tastes, and appetite for broad-based cultural offerings. Truly a “center” of high quality cultural education and enjoyment for the region, the Museum predicts continued growth and professional development as demands from an expanding audience are met.
S.M.- How was the museum’s collection acquired? What works does it include?
L.H.G.- The Museum’s collection was acquired through gift and purchase, and focuses on American and international works of art in a broad range of media from the 20th and 21st centuries. The Museum has most recently acquired works of art by significant artists including Hanneke Beaumont, Deborah Butterfield, Dale Chihuly, Jim Dine, William Glackens, Ernest Lawson, Reginald Marsh, Tom Otterness, and George Rickey, among others.
Front view of the Vero Beach Museum of Art
S.M.- Do you add to the collection through an acquisitions program? Do you acquire new work by attending auctions and art fairs?
L.H.G.- Our funds for acquisitions come from private donations and the Museum’s Athena Society, an active collectors’ group which was formed in 2003 to fund and help in the selection of important works of art. Art fairs are an important resource for seeing what is available on the market. Our purchases are made in general through art dealers.
S.M.- I know you have a community involvement activities program. What does the program consist of?
L.H.G.- The Museum has an incredibly rich array of education and public programming for youth, seniors, the economically disadvantaged, artists, and educators. This includes youth programs, school-based programs, and community engagement programs. The museum works with the Gifford Youth Activity Center, The Daise Bridgewater Hope Center, DATA Hayslip (an inpatient rehabilitation center for teens with substance abuse problems), the Children’s Home Society, The Alzheimer’s/ Parkinson’s Center, and the Senior Resource Center, among others. Through tours and art-based activities in the Museum’s Art School, and by sending teachers to local community centers, the Museum fosters creativity, prepares young people for life beyond school, provides life-long learning opportunities, and nurtures families. Through exhibitions and lectures, the museum expands our vision of the world.
S.M.- Could you briefly describe the theoretical and educational events program carried out by the museum?
L.H.G.- The Museum is the principal visual arts facility on Florida’s Treasure Coast, and it serves a three-county area. It is applauded as the cultural heart of the community with its exhibitions, collections, gallery tours, studio art and humanities classes for youth and adults, educational programs, school programs, outreach programs, film studies program, community events, lectures, seminars, concerts, special youth events, and cultural celebrations.
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George Segal, Girl Emerging from Tile Wall, 1974, plaster and ceramic tile on wood 39” x 15-1/2” x 10-3/4”. Museum Purchase with funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. James W. Titelman and the Museum Acquisition Fund.
S.M.- Do you believe that the museums, cultural institutions and government of Florida lend enough support to local artists? Tell me about your experience with Vero Beach artists.
L.H.G.- The State of Florida has drastically cut back on its funds for museums, cultural institutions, and individual artists, which I believe is very shortsighted. The Arts are not only important to the cultural life of every community, but they also contribute to the economic stability and development of our communities.
Various institutions around the state support local artists in various ways, from exhibitions to juried competitions, etc. Some museums, including the Museum of Florida Art, actively collect only the work of Florida artists. At the Vero Beach Museum of Art we rent office space to the Vero Beach Art Club, mount exhibitions annually of Art Club members in our community studio gallery, and host “Art by the Sea” for Art Club members. In addition, we mount exhibitions of the Vero Beach Photo Club, Museum Art School Faculty, and local elementary school children in the children’s gallery. We also host the Indian River County Middle and High School student Annual Exhibition. The Museum employs local artists to teach in the Museum Art School and conduct workshops.
S.M.- An art festival will take place in Vero Beach in the spring. How will the museum participate in this event?
L.H.G.- On Saturday, April 30th, 2011 the Museum will present its annual Children’s Art Fair. This event, open to the entire community, presents children’s performances. Studios are open for intergenerational art-making activities. There are demonstrations by various artists, and tours of the exhibitions.
S.M.- What exhibitions are being planned for the coming months?
L.H.G.- In 2011 the Museum will be celebrating its 25th anniversary since opening doors to the public. In recognition of this milestone, the Museum will be presenting two extraordinary exhibitions of American art: “American Masterworks: 150 years of Painting from the Butler Institute of American Art,” and “Impressions,” works by American Impressionists from the Manoogian collection. Major paintings by artists including Albert Bierstadt, John Sloan, Childe Hassam, Reginald Marsh, Andy Warhol, Edward Redfield, and Frank Benson, among others, will be on display. These exhibitions open on January 30 and continue through May 22, 2011. Also on view in the Beckwith Sculpture Park will be major outdoor works of art from the Permanent Collection, and in the Stark Gallery, an exhibition titled “Vero Promises,” featuring promised gifts to the Museum’s collection in honor of the 25th anniversary.
Changing temporary exhibitions are central to the Museum’s mission and provide visitors with a broad range of art from cultures and periods in art history from around the world.
Silvia Medina is a curator and art critic. She is the director of 1090 12th Gallery in Vero Beach, Florida.
