Museum continues to provide community with
beauty, goodness, truth
A R T S A N D C U LT U R E
written by REBECCA MASSIE LANE DIRECTOR OF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS – WASHINGTON COUNTY The Museum of Fine Arts – Washington County (MFAWC) marked a milestone July 22, 2020, as we reopened our doors to museum members and volunteers. On July 28, the MFA opened to the public. We are living in a difficult time. In the four months since mid-March, we have experienced grief, sorrow and suffering. The unprecedented events of 2020 have altered our way of thinking. The MFA, originally called Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, was founded just before the 1929 stock market crash. Yet the community had faith in this great idea, and the Museum of Fine Arts opened and was a bright spot of hope during the Great Depression. Hagerstonian Hilda Shotwell grew up in the West End during that time, and the museum helped shape her into the successful photographer she became. Three decades later, Dr. Kevin Murray moved to Hagerstown from urban New Jersey. He said the museum provided him with “an oasis of culture and solitude” that he treasured “more than words can express.”
Above Left: Tish Johnson, widow of the late Robert Johnson, for whom the Robert W. Johnson Community Center in Hagerstown is named, is with Janice Curtis Greene, who presented a historical interpretation of Harriet Tubman in the summer of 2019 at the museum. Photo submitted. Above Right: Students from Frederick’s Mid-Maryland Performing Arts Center interpret a painting by American Impressionist painter, Richard E.Miller (1875-1943), in the Museum of Fine Arts-Washington County’s Singer Gallery. Photo submitted.
People have faced insurmountable troubles each successive era, and the MFA continued to provide the community with beauty, goodness and truth. As I write this, my final column, I invite you to remember with me as I recount some of the milestones of the past 12 years: • We completed the beautiful Anne and Howard Kaylor Atrium. The room has become a place for community gatherings and special family occasions. • We hosted many special exhibitions, including “The Wyeth Family Artists,”“The Valley of the Shadow,”“85 Years of Art Education” and more recently,“The Blues and the Abstract Truth: Voices of African-American Art.” • We expanded the regional Cumberland Valley Artists and Photographers exhibition, and added an awards ceremony and reception to recognize the artists.
