MEET OUR SPONSOR
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Joanna Frang
Executive Director of Barrett Art Center Photo Credit: Lori Adams Photography |
Meet Joanna: Joanna Frang is the executive director of the Barrett Art Center in Poughkeepsie, NY. She has served arts and cultural nonprofits at a variety of curatorial, education, and management levels, including museum exhibitions, education, collections management and American history and art history.
A native of Michigan, Joanna earned her B.A. from Haverford College and holds a Masters of Arts from the University of Delaware and the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture as a Lois F. McNeil Fellow. She completed her doctoral work in American Civilization at Brandeis University as a Rose and Irving Crown Fellow, with a focus on the built environment and the cultural worlds of American Grand Tourists in the Early Republic. She has been funded as a residential fellow at the Smithsonian American Art Museum & the National Portrait Gallery by the Terra Foundation for American Art, with additional residential fellowship appointments in the U.S. and Great Britain from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies and the Samuel Kress Foundation. Joanna has served in a variety of leadership roles at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site, IS183 Art School of the Berkshires, The Mount (Edith Wharton Restoration), and Historic New England. Joanna is also an active member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Poughkeepsie, where she serves on the Vestry. |
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About Barrett Art Center:
Barrett Art Center is a landmark historic house that has been renovated into a nonprofit art center. This was the home of Poughkeepsie-born artist Thomas Weeks Barrett, Jr. (1902-1947), an arts innovator who brought the idea of revitalizing his community through the arts to Dutchess County, NY during the Great Depression. He organized the county’s first art exhibition in 1934 and founded the Dutchess County Arts Association in 1935 with the intent to foster community appreciation of visual art as an integral aspect of much-needed community revitalization. Today, the center continues his legacy by bringing cutting-edge contemporary art from across the globe to Poughkeepsie, NY in inspiring exhibitions that form the basis for educational programs, which are free to the community year-round. These include art and history tours, art classes and lectures. |
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Barrett Art Center partners with other local nonprofits and collaborates with regional artists, its neighborhood elementary school, and the public library to support and enrich the education of underprivileged students. The center also works with local drug and alcohol treatment programs to integrate art appreciation and creative expression into the recovery process and provides volunteer opportunities as part of the path back into the workforce.
Myrna Beth Haskell, managing editor, spoke with Joanna about her professional journey, the programs offered at Barrett Art Center and the center’s community collaborations and future plans.
What was your first love…art or history?
My first love was history. In high school, I had an incredible teacher for basic world history who was a catalyst to my thirst for knowledge in this area. Then, while studying at Haverford College, I was involved in an archival project that included the cataloguing of artworks, interpreting historic work and all that goes with that. I was inspired by this experience, so I started to take art history classes. It was luck, really. This is the point where I started to blend the two interests together, and it just developed from there.
Tell me how former positions with other galleries, museums and art centers have helped you in your leadership role at the Barrett Art Center?
I’ve been privileged to acquire diverse academic and professional experiences. Involvement in academic pursuits such as the fellowship with the Winterthur Museum Program in American Material Culture [which included curatorial projects in discovering and presenting an object as a significant addition to a public collection] and similar experiences provided rigorous professional training. I gained so much knowledge about museum culture and how others managed their environments. I learned how to be a compassionate leader, one who inspires students and volunteers. Working with people is about the relationships you nurture. I also garnered a better understanding of how the arts can transform communities.
What was your first love…art or history?
My first love was history. In high school, I had an incredible teacher for basic world history who was a catalyst to my thirst for knowledge in this area. Then, while studying at Haverford College, I was involved in an archival project that included the cataloguing of artworks, interpreting historic work and all that goes with that. I was inspired by this experience, so I started to take art history classes. It was luck, really. This is the point where I started to blend the two interests together, and it just developed from there.
Tell me how former positions with other galleries, museums and art centers have helped you in your leadership role at the Barrett Art Center?
I’ve been privileged to acquire diverse academic and professional experiences. Involvement in academic pursuits such as the fellowship with the Winterthur Museum Program in American Material Culture [which included curatorial projects in discovering and presenting an object as a significant addition to a public collection] and similar experiences provided rigorous professional training. I gained so much knowledge about museum culture and how others managed their environments. I learned how to be a compassionate leader, one who inspires students and volunteers. Working with people is about the relationships you nurture. I also garnered a better understanding of how the arts can transform communities.
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What do you love best about working at this historic center, and do you try to keep its rich history at the forefront of what visitors learn when they come to visit? It’s not hard because you’re introducing this amazing contemporary art in an obvious mid-19th Century building with fireplaces, stairwells and moldings from this bygone era. This juxtaposition of cutting edge contemporary art and 19th Century architecture is just inspirational and makes my job easier. The location also exudes the idea that art is both transformative and timeless. When visitors walk in, they get an immediate sense of why it’s so important to preserve – all of a sudden, history becomes more relevant. We have an incredible amount of historical objects from the house and information about Thomas Barrett, Jr. and his family. This includes Barrett’s artwork from the 1920s through to the end of his life. Our interns, as well as some of our volunteers, have been pulling on threads and making connections with everything we’ve collected. I am now in the position to inspire young students to love the archival process. It’s come full circle. |
Photos from the Sold-Out Springraiser Event on March 3, 2019
Joanna Frang, executive director, was praised by Mayor Robert Rolison and Marc Molinaro, Dutchess County Executive, for the work she has done in partnering with organizations and businesses to promote the arts and improve the community. |
This ongoing project needed its own, special area; so, we’ve been working on a new ‘Archives & Collections’ space in the upstairs of the building. This space was once Barrett’s sister’s bedroom and had been used as a library by the artists who kept the building up and running as an art gallery for years. We have a grant from Documentary Heritage & Preservation Services for New York (DHPSNY), which is dedicated to service and support for archival and library research collections throughout the State. We’re continuing with our work on this, but we’ll be ready for visitors by mid-April.
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In the last couple of years, how has the Barrett Art Center and the surrounding community changed? Have you seen a resurgence in an interest in the arts, and are there more artists who are residing in the area?
Well, artists have always been in Poughkeepsie, but that’s growing. Artists kept the Barrett House going for 80 years. Currently, the arts are flourishing and blossoming in our area. There’s been a renewal of interest and a collaborative spirit amongst residents, politicians, business leaders and artists – the community is working together to bring the arts to the forefront…and this is what needs to happen. |
Several projects have been completed in this spirit, including the Queen City Lofts [community artist loft space designed to help artists grow and prosper at their profession] and the Poughkeepsie Underwear Factory [includes loft space, youth arts programming and studio space for artists, a development project which is part of the Hudson River Housing Inc.’s work to revitalize the inner corridor]. There are galleries popping up all over the place, and, on Father’s Day Weekend, 50 artists open their studios – a combined ‘open studio’ event and walking tour of the city. Mayor Robert Rolison has formed a ‘Public Arts Commission,’ and we [Barrett Art Center] have been partnering with local businesses, community leaders and other nonprofits to establish community arts events and programs. For instance, we’ve just partnered with the Artist Palate [a local restaurant] to provide two-month-long solo exhibitions (or two-artist exhibitions if the artworks complement each other) to further connect our artists to the community. Commerce and culture have a natural affinity.
Our collaborative approach and world-class art exhibitions are making a difference, just like Barrett was able to do in the 1930s. The arts revitalized the community then, and we’re using art to do it again today.
This month, you are starting a program called Barrett Kids: After-School Art & Homework Club.* Can you tell me about it?
We’re starting the program on April 2nd. This is an example of our intimate involvement with the community. We literally went door to door to ask residents on our street what they needed and how we could help. A lot of these parents work two jobs, and they expressed needing a safe place where their kids could go after school for enrichment and homework help. The students will be attending art classes here and then going over to the library down the street for homework help. Again, this is a community effort…and one that will transform the lives of our youngest neighbors.
*The club is a free, community-based program to engage and support local children through art and academic enrichment. It is a hyper-local effort to provide 6 to 10-year-old children in the immediate neighborhood with a safe and creative space to participate in arts and culture programming and to receive homework help. Barrett Art Center works closely with Clinton Elementary School and the Adriance Memorial Library to provide this program.
What do you see as challenges that most art centers and exhibition halls face today? How do you plan to approach these challenges?
Everyone, no matter what industry or business they’re involved in, has to address sustainability. As a nonprofit, we are privileged to have the responsibility of working with the changing wants and needs of our community. We reach people through the arts by helping them develop an appreciation for visual arts as a creative process. Visual literacy opens new worlds. It enables people to interact and engage. You also need to address the specific challenges your community may have and adjust your vision and programming accordingly. We had a group come through Barrett recently…these folks had never seen art in person, hung on a gallery wall. They had never seen a house from this era that had not been divided into multiple family dwellings.
You also need to meet people where they are. So, with young people, it’s interaction through social media. We have a presence on social media, and we hope to get followers and visitors excited enough to walk through our door.
Tell me about your future goals for the center.
One thing we are looking at is accessibility. We want everyone to be able to come through our door. We are looking at plans to build a ramp so that visitors of all physical abilities can enter through the side porch. There are challenges. We have to abide by both ADA compliance and the laws and architectural restrictions for ‘landmark buildings.’ We are applying for grants right now so that we can begin the process.
We’re hoping to start an artist residency program as well. The resident artist would engage with the community and live in the neighborhood. The artist would receive reimbursement for housing and would be available for lectures, classes and programs. An artist residency promotes a positive reciprocal relationship between the artist and his/her local community. For the artist, it’s important to get out of the studio and connect with the people who would be interested in learning about his/her inspiration and process. In turn, members of the community are exposed to art education, culture and understanding.
Where do you find sanctuary? (#WheresYourSanctuary)
[Joanna laughs.] Wherever and whenever my cat is in my lap.
One thing we are looking at is accessibility. We want everyone to be able to come through our door. We are looking at plans to build a ramp so that visitors of all physical abilities can enter through the side porch. There are challenges. We have to abide by both ADA compliance and the laws and architectural restrictions for ‘landmark buildings.’ We are applying for grants right now so that we can begin the process.
We’re hoping to start an artist residency program as well. The resident artist would engage with the community and live in the neighborhood. The artist would receive reimbursement for housing and would be available for lectures, classes and programs. An artist residency promotes a positive reciprocal relationship between the artist and his/her local community. For the artist, it’s important to get out of the studio and connect with the people who would be interested in learning about his/her inspiration and process. In turn, members of the community are exposed to art education, culture and understanding.
Where do you find sanctuary? (#WheresYourSanctuary)
[Joanna laughs.] Wherever and whenever my cat is in my lap.
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