April 7, 2013
A Look Back: Katherine French, Executive Director, Danforth Art, Framingham
Matt Volpini
By Taryn Plumb
Editor's Note: In 2011, when MetroWest495 Biz selected Katherine French as one of its 10 businesspeople to watch — our inaugural issue — she and the Danforth Museum & School of Art had won several awards and seen a 27-percent increase in donations. At the time, a new building was just a twinkle in French's eye. But this year, it seems plenty is going on at the since-renamed Danforth Art, so we revisted French to get an update.
There's no doubt that with Katherine French at its helm, Danforth Art has made great strides.
Formerly known as the Danforth Museum & School of Art (the name change happened in late March), the institution has grown its stature, expanded its educational programs, bolstered revenue and, in September, received its largest donation ever — an anonymous gift of $500,000.
Despite all that, there was always one thing lacking, according to French: A proper, safe facility.
Now, it seems, that puzzle piece has very nearly clicked into place.
Danforth Art and the Framingham Board of Selectmen reached an agreement in February on the sale of the town-owned Jonathan Maynard Building. If the purchase receives final approval at Town Meeting in May, Danforth will pay the town $1 million over 25 years, provide an additional $500,000 in programs to residents and fully relocate to the building in the town's center by late 2016.
Solving the facilities problem has been a goal of French's since she came on as director in January 2005.
"My goal is to not just buy a new building — but to buy, renovate, and really create the kind of home that we can move forward with," she said. Due to a deteriorating structure, failing systems and inadequate space, "the facility issues had been holding us back."
Looking ahead to the future, she said, the goal is to foster a "nationally recognized art center with innovative programming."
New Digs Would Get A Facelift
Should the town approve the deal, the Danforth plans to gut and renovate the three-story structure, and put on an addition. Every floor would incorporate an aspect of both the museum and school, French said — as opposed to the current building, in which the two are mostly separate.
The name change fits with that, French said, because it reflects a shared dedication to both education and art. Its new moniker doesn't place the museum over the school, or the school over the museum, she said, but rather, "expands our vision of a fully integrated museum and school."
Additional opportunities with the new building could come through collaborations with the adjacent Framingham History Center, French said, as well as the potential creation of a cultural district.
"It's terribly exciting," French said, although she stressed that it's not a done deal, and "there's a lot of work in front of us."
Still, the community has met the proposal with an early show of support; Danforth has yet to launch a capital campaign, but has already received around $750,000 in gifts.
That reflects the organization's steady growth in recent years — revenue from its classes and museum visits have increased 64 percent since 2005, and, for the past five years, its membership has seen an average 6-percent annual growth. French credits that to expanded educational programming under her leadership, as well as its exhibits and collection, which are "significantly different" from other local museums. She particularly noted a focus on Boston expressionism and the African-American experience, brought into context through the works of such artists as Richard Yarde and Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller, a protégé of Auguste Rodin.
A Trustee's Support
Longtime Danforth trustee Amy Rossi called French a driving catalyst of the institution's recent successes.
"Katherine has certainly reinvigorated the museum," said Rossi, who is vice president of Bernardi Auto Group in Framingham. "She's a very dynamic leader, a very experienced art professional. She's made art accessible to a wide range of people."
French, for her part, looks to Anne Hawley, a director at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and Jill Medvedow, head of the Institute of Contemporary Art — both of whom oversaw significant transitions of their respective Boston organizations.
"I would love to join them as having overseen that kind of transformative program," French said. "I can't wait to see what the next two years bring." n
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