‘We’ve become a little too historic’
Wadsworth Atheneum faces leadership change amid an effort to shed stodgy image, connect with Black and Latinx communities
HARTFORD — For months leading up the departure of Wadsworth Atheneum CEO Thomas Loughman, the museum’s board had been charting a new course designed to correct what they saw as a fundamental flaw: The museum was physically in Hartford, but it wasn’t connected to a city populated largely by people of color.
“In the last 20 years the community has changed,” said William R. Peelle Jr., chairman of the board of trustees. “The museum hasn’t. I don’t think we as trustees were being cognizant of what we needed to do regarding the emerging role a museum would play in a city like Hartford. That discussion was not really happening.
“We’ve become a little too historic and not very present.”
A consultant was recruited to help develop a strategic plan, that ended up focusing heavily on diversity and inclusion. The effort included an invitation for each board member to walk alone through the museum. Of the 36 board members, 30 took solo tours. The results were eye-opening, Peelle said.
“A lot of people were surprised by the oldness of everything, that there really wasn’t much that would grab you or engage you and say ‘oh wow.’ It looked like an old museum that hadn’t changed in decades,” Peelle said. “It wasn’t an engaging and wonderful experience. In 40 galleries, with 60,000 square feet of art, there was a general malaise or lack of robust enthusiasm.”
Separated from city
Duncan Harris, a board member and CEO of Capitol Community College, said the museum’s 179-year-old façade is a stark symbol of the museum’s aloofness.
“It kind of looks like a medieval castle,” he said. “There is a metaphorical moat there that people may perceive as a barrier to having entrée and access to the museum. They need to fill in the moat. People need to feel comfortable with their museum. That comes with programming, connecting with Latinx and African American communities.”
Harris and Dr. Elsa Núñez, vice president for state universities in the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities system, are two of the newest board members. They were recruited a few months ago, when Peelle led a push to recruit board members of color.
Núñez said the children of color in the Hartford community have little to attract them to the Wadsworth.
“You’ve got all of these children in middle school and high school who don’t have access to art and art history and the wonders of the world as they are expressed through artistic expression of people all over the world, including places they come from, Africa, the islands, that are rich in artistic traditions, but they haven’t really seen it expressed in the Wadsworth or in other museums,” Núñez said.
Peelle said the museum’s reputation in the international arts community is solid, but the board has not focused enough on its appeal in its own community.
“We have some of the most sought-after art in the world. Museums all over the world keep asking to borrow it. We are highly regarded on that end. But what is our responsibility to our own citizens?” Peelle said.
“People think of us as exclusive institutions where you tiptoe in to peek at fancy paintings. That period is over,” he said.
Loughman’s exit
Loughman’s departure after five years in Hartford comes as the museum is attempting a major shift in direction, but Peelle said “the strategic plan was not designed to out anybody.”
It “wasn’t about a personality. It was about an institution,” said Peelle, who hailed Loughman’s talents.
“From what his enormous strengths are as a very, very highly respected curator, I just think that however the conclusions were made, that if this Wadsworth Atheneum — in this community — was going to shift in its traditional role of presenting the art, that it had to be a little bit more engaged in the wider community. It was a very thorough exercise of the trustees looking at their own museum and the direction it wanted to be headed.”
Jeffrey N. Brown, vice president of the board of trustees, will serve as interim CEO while a national search is launched.
Peelle said that diversity and inclusion will be a big factor in filling the position as well as in formulating future programming, exhibitions and community outreach.
Loughman was brought in to lead the museum in early 2016. Before coming to the Atheneum, he mounted exhibits on Baroque painting in 17th-century Naples, Rembrandt and the golden age of Dutch art, Edgar Degas sculptures, Theodore Robinson in Giverny and Irish painting.
In August 2016, Loughman instituted the “Wadsworth Welcome” initiative, which gave free admission to Hartford residents. Upon announcing the initiative, Loughman touted diversity and inclusion, as well as the wealth gap in the city and suburbs.
In a news release, Loughman said he is leaving because he’s seen “the urgent need to foster international partnerships, and I feel called to that important work which has defined my career.” He is currently co-chair of the United States National Committee of the International Council of Museums.
Loughman declined to be interviewed for this story.
Broader efforts
The change at the Wadsworth is happening against the backdrop of broader social change and change within the arts world.
Liz Shapiro, director of Arts, Preservation and Museums for the state Department of Economic and Community Development, praised the Atheneum “for being open to trying something that looks new to so many traditional arts organizations, especially high-profile art museums across the United States.”
Shapiro said many arts groups in Connecticut have been working to prioritize diversity and inclusion in strategic plans. She said the movement got traction in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last May, which caused the entire country to reassess racial attitudes.
“There are many who are in various stages of what is only a journey to really substantive and enduring change in their organizations,” Shapiro said. “At a certain point an organization moves forward together or moves forward and leaves some people behind. Those are the conversations happening now in arts organizations throughout the state.”
Peelle said the shift in focus has come after the board did “a lot of soul-searching.”
“What do we need to do to be a better board? That’s not a negative. It’s an opportunity to look at governance and what we should be in our role in Hartford. Museums have to begin to have that discussion.”
He said in choosing a new leader, focusing primarily on old-school credentials may not be the route to take.
“We can’t just use Janson’s History of Art book and expect everybody to jump on board. That’s academic, looking at one thing, quoting the history of art. It’s certainly not looking at the present,” he said. “We should be a little bit more on the cusp of what’s new and how do you relate the new to something that is not so new.”