Cyrus Dallin Art Museum

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We are thrilled to share that the Dallin Museum was awarded an organizational support grant from the Mass Cultural Council! The Museum will receive $6000 in unrestricted operating funds for each of the next three years. This program prioritizes organizations that demonstrate support of Massachusetts artists, humanists, and scientists; equitable practices; advancement of the cultural sector; and deep and authentic engagement with community. These funds will allow us to purchase additional fixtures for our new track lights and to continue developing our Euro-American Figures Gallery and Indigenous-centered Little Free Library. We are grateful and excited for the work ahead!

This Monday is the 200th anniversary of the Marquis de Lafayette's visit to West Cambridge (Arlington) and surrounding towns as part of his 1824 Farewell Tour of the U.S. Many area museums are hosting reenactments this weekend, including the Arlington Historical Society & Jason Russell House. Did you know that Cyrus Dallin sculpted Lafayette? In 1889, while studying in Paris at the Academie Julian, Dallin was commissioned by an American dentist named Dr. Thomas Evans to create an equestrian of Lafayette. Inspired by the gesture behind Bartholdi's Statue of Liberty, Evans wished to present Lafayette to France in recognition of the General's service during the Revolutionary War. Dallin's bronze model was prominently exhibited at the Paris Exposition of 1889 at the entrance to the American Industrial Department. Sadly, the statue was never cast in double life size as had been planned. The model was gifted to the Smithsonian by the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine as part of the Thomas W. Evans Collection. In 2015, Lafayette's direct descendant, Count Gilbert de Pusy Lafayette, visited the U.S. in conjunction with the arrival of L'Hermione, a replica of the ship that first brought his ancestor to America. Count Gilbert made a special stop in Scituate, Mass., where he viewed Dallin's Judge Cushing plaque (Lafayette and Cushing were friends) and a WWI Memorial. Dallin Museum Director Geri Tremblay had the honor of joining the welcome party that day! #lafayette #lafayette200 #MA250

We have had a record number of visitors since our reopening last week! Our newest addition to the gallery, the Judge William Cushing Memorial Plaque, is a must see. Dallin's execution of the work, and the ideas behind it, are quite powerful. The Cushing plaque was commissioned in 1919 by the Scituate Historical Society. The original bronze was mounted on a boulder and placed at the junction of Stockbridge Road and Chief Justice Cushing Highway (Rt. 3A) in Scituate, Mass. An extraordinary feature is the lengthy text, which Dallin modeled completely by hand. In 2014, the bronze was removed for conservation. The Museum's plaque was cast from a mold that was made at the time of conservation. Judge Cushing (1732-1810) served as the first sitting Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court during the decades between the American Revolution and the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. In 1789, President George Washington appointed Cushing one of the original justices of the Supreme Court. As Massachusetts Chief Justice, Cushing presided over a case involving the assault of an enslaved man, Quock Walker, by the man who claimed to be his owner. In his charge to the jury, Cushing said that there was no law establishing slavery in the Commonwealth's constitution. "All men are born free and equal...every subject is entitled to liberty," he stated. With these words, Cushing effectively abolished slavery in Massachusetts, though his legacy is complicated. Cushing grew up in a family that enslaved multiple people - including a woman named Phillis and a man named Jonathan. As an adult, it is unclear whether Cushing employed or enslaved his personal servant, Prince Warden. Despite his views on slavery in Massachusetts, he advised the governor that Southern enslavers could not legally be prevented from recapturing escaped enslaved people seeking refuge in the state. Additionally, Cushing’s assertion that slavery can still exist as punishment for “criminal conduct” is echoed in the 13th amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and is reflected in the role of labor in prisons today. The text on the left of the plaque features Cushing’s words from the Quock Walker case. On the right is an excerpt of the Supreme Court opinion in Chisholm v. Georgia, which established that private citizens have the right to sue states.

Phase 1 of the redesign of our Euro-American Figures gallery is nearly complete, and the museum will reopen THIS SATURDAY! The painting and electrical work are finished. This morning, the kind folks at Intelligent Labor placed the sculptures back on their pedestals. The gallery will feature a new addition - Dallin's 1919 plaque of Judge William Cushing - an important and complicated figure in Massachusetts history. We will post more on Cushing and better photos of the gallery once we actually have light! (The bulbs will be installed on the new tracks on Friday.) ??

This #Olympics2024 has us thinking about one of our favorite Olympians - Cyrus Dallin! He won a bronze medal in the men's archery team round at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, MO. While working on our Community Preservation Act-funded project to digitize Dallin's personal archive, we were thrilled to discover this photo of him in action! It was probably taken at a local tournament, but the attire would likely have been similar. Looks like neckties were optional. ?? ??

The Dallin Museum is a small community museum dedicated to a sculptor of national significance whose work elicits important, and sometimes difficult, conversations about race and representation. In particular, Dallin’s "Appeal to the Great Spirit" at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has become a catalyst for public dialogue around stereotypes, Indigenous erasure, and colonialism. We honor and respect the full range of responses Indigenous viewers have to Appeal. We have written a statement in consultation with Indigenous advisors about Appeal's complex legacy. Our intention is to provide additional context for and perspectives on the statue to inform and support these ongoing conversations. Read the statement on our website here: https://lnkd.in/eRWrDSXp

Did you know Frederick Douglass was the most photographed man in 19th-century America? The abolitionist, who obtained freedom from chattel slavery in 1838, became one of the most important orators, writers, and statespersons of the 19th century. Douglass understood that portraiture could challenge racist tropes and advance the freedom and civil rights of Black Americans and subjugated people around the world. Sir Isaac Julien’s ten-screen installation “Lessons of the Hour,” on view now at MoMA, presents a nonlinear narrative of Douglass’s life and work. The exhibition at MoMA brings together historical items that informed Julien’s film, including photographic portraits of Douglass as well as his speeches, literary works, and personal correspondence. Read an interview between the artist and exhibition curator on #MoMAMagazine → mo.ma/45ttKeU — [1] Southworth and Hawes. “Frederick Douglass.” c. 1845. Onondaga Historical Association, Syracuse, NY [2] Installation view of “Isaac Julien: Lessons of the Hour.” Photo: Emile Askey

Ahead of our Juneteenth Open House in partnership with Citizens, MFA educators distributed art-making kits at their branches in Jamaica Plain, Dorchester and Mattapan ?? Admission to the MFA is free for all Massachusetts residents on Juneteenth—escape the heat with a day of fun for the whole family! https://ms.spr.ly/6042Y0nbo

Roses are red, Cherry blossoms steal my heart! The perfect spring day, Has Central Park and some art. Did you know The Met is actually *in* Central Park? See the cherry blossoms in bloom this April and May — and pop by the Museum to round out a lovely day in NYC.