A bridge to the greater art world: New Bedford Art Museum's big plans for its future.

NEW BEDFORD – In October 2022, the New Bedford Art Museum/Artworks! welcomed Suzanne de Vegh as the new executive director. In just five short months, the museum has already been transformed from the inside out.

“I’ve already broken the mold, I really feel like we've already repositioned the museum and it’s only going to get better and better,” de Vegh said.

“We've greatly expanded just about everything.”

Since taking over, the museum has quintupled the number of classes and workshops offered and has launched a suite of interdisciplinary public programs.

Each week, the nightlife at the museum called "Enchanted Evenings" hosts Monday Movie Nights hosted by New Bedford Film Society, Tuesdays are "Twirl & Whirl" dance performance and classes, Wednesdays are the People’s Poetry Slam and Spoken Word Competition, Thursday is “Date Night" and Friday is FriYay! – featuring living music and a cash bar.

“Everything is themed to the exhibitions,” de Vegh added. “I have four exhibition spaces. So that means there's a lot to see, and I'd like to think there'll be something for everyone.”

Changing up the exhibits more frequently

The exhibitions will also be rotated every two to three months, as opposed to every five to six months previously.

“My goal is to really become a destination museum for contemporary art,” de Vegh said. “I want to sort of be that place where people who are pushing the boundaries, technically and conceptually of different art forms, will be the home for that.

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“And we'll be doing shows that you won't really be able to see anywhere else.”

de Vegh said the heart of the museum will continue to be community focused, however she wants to expand and formalize that idea. “I want to be building a bridge to the greater art world,” she said.

“I think for a long time, the museum functioned like a community gallery. But we're a museum. And I want to elevate what we share and how we display it. I want to connect our community to other communities.”

As for the renovation plans, they have also been put on hold until further notice.

From New York City to New Bedford

Spending almost 20 years in the New York City museum industry, leading public programs and education in a variety of museums, de Vegh spent 10 years at the Japan Society, the American Folk Art Museum and the PRATT Institute.

“I led many different divisions within the School of Continuing and Professional Studies. And that really opened my eyes to so many other areas within the art world that are ascending and coming into their own,” she said.

When given the opportunity to become the executive director at the New Bedford Art Museum/Artworks!, she said she jumped at the chance and moved to the historic district of New Bedford with her daughter.

“I've been welcomed so warmly, and I'm really grateful for that. It's been a soft landing in the community,” she said.

de Vegh prepares curatorial debut on April 13

Currently on display at the museum is the "Emerging Figures: Figurative Art by Young Contemporaries" showcasing the works of nine figurative artists under the age of 30 who are making their mark on the Massachusetts SouthCoast region.

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However, de Vegh is busy preparing to launch “Sound in Space, Sound in Place,” her curatorial debut at the museum which opens on April 13.

In partnership with UMass Dartmouth’s Walker Downey, a historian of modern and contemporary art, his research cuts across media studies, musicology and sound studies.

“I've been interested in sound art for about 15 years,” de Vegh said. “I think we're only beginning to scratch the surface, about understanding how important the sonic ecology is for our health and in the health of the world. And I am thrilled that we have artists who can share with us about that.”

The exhibit will feature tubes that will be snaking along the ceiling and the walls in the galleries, and they will terminate in a vessel that has a transducer inside that causes the vessel to resonate with sound.

Creating a forum to discuss art

de Vegh said it is an opportunity for people to engage people, in a sense that that is often kind of underappreciated, looking to raise consciousness about the importance of the Sonic World, and how it affects us psychologically and how it can be so expressive artistically.

“We're also taking this opportunity to work with folks who are low vision and blind to create a pathway through the installation, so that it can be fully enjoyed by everyone,” she added.

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The museum is also asking community members to submit sounds by April 7, for consideration in a community sound project to understand the unique soundscape of New Bedford.

“The New Bedford Art Museum is a forum for new ideas, a place where visitors can feel safe to express their opinions and engage in conversations about unique art forms,” de Vegh said.

She hopes the museum will become a place where the community feels at home and energized when visiting. She wants people to be deeply engaged: intellectually and emotionally.

“A  place you want to return to again, and again,” de Vegh added with a laugh.

Standard-Times staff writer Seth Chitwood can be reached at schitwood@s-t.com. Follow him on twitter:@ChitwoodReports. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times today.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: New Bedford Art Museum/Artworks! prepares sound art exhibit for April