Laura Domencic works to help Erie Art Museum restore stability, 'in-person experience'

The Erie Art Museum is slowly getting back on track.

That’s the take of Laura Domencic, the 48-year-old Pittsburgh native who took over as the museum’s executive director Feb. 8 in the aftermath of unprecedented adversity.

Domencic succeeded Josh Helmer as head of the 123-year-old museum after Helmer left his job abruptly in January 2020 when concerns were raised about his behavior toward women at the Erie Art Museum and at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Helmer had been an assistant director at the Philadelphia museum before coming to Erie in 2018. From March 2020 until Domencic came on board, an interim executive director, Pam Masi, helped the museum regroup as its board of directors searched for a permanent executive director.

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Domencic also came on board as the museum, 20 E. Fifth St., was still being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The museum was forced to lay off or furlough staff and cut hours of operation as its revenue plummeted.

Domencic spent more than a decade as director of the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, part of Pittsburgh Filmmakers/Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and now known as the Pittsburgh Center for Arts and Media.

She has also worked as an independent curator, consultant, artist and educator, and Domencic directed the artist residency program at Saint Francis University in Ambialet, in southern France.

Married with three children, Domencic earned a bachelor's degree in fine arts from Carnegie Mellon University — with a concentration in painting, drawing and printmaking — and her master's degree in visual arts from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The Erie Times-News recently sat down with Domencic to discuss her first nine months at the art museum, her priorities and the challenges she and the museum have faced.

Here is what Domencic had to say. This interview was edited for length and clarity.

Since taking this job, what has been your primary focus?

The main things have really been opening up since we were literally only open two days a week (during the pandemic) and the staff was working reduced hours. When I came on I was the only person working full time at that time. We have gradually been bringing back more hours of operation and bringing back staff. Right now, including myself, we have five full-time people and about seven who work part-time.

Like everything else, the museum was hit pretty hard by COVID and had to close. It’s been an interesting challenge to navigate. We had a lot of meetings on Zoom for a while, but gradually we’ve been doing more in-person interactions. That was tough because a lot of this experience is about being in the physical space and being present with the artwork, and being with other people. Art is very much about community. But we’ve restarted some programs in the summer, we’ve been able to have families and kids coming back in and have some live music here. We’ve very much been trying to reconnect.

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What's the long-term plan for developing the museum’s collection of about 8,000 pieces of art?

We’re in the beginning stages of being able to think about that in a long-term way. What I would like to do is really be able to learn more about it. The museum staff is starting to seriously catalog and really organize it and that’s quite a feat in and of itself. I’d like to be able to bring out some of the pieces that connect with pieces already on display. We just put up a Joseph Plavcan piece called “Classroom” and I’ve started to research him and write about him a little bit. Just to go back into that history in the collection and put context to it and showcase it. We are also looking at ways to bring in guest artists or guest curators who could come in and take a look at parts of the collection and possibly create new shows out of them.

As you see it, what has been the pandemic’s biggest impact on the local art community?

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Certainly there was an economic impact. And the distance. Art is very much about the in-person experience, so it’s difficult with these kinds of venues when you don’t have that. There are some creative things you can do online, but you can’t completely replicate that in-person kind of communication. It’s not the same.

What are your biggest takeaways about Erie’s art community?

Just like the museum, it’s kind of a hidden gem. I personally didn’t know of the breadth of the arts community here before I came to Erie. I knew there were some good things going on in Erie, but the more I learn about it, I really see the vitality of it and how active it is. I think about the (Northwestern Pennsylvania Artists Association) show over at the Customs House that is really about the artists of this region. There’s a lot going on in the local art community.

You became the museum’s director at a time when the organization needed stability. Do you believe you have provided that?

I think I have. I think a lot of it is about having someone in place who can bring people together. My previous experience is about collaborative work, and I also want to listen. I’m still new to the community so I want to get a good gauge on what other people in this creative community think might make the most sense for the museum. I’m really a big believer in collaboration. That will help us move in a forward direction and not just be in a holding pattern.

And not wanting to place judgment on anything that happened before I got here, but I think there was a level of healing that needed to happen. People have expressed different thoughts and feelings about different events that happened and it’s important to listen to that and take their feelings into consideration to move things forward in a positive way. The museum is a community treasure and I want to be a good steward of that.

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Give me your take on Erie and what makes the region unique.

Just within the city itself, the number of cultural organization is impressive. I also love the potential of Erie overall. Everything that is happening with the development downtown, for example. I feel there’s a lot of great momentum happening here. Certainly, coming from Pittsburgh, I’ve seen that kind of transformation of a city happen and in some ways I can see similarities in Erie. There are things going on that are very innovative.

What drives you to do this kind of work?

I just love it. It’s very collaborative. You have to be aware of how art impacts other people, you have to know how to work with groups and consider varying opinions and I like the interaction. Being able to make connections with other people over something like art can also be very rewarding and even life-changing. Especially during times of divisiveness and isolation. This job is a great vehicle to do that.

Contact Kevin Flowers at kflowers@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ETNflowers.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie Art Museum 'trying to reconnect' under Laura Domencic's direction