Washington County Museum of Fine Art gets $3.5 million grant to grow, create 'art campus'

The Washington County Museum of Fine Arts has announced a $3.5 million renovation and expansion project that is envisioned to help create an "art campus" on the property in Hagerstown City Park.

The project comes during an ongoing revitalization of the downtown area that some have termed as a "renaissance" for Hagerstown.

Museum Director Sarah Hall said in a phone interview Friday that the funding followed a meeting museum officials had with state Sen. Paul Corderman, R-Washington. Museum officials explained their plan for improving the 90-year-old museum and Corderman said he would try to get some funding for it during budget sessions in the recent session of the Maryland General Assembly, Hall said.

The result was a $3.5 million funding award from the state, $1 million of which will go to the museum this year, she said. The remaining $2.5 million will be distributed to the museum over the next two years, she said.

"It was a very short turnaround after talking to him," Hall said.

Museum to get more room to grow

While Hall said many people often comment that Hagerstown is lucky to have such a top-rate art museum, she said it's in need of improvements to keep up with a growing population. She said the museum often struggles to have enough space for all the people who want to use it, among other limitations of the building, which sits by a lower lake at the park.

Part of the project includes the purchase of another property behind the museum that is sometimes referred to as the "former Bock Oil" building, which hearkens back to a time in the city when horses and buggies were used to transport oil. The museum has a contract on the building at Key Street and Highland Avenue and the museum anticipates closing on the deal on June 15, according to Hall and Roger Fairbourn, president of the museum's board of trustees.

Art classes are a big part of the museum's offerings, such as the Saturday Morning Youth Program, and the plan is to build another classroom in the Bock Oil building, Hall and Fairbourn said. The classroom could be divided into two smaller rooms and a smaller third classroom will also be built, Hall said.

Besides more space for art classes, the extra room will allow the museum to have events like workshops with professional artists, Hall said.

Fairbourn said new methods of artistry involve welding and lasers, but the museum can't risk allowing that type of work in the existing museum due to the danger of fire. The feel of the oil building, on the other hand, is a perfect environment, which Fairbourn referred to as "industrial chic."

"It has all kinds of potential," Fairbourn said of the structure.

Washington County museum to be an 'art campus'

New indoor and outdoor event spaces are also envisioned as part of the project, according to a news release from the museum. The work is anticipated to help create an "art campus" around the museum, according to the release.

Hall said the existing museum needs various work to prepare it for future growth. She said the main entrance is a tight space. For large groups arriving, such as kids on field trips, it often feels they are being squeezed against a security station inside the front door, she said.

Hall said she envisions expanding the front lobby area to create a more welcoming and relaxed feeling upon entering the museum. The adjoining gift shop is popular, but handicapped individuals have trouble moving around in it, she said.

More windows are needed in staff offices to improve the quality of the museum's work space and Hall said the plans are for adding new space that will also better hide the facility's loading docks. It's not something the public will necessarily notice, but it will "make our daily lives so much better," she said.

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Hall, who took over as director in July 2020, said she often drives by the museum at night and remarks about the beauty of it as it sits lit next to the park lake. But she said the area around the Bock Oil building is often dark. She envisions an attractive lighting set up for the new building when the project is completed, which she believes will be "transformative" for that corner of the park.

She also believes the project will enhance tourism and help other attractions in the park such as the Hager House, the home of Hagerstown founder Jonathan Hager. She plans on "cross-promoting" those attractions as they and the museum grow.

The project follows a strategic plan that was developed for the museum in 2016, Hall said. Museum officials concentrated on the new plan from November to February, she said. Hall said she anticipates that a final design for the project is still six to nine moths away.

She could not give an estimated completion date.

“We are so appreciative of the place this museum has in the region, and thankful for this vital commitment of support from the state of Maryland” Hall said in the news release. “This project is going to prepare the museum for the next 90 years."

The museum was founded in 1931, the legacy of Hagerstown native Anna Brugh Singer and her husband, Pittsburgh-born artist William Henry Singer, Jr. Featuring a collection of more than 6,000 objects, the museum has important holdings of American painting, Old Masters, decorative arts, and sculpture.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the museum attracted about 50,000 visitors a year. Hall said the museum has regained about 67% of that following as the nation continues to recover from the pandemic.

A piece of downtown Hagerstown revitalization

Announcement of the project comes during an ongoing downtown revitalization that marks the most ambitious undertaking in decades there.

Much of the focus started in 2014 when the city teamed up with a Philadelphia-based urban planning group to come up with eight initiatives for downtown. It has involved millions of dollars in investment, a redesign and expansion of The Maryland Theatre, and other work, like construction the Hagerstown Cultural Trail.

The trail, which extends from Hagerstown City Park to West Washington Street in the center of downtown, features creative landscaping and public art.

The trail passes by the site of a planned multi-million dollar sports and and events stadium at Summit Avenue and West Baltimore Street that is to become the home of a new professional baseball team for Hagerstown.

The 5,000-seat stadium is expected to be completed in 2024, and project officials have said they anticipate many spectators entering the stadium from the trail as it passes the facility's outfield.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Washington County art museum announces multi-million dollar project