The Participants
The Higgins
Armory opened its doors in 1931, after construction began in 1929. The building
itself is constructed of steel and glass with a gothic interior, and is listed
in the National Register of Historic Places. It was made to house the
collection of Worcester industrialist and steel magnate, John Woodman Higgins. Its
collection was “second only in size to the one at the Metropolitan Museum of
Art.”1 Jeffrey Forgeng, has been the curator of the armory for 15
years. The Worcester Art Museum (WAM) is known for its collections of European and American
art. The director, Mr. Waschek, took over in 2011.2
The Problem
A collection like the Higgins
Armory would certainly have been of passing interest to many people. And that
may have been its downfall in the end. There may have been a dedicated group of
visitor, but that wasn’t enough. “I’ve seen how much the Higgins has meant to
our visitors, especially in the last year, when they know it’s over.”3
This only served to compound a long standing problem of the armory. Chiefly
that “without a sizable endowment, the Higgins wasn’t able to sustain its
mission”4 J. W. Higgins had been of the opinion that the collection
could sustain itself. As a result, “he never thought about an endowment — he
thought the public would all flock in.”5 In the end “after 83 years,
[the] Higgins Armory Museum officially closed its doors on December 31, 2013.”6
There had been talk of a possible integration
of the two collection for some time, between the Higgin Armory and the WAM. These
talk began to being more substantial after 2011.7 The director of the
WAM “saw the integration as an opportunity to bolster the fortunes of the
Worcester Art Museum”.8
Working together Mr. Forgeng and
Mr. Washeck developed a solution, which prevented “the works from being
completely dispersed or mothballed”.9 A substantial portion of the
collection, about 2,000 pieces, would be/is being integrated into the
collection of the WAM. To help pay for this, the Armory sold roughly 2,500 other
pieces. This money would provide/provides for; the endowment for the care of
the works acquired by the WAM, part of Mr. Forgeng’s new salary (he was hired
as curator of arms and armor and medieval art) as well as funds for future
purchases.10
The Collaboration
Success- The project has been successful in that the
groundwork has been well laid. Those items now at the WAM are well housed, the
records are coming along nicely.11 There is still a long way to go. “While
only a fraction of the 2,000 pieces acquired from Higgins are currently on
display, WAM plans to have the entire collection installed by 2020.”12
As of now there is a small portion
of the complete collection on display. This is temporary exhibition is known as
“Knights”. This display opened in March of 2014 and has housed, among other things,
the “Batman costume designed by Bob Ringwood for Warner Bros. and custom-made
to fit the actor Michael Keaton in 1988”.13
However, it must be said that the long-term results of this
are still up in the air and this project is going to require a fair amount of
money. The goals are far reaching and will take considerable effort. ‘“I’m glad
we’ve got a constructive outcome,” he [Mr. Forgeng]. “The plan for open storage
is spectacular — there’s nothing like that in the world”’.14
Participant Gain- The obvious beneficiary of the situation
was the Higgins Armory who was able to save their collection and move it into a
repeatable institution. The WAM however has also been seen benefit from this
new collaboration, aside from having gained the goodwill of the community. The
collection is a highly sought after and valuable one. By adding the it to their
collection the WAM has joined a very small circle of other museums who have
such collections. (Acquiring armor is a very costly endeavor.)15 It is further
hoped that, as well as those that would visit the collection for academic purposes,
it will attract more of the public as well. The Direct or of the WAM has said
that his goal “is to have 200,000 visitors a year at the museum by 2020”.16
This would be a considerable increase from the current attendance numbers. “Knights!”
is part of this long term plan. The new collection will be used in ways different
from the stodgy way it has been.
“Knights! is very different from Higgins,” said Education
Program Assistant Neal Bourbeau. “There are the same pieces, but they are shown
in a different way. It’s an advantage because we aren’t just isolating the
exhibit to the arms and armor technology; it’s a better chance to talk about
the larger culture of the Medieval and Renaissance world.”17
Barriers- There have
been some immediate barriers to the merging of the two collections. Most notably
the Higgins collection consists of different kind of artifacts from those the
WAM had previously held. As a result, there is/was no prior curatorial pattern,
and the WAM must learn on the fly, to some degree. Likely other barriers will arise.
This project is bound to face challenges aside from those omnipresent ones,
like questions of funding.18
Lessons- On the side
of the WAM, many of the larger lessons are still to be learned. The project is
still not complete, and likely will not be for at least five years. As to the
Higgins armory this brings up questions of how to run a nonprofit and what an institutions
goals should be in situations.19 “It’s an object lesson that it’s
important for every institutional leadership team to keep an eye on the gas
meter,” Mr. Forgeng said. “Are the numbers sustainable? Hopefully others will
take a warning from this, and be proactive”.20
More information can found here.
Sources:
2.
http://nyti.ms/1RgKSbB
, http://nyti.ms/1fIVpXe , http://wp.wpi.edu/dailyherd/2014/09/05/curator-of-arms/
4.
Ibid.
5.
Ibid.
8.
Ibid.
9.
Ibid.
11. Phone
Interview with Mr. Forgeng
15. Phone
Interview with Mr. Forgeng
16. Ibid.
18. Phone
Interview with Mr. Forgeng
19. Ibid.
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