Danforth Museum
Back in June 2026, I visited the Danforth Museum, part of Framingham State University (FSU) in Framingham, MA. During my visit, I admired the Danforth Annual Juried Exhibition featuring multimedia works by local artists, viewed staff favorites from the permanent collection, and learned more about sculptor Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller, whose life I have researched as the Historian-in-Residence at the National Museum of Mental Health Project (NMMHP). While walking through the galleries, I enjoyed listening to artist statements on the free Danforth Art Museum Mobile Guide app, a feature I would love to see at other museums.
The juried exhibition is open to artists age 18 and up who live or work in New England and have created their submission within the last three years. The exhibition is highly competitive with over 450 artists submitting their work and 91 being selected. Artworks came from the disciplines of photography, collage, silkscreen printing, acrylics, oils, watercolor, sculpture, woodworking, textiles, and 3D printing. I had several favorites on display. Timespans (2025) by Kristin Petrillo was a triptych acrylic on canvas featuring the metal spans of a bridge with a pastel background, evoking a sunset. Metamorphosis (2024) by Lisa F. Carter was a fabric collage quilt depicting a blue butterfly on a yellow background. Crinkle Vase (2025) by Ellen Schön was an orange, pink, and purple 3D printed stoneware vase with a wavy pattern.
I especially enjoyed artworks using unconventional materials. The Line of Sight (2026) by Victoria Elbroch was an ink drawing of a massive tree on top of a college of antique printed paper. Waiting #7 (2025) by Ann Strassman featured a realistic full-body portrait of a man waiting and was painted onto a SONY TV box. Sighting (2026) by Jamie Gibbons was a realistic oil painting of a wetland on top of a salvaged door. Outside of these recent works, I viewed the exhibit Celebrating 50 Years of Collecting: Community, which featured items from the Permanent Collection originally established in 1975. I especially liked Kitchen Shelf (2019) by Becky Behar, a large photograph still-life that looks like a Dutch oil painting, except the apples are stored in a clear plastic grocery bag. The cutest painting was Untitled (Six Chicks) (1864) by Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait, featuring six fluffy baby chickens sitting around a small log on the forest floor.
The final exhibit was “In the Studio: Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller” featuring her work and a reproduction of her studio. Warrick was an African American artist who lived in Framingham from 1907 to 1968. Her husband, Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller, was among the first African American psychiatrists. Despite facing persecution in his own work, he was unsupportive of his talented wife. Warrick was best known for busts, biblical imagery, and depictions of important members of her community. For me, the studio reproduction was the most interesting part of the exhibit, as I had never seen this type of setup despite my many years of visiting art museums. The closest setup were the restored outbuildings on the grounds of the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, CT. I encourage other small art museums to create reproduction studios representing their own local artists!
The Danforth Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for seniors 65 and older plus FSU alumni and Framingham residents, $5 for students, and $0 for children age 13 and under, museum members, NARM members, and FSU students and employees. Parking is free and located in the spacious lot behind the building. Expect to spend about two hours in the museum. This was a relaxing and refreshing experience. I would happily visit again to see future exhibitions and perhaps submit my own art to the juried exhibition.
