Pearl Fincher Museum

Pearl Fincher Museum

By Kimberly Stauffer Friday, 20 November 2009

SPRING — Artwork frames a window of an artist’s talent, leaving that rendering, whether paint, pencil or celluloid, indelibly etched in time. The Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts brings the masters to the masses with dozens of works from a gamut of artists.

The northwest Houston museum, which opened in 2008, partners with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston to host collections, but operates as a separate nonprofit entity that is free to the public.

Housed in a county-owned building formerly occupied by a branch of the Harris County Public Library, the museum began as a cultural outpost for residents that would infuse the community with art and enriching educational programs. The brainchild of nearby Cypresswood Church, the church lobbied the county to use the building. To partner with MFAH, the building needed a $2-million renovation to transform it into a quality museum facility. Asking for funding with no property, artwork or permanent staff, the church raised the money with donations from more than 1,000 residents and businesses.

“Private people took a county building and improved it,” said Tim Novak, executive director of the Pearl Fincher Museum.

In the museum’s first year, some 17,500 people visited the small gallery to see collections such as “Frederic Remington and the American West,” and “African Gold” from the Glassell Collection, both lent from MFAH.

“Houston has some of the best collections in the world,” Novak said. “The point in all this is education. People like to come to museums to learn.”

While showcasing more than 120 pieces from the African Gold collection, Novak said the museum paired it with Metal Worked, an exhibit featuring works from the Houston Area Blacksmith Association and Houston Metal Arts Guild, giving visitors an opportunity to see visiting blacksmiths practicing their craft and to study their works. The Pearl Fincher Museum is now exhibiting “An Amercian View: The Hosek Collection of American Art” that includes 57 paintings from the last 150 years, including Norman Rockwell and Grandma Moses, a folk artist who began painting in her 70s.

“Does having a museum here change the perspective or feel of the community? I think it does,” Novak said. “People know it matters. I think people within the community appreciate what we’re doing.”

The museum hosts family days, adolescent summer camps, art workshops and activities built around the collections.

“It’s equally important to build programs and activities as it is to build the art collection,” Novak said.

Fifty docents go beyond the small nameplates to discuss the artwork with visitors. Novak said having a knowledgeable person to speak with lengthens a 20-minute visit from a walk-in visitor to 45 minutes. Understanding the artwork fosters interest and repeat visits, he said, especially because museums are often viewed as too challenging or abstract.

“I think the most important thing is that even when people think of art as being too artsy or esoteric, if you actually want to see history, that’s the only way,” Novak said. “We can walk in there right now and see what came from Grandma Moses’ hand. We can look at Norman Rockwell. How did she tell her story compared to how he told his? Something made 300 years ago can still be seen today. This is something you literally couldn’t see anywhere else. With us being in the community, it’s really easy to come back on a day-to-day basis.”

Comments

0 Comments

Write comment

Email Name		Comment smaller | bigger
		Subscribe via email (Registered users only) I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage. Write the displayed characters Add Comment