Hope Alswang has "high energy and great ideas," says the school's president, Roger Mandle.

08:52 AM EDT on Wednesday, June 1, 2005

BY CHANNING GRAY
Journal Arts Writer

After a yearlong national search, the Rhode Island School of Design's Museum of Art has picked the head of Vermont's Shelburne Museum as its next director.

Hope Alswang will start work in mid-September, taking over for Philip Johnston, who left about 18 months ago.

Alswang was picked from about 60 serious candidates largely because of her skills in working with diverse collections, and her ability to work with members of the community, according to RISD President Roger Mandle.

"She's got high energy, and great ideas," said Mandle, "and the knowledge of her field is extremely good. She's very much a community activist."

The RISD Museum, located on the apron of College Hill, is the state's premier art institution, boasting a collection of some 80,000 objects seen by upward of 100,000 visitors a year.

Alswang takes over the job at a crucial time for the museum, as it plans construction of the $38-million Chace Center. The new facility at the rear of the existing building will open up a 5,000-square-foot gallery and cafe.

Mandle said that Alswang will be expected to help out with fundraising for the complex during her first few months here. Groundbreaking is slated for the summer of 2006.

Alswang has been with the Shelburne, often called the "Smithsonian of Vermont," since the late 1990s. The seasonal museum contains some 40 buildings spread over 45 acres, and displays everything from a steam paddleboat to impressionist paintings. It has perhaps the finest collection of American folk art in the country, Alswang said.

The largest museum in northern New England, the Shelburne has more than 150,000 objects. Alswang is credited with reviving the institution, RISD said in a statement, through interactive exhibitions and projects such as last year's "Pedal to the Metal" show of children's pedal cars.

Alswang, who holds degrees in American history from Goddard College and has done graduate studies at Columbia, has just overseen the $5-million restoration of museum founder Electra Webb's homestead. Attendance is also up about 15 percent during the past four years, she said.

"It felt like the right time to leave," said Alswang. "There was just a sense of completion. I think everyone wants to leave a job with a significant legacy."

The move to RISD is a step up for Alswang, who will be going to a bigger institution with a bigger staff. The RISD Museum's budget is about $7 million, while the Shelburne's is $5 million.

When Alswang, who is married and has two college-age children, shows up in September, she will be facing several challenges. For one, there are three key positions that need filling, including the head of decorative arts.

Also, much of the museum will be closed for renovation during the construction of the Chace Center. Mandle said it will be up to Alswang to figure out how to make its collection accessible to the public. One thought, said Mandle, is to create satellite museums in towns and cities around the state.

Alswang said she has had several other job offers in recent years, but was excited about joining a museum that is affiliated with an art school.

"I have enormous interest in the making of art," she said.

Before joining the Shelburne Museum in 1997, Alswang was executive director of the New Jersey Historical Society, and was director of museum programs for the New York State Council on the Arts.

She has taught in the graduate program in the history of decorative arts at the Cooper Hewitt Museum/Parsons School of Design and at the school of Architecture and Planning at Columbia.

Alswang wrote American Interiors, New England and the South with Donald C. Pierce, and been a consultant for numerous organizations including the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, and Boston's Museum of Fine Arts.

Although the Shelburne and RISD museums have their obvious differences, Alswang said both were about giving a "voice" to their collections. Both institutions care about audience, she said.

"I love audience," she said, "that's what I care about. Scholarship is fine, but ultimately it's about working with the staff and making it possible to interact with the audience."