A gift of $800,000 from Cape Cod residents Lee McGraw and Van Lupo will enable the Cahoon Museum of American Art in Cotuit to move ahead with plans to expand, linking a historic Crocker family home and property at 4698 Falmouth Road to the current museum.
Organizers said expanding the museum, which opened in 1984 and bought the adjacent property in 2022, will allow the display of art now stored in the basement. It will also mean more specialty exhibitions, such as last year's “Wampum: Stories” exhibit, mounted in collaboration with Mashpee Wampanoag outreach company SmokeSygnals , which tripled the usual museum attendance.
The expansion may also create a picnic area on the campus, known for its whimsical outdoor sculptures.
Sarah Johnson, executive director and CEO at Cahoon , said that longtime arts supporters McGraw and Lupo have spearheaded many philanthropic projects in the arts across the country. Their gift to the Cahoon not only retires the debt on the newly acquired property, but makes it possible for the Cahoon to proceed to a concrete planning phase for the museum’s expansion.
“This is an exciting moment to redefine ourselves” going forward, said Johnson. She said the gift was “the happy result of ongoing relationships built over time” with the donors, who have called the Cahoon Museum “a special Cape Cod jewel,” and saw the moment as a timely one for the museum’s “vision of preserving American art.”
Planning for growth and sustainability
According to Johnson, the McGraw-Lupo gift will enable the museum to work with master planners Museum Insights, a company specifically designed to develop comprehensive museum expansion plans, including what their website describes as “capital campaign fundraising and ... architectural and exhibit design.” The Museum Insights' website states their inclusive approach “helps museums plan for long-term growth and change.”
According to the company, “We dig in and explore multiple alternatives until we find the ... solution that best meets community needs.”
To that end, Johnson said, a team from Museum Insights will visit the Cape in the near future, to collect input from members of the community and learn more about how people currently use and enjoy the museum.
Former Crocker homes central to the historic museum
The newly purchased Crocker property is situated “next door” to the museum at the corner of Routes 28 and 130. The distinctive red buildings on the connecting properties represent two of six remaining historic homes in the Cotuit area that were inhabited by generations of the Crocker family in the 18 th and 19 th centuries.
The recent 1.9-acre Crocker acquisition includes the original house, landscaped gardens and several outbuildings. Most recently the building held an antiques business and, earlier, an art studio.
The Cahoon Museum itself, formerly the studio and home of Cape artists Ralph and Martha Cahoon, was purchased by Cotuit resident and art supporter Rosemary Rapp following Ralph’s death in 1982, and opened to the public beginning in 1984 to display the popular artists’ work. Major renovations to the building enabled the opening of a new gallery space in 2016.
Roots in local history, artworks and traditions
Of primary importance in the expansion plans is how best to preserve and use the historic Crocker properties, said Johnson, as well as to “better represent the Cahoons’ artwork” in a permanent way. The goal is to offer “exhibits of artistic excellence, rooted in local history and tradition.”
Current feedback from museumgoers has indicated a high level of interest in seeing a variety of artworks, with a focus on local talent, including exhibitions of bird carvings, sculpture and scrimshaw.
“One of my dreams,” said Johnson, “is to develop an artist-in-residence program” at the museum, further cementing the priority of area art projects and community involvement.
The museum’s expansion plan includes the creation of more exhibit and gallery space as well as increased classroom and educational facilities that will accommodate 60 to 80 participants, including space for talks, lectures and art demos. Better entry and egress to the museum is also on the to-do list, and with the attractive outdoor setting connecting the two properties, planners hope to make more use of these areas for exhibits, picnics and informal public use.
“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves,” Johnson added. “We need to identify all we want to do,” and then “accommodate it with the visitor experience.”
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cahoon Museum of American Art in Cotuit expanding to more gallery space, outdoor courtyard
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