Philanthropy Today
Philanthropy Today
Museum of Art + Light on the GMCF Community Hour Show Episode - 310
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We talk with Erin Dragotto from the Museum of Art and Light about why the Picasso experience feels so powerful when you see the full creative timeline in one place. We also dig into how arts access, school partnerships, and citywide collaboration can help Manhattan grow as a destination for culture and community life.
• what it means to see Picasso’s work in context with his life and creative range
• how long the Picasso display runs and why timing matters
• the transportation reimbursement bus grant for grades 3 to 8
• Why removing barriers is the fastest way to expand arts education
• how arts and culture support tourism and economic development
• museums working together through Museum Month and future partnerships
• early attendance numbers and how visitors are finding the museum
• Manhattan High students are building a full exhibition with “Planet Oket’ra"
You can always find out more at your website, which is artlightmuseum.org.
Welcome Back And Meet Erin
SPEAKER_00Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. In this episode, we feature a recently broadcast segment of the GMCF Community Hour, as heard on News Radio KMAN. We are back with the GMCF Community Hour here on News Radio KMAN. Erin Dragato is back. She is the executive director of the Museum of Art and Light. Welcome back.
SPEAKER_01Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.
SPEAKER_00You've
Why Picasso Hits Different Live
SPEAKER_00got this Picasso thing, and my wife and I have been talking about it. We haven't been able to get there yet because we've been pretty busy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But we're excited about coming to check out the new exhibit.
SPEAKER_01Please do. Yeah, it's very exciting, actually. Every time I go in, I feel like I see something new and uh have a new emotion, which is which is hopefully the expectation that people have coming in.
SPEAKER_00So you grew up in a very art-enriched family and environment.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00And but if I stand correct me if I'm wrong, but your parents had a Picasso piece or two.
SPEAKER_01They have Picasso prints, yes.
SPEAKER_00Prints.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00What does it mean to see it in life form for you?
SPEAKER_01Oh, wow. Um, well, it amplifies it in a way that, you know, tells his whole human creative story in 40 minutes. And I think that's the most, you know, you can take one picture, one painting, even if you just have seen them in a museum, and putting it in context with the rest of his work and also his life and the timeline. Now that's a whole different enrichment experience.
SPEAKER_00And that's one of the things that's really cool is you you you get to learn the story and not just the works of art, but you you do get to learn his story.
SPEAKER_01His story, um, what inspired him? What uh the the the variation of types of work. I mean, he was a painter, he was a sculptor, he was, you know, he works with paper mache, he was a set designer. I mean, and all of that is shown. Creative genius. Yeah, creative genius, you're right.
SPEAKER_00Well, let's talk a bit about some we we got a lot of things. And how long is this on is the Picasso display?
SPEAKER_01November 2nd.
SPEAKER_00Okay. I got a lot of time.
SPEAKER_01We have well, don't take too people say that, and then they're like, uh-oh, you know, so but yes, it's here till November 2nd.
SPEAKER_00Well, that's uh it is on our short list of things to do. Yeah, you're like in the top two. Okay, all right. So we've got a lot of things that are going on here, and we don't have a lot of time to really elaborate on a lot. So we're gonna touch base here on just a couple of things. Sure.
The Bus Grant For Schools
SPEAKER_00A bus grant.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00What's this?
SPEAKER_01Uh well, the Howe Family Foundation and the Morgan Foundation, um, we combine those two. One is spoke specifically on Title I schools, one's USD 3D3 Rip Broad. Basically, it's a reimbursement transportation grant for any class between third and eighth grade to come to our museum uh free of charge. So uh any class in b in those grades can can fill out a form online.
SPEAKER_00Oh cool. Yeah. Well, this is one of the things that, you know, Bob and Tracy talked about was getting kids involved in art. And this is wow, this is just right down the alley.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's perfect. It's it's access. It's all about access. It's all about, you know, when you when you when you take the barriers of access down to even just get in the door, then you've then you've got it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Let's talk a bit about uh collaborative
Arts And Culture As Economic Engine
SPEAKER_00efforts with the city. And, you know, we've got there in in the last few years, and I think it's probably been last seven or eight years, maybe since COVID, that there seems to be a renewal of arts. You know, we've seen murals come in and we're seeing a lot of things, a lot of efforts. What's happening with Wareham Hall? There's a lot of neat things that are happening. Of course, you bring this beautiful monstrosity of a facility with a museum of art and light. What's it like to work in that environment and this environment and atmosphere with the city?
SPEAKER_01Well, I think um the city is now hyper-aware that arts and culture can become an economic development argument.
SPEAKER_00And I think it's tourism.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00Well, tourism Especially with the level of what you have.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, tourism and also, you know, you bring industry into town. What are my families gonna do after sh after school? What am I gonna do? Where am I gonna eat? What what entertainment is happening on the weekends? So all of these things work in concert with each other to create a dynamic place to be.
SPEAKER_00For sure. So do you have something specific that you're working on the to collaborate with both city and county?
SPEAKER_01We start well, city county uh is still to be determined, but um museums is where we're starting. So all the museums have collaborated and are talking about. Um, we celebrated, you know, May Museum Month as a way to sort of center people around, you know, all highlighting all the museums, the history, uh, us, beach, etc. Then um we did get uh we are a host site for the Kansas Museum Association in fall of 2027. So that's another area where we can like work together towards uh an ongoing effort to bring the whole state of Kansas, those museum professionals into town. Um, and all along the way, you know, we're going to build and have uh new pl new things to bring to the to the public. Um, and then invite other cultural institutions in. I think first step is to understand what museums are doing in town and start to sort of break down those silos and and where do where where can we collaborate, really is the ultimate question.
SPEAKER_00Mm-hmm. Well, and and that's gotta be an exciting endeavor for you and your staff and everybody that's involved. And, you know, this kind of uh effort is something that I think that uh, you know, would have been a uh a great goal for for your parents and and everybody involved in the Museum of Art and Like.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's all about providing arts education to the masses. It's all about collaboration, it's all about access. And um we are we it takes a minute, you know, to understand who's who and um but so nothing is happens overnight, but we'll get there. I
Building A New Museum’s Momentum
SPEAKER_01I can assure you.
SPEAKER_00Have we reached a year yet?
SPEAKER_01We've reached 15 months.
SPEAKER_0015 months. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So not two years yet. Two years will be in uh November.
SPEAKER_00All kind of runs together, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it does because the inception of us started back in 2021. So um so yeah.
SPEAKER_00How exciting has it been for you to follow to be a part of all this process?
SPEAKER_01Um, well, it's it's a it's amazing. I mean, to put it in one word, because everything my career has built on has led me to this exact right place. You know, I had one foot in science and technology museums and one foot in art, and now I get to help put those two things together and launch this thing. And it's it's really quite something when when you get into all the rabbit holes and tentacles and areas that we're into that will come out eventually, like where is our immersive going? Where's digital art going? Uh how are we collaborating with our region, those types of things. I mean, those so those things become more known, but that's that's the exciting exciting part for me.
SPEAKER_00What has attendance been like over?
SPEAKER_01Uh well, so year one was just around 33,000, um, right out of the gate. Um, and so we're we're getting to a point where we're now seeing, well, during Picasso, and I can only speak for May, but um weekly numbers are in the 500. Um, and we're only open five days a week. Um, and so you know, you bring exciting things in, and you know, your attendance starts to go up, but also um peep, you know, it's the scuttle butt, it's the the who's hearing about it, where's it going? And now people are coming from Bentonville, Kansas City, Texas, California. We've seen all 50 states, um partners from from all over the globe, actually.
SPEAKER_00A lot of people don't realize the arts culture in Bentonville is pretty spectacular, too.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I was in fact just there for a couple of meetings this last week and um they opened another hundred square thousand square feet of space. Um, so it is it is amazing what um kind of catalyst an arts and culture organization like us, like them, can be for uh for a town of that similar size, of our similar size. So um I have high hopes because what I was told in the last week down there was that, you know, 20 years ago, just because there's Walmart here doesn't mean there was anything here. Do you know what I mean? And so um in that time, it's exploded. So, you know, what we can do as a collaborative effort, city, county, what you were saying before, city, county, arts and culture, businesses. If we really put our heads together, we can we can have the same thing. We can have nice things too.
SPEAKER_00I think I saw the cover of uh the Kansas tourism guide that you're on the cover of that.
SPEAKER_01Yes, and that was uh our renoir um exhibition that we did uh right when we opened it.
SPEAKER_00Spectacular, mind-blowing.
SPEAKER_01Thank you.
SPEAKER_00Can't wait for Picasso.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, and um, you know, that's a partnership that we we uh had with Paris, um, with culture spaces in Paris. And so, you know, like I said, global partnerships are advancing. And that that Picasso exhibition is the first time it's ever been in the United States, is here in Manhattan. And the only place it's currently on view until until the exhibition. Yeah. So, you know, the the relationships we are building are important and are important for this town, and that's and that's the long-term goal.
SPEAKER_00Let's talk real quickly because we don't have a whole lot of time.
High Schoolers Build A Whole Planet
SPEAKER_00Sure. You recently had a showcase of Manhattan High students. Yes. Tell me about that.
SPEAKER_01Oketra, Planet Oketra. Um, that has been long in the running. So right when we opened, our um Christy Peterson, our um visitor experience lead, she collaborated with MHS, um, multidiscipline program, um accredited program for the high school students where they basically were learnt, they learned tooth to tail how to create an exhibition with art that they actually created. So they had this whole beautiful story about this new planet that they created. And when you walked in, it what would you find? Flora fauna and in all different ways. There was stained glass, there was chalk drawings, there was a digital art piece. They have this whole backstory. But the kids got to learn how to create an exhibition. And now it's moving forward in a different way. So, I mean, that was that was that will continue. Those things are very important to us.
SPEAKER_00Well, wish we had more time. But goodness, there's a lot of great things that are happening. You can always find out more at your website, which is artlightmuseum.org.
SPEAKER_01That's right. Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_00The costos
What’s Next And How To Visit
SPEAKER_00on through November. What's next?
SPEAKER_01Well, that's a little bit Is that a surprise? It's a little bit of a surprise. So uh we're working on it. Okay. We can come back and tell you all about it when it's ready.
SPEAKER_00The door will be open for you to do so. And uh, we're certainly appreciative. And you know, and and what Museum of Art and Light has done for the the dynamics of this community is just absolutely brilliant and and sensational. Every wonderful adjective that you could utilize would apply.
SPEAKER_01Thank you, and thanks to the community for all its support as well. We could not do it without you. So I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for bringing so much art and culture to our community.
SPEAKER_01Great. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00We'll be back after a short break. Jayna is going to sing all the way through the community updates. No, she's not gonna sing it, but uh, she uh will be in the hot seat here when we return on the GMCF Community Hour here on News Radio K M A N.