George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum Gets A Facelift!

In celebration of this year’s 125^th anniversary of the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, the building is undergoing a facelift!  The culmination of a 10-year preservation project supported by generous local, regional, state and national grant-funders, the final phase will preserve the beautiful architectural elements of the historic entrance and include the full restoration of the decorated oak doors, sidelights, lighting sconces and steps. The door project has been awarded to Herrick & White, highly specialized architectural woodworkers located in Cumberland, Rhode Island and the restoration of the lighting sconces to GrandLight in Connecticut.

The George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum opened in 1896 as Springfield’s first art museum. It was built by the New York City architects, Renwick, Aspinwall & Renwick, and facilitated during construction by Springfield architect Walter T. Owen. The Museum is a rare example in which an important collection and the building which houses it survive together – a unified whole representing a distinctive moment in history.  The building itself is a work of art in its own right, conceived as a custom jewel box for the priceless works of art inside. At the cutting edge of late 19^th-century civic architecture, the design, materials and craftsmanship of the purpose-built Museum remain extraordinary.

Many of the architectural details were modelled after Venetian Renaissance palaces, buildings that had inspired George Walter Vincent Smith and his wife Belle Townsley during five enjoyable years in Venice in the 1880s.  Owen described the entryway in an article celebrating the public opening of the art museum as, “The main entrance to the Museum….has been most highly ornamented. On the side of the building the windows and doors have terracotta architraves and each side of the front door is a terracotta figure representing Art and Architecture.  The front doors are oak, with carved moldings, and have, in place of knobs, lion’s heads holding rings connected to the latch.  At each side of the main door is a wrought iron grille of elaborate design; and next to these are two lamps, which are quite a feature of the front, as they have been made by skillful workmen as could be secured, and are of a design that necessitates the most difficult and intricate work.”

The large, robust, ornate cast iron lanterns on either side of the entrance were designed by Owen and modeled after those in the Strozzi Palace in Florence, Italy.  A complete restoration of these exceptional lights is currently underway. The sconces have been taken apart and the corroded elements repaired or replaced.  Once reassembled, a protective finish will prevent future damage and ensure that the fixtures look stunning as they beckon a new century of visitors to the Museum.

Throughout the Museum’s history, the beauty and decorative elements of the front entrance have been celebrated.  The original doors, though similar in design to those seen today on the building, were solid.  In the 1920s, several of the wooden panels were removed and replaced with glass to allow light into the foyer.  After opening and closing for over a million visitors, the doors are now in need of replacement. Beginning in July, the 1920s oak double wooden doors will be removed, the decorative iron work and hardware on the doors restored, the threshold rebuilt and new doors, painstakingly modeled on the historic examples, will be installed.  Completion of the entrance is scheduled for early fall. The “new” and improved doors will be fully sealed in order to protect the interior and the collections against the elements and air pollution. As the final step in the entryway’s restoration, the brownstone stairs will be repointed.

During his lifetime, George Walter Vincent Smith constantly emphasized the function of the building as a showplace of art and architecture even going so far as to include putti on each side of the entrance – one representing Art and the other Architecture. I invite you to visit the GWVS Art Museum often this summer to watch this highly visible and impactful restoration that will maintain and preserve the front entrance of this historic and significant Museum for the next million visitors.

*In 2021, Preservation Massachusetts awarded the George Walter Vincent Smith the Paul & Niki Tsongas Award in recognition of the Museum’s exemplary efforts to preserve the Commonwealth’s past for the benefit of the future.

Exterior preservation of the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum received funding from the people of Springfield through the Community Preservation Act.

Additional support for this project comes from:

• The Nancy Foss Heath and Richard B. Heath Educational, Cultural, and Environmental Foundation
• The Felicia Fund
• The Straetz Foundation, Inc.
• The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution Historic Preservation Grant

Heather Haskell is the Vice President of the Springfield Museums and Director of the Art Museums.