Brownsville seeks new operator for art museum

Back in August, the city of Brownsville and the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art announced a “new partnership” after BMFA management went to the city commission for help with the struggling museum, located at 660 E. Ringgold St. on city property in Linear Park.

Now the city has taken ownership of the building, having spent about $450,000 to pay off BMFA’s mortgage and another $169,000 for skylight and roof repairs, according to Deputy City Manager Alan Guard. A consultant is helping put together a Request for Interest (RFI) that the city hopes will attract an organization to run the place, he said.

“We don’t want to run a museum,” Guard said. “It’s not in the city’s wheelhouse to do that.”

The city is looking for a local entity or even an outside organization interested in the opportunity, he said, adding that the city is “open to ideas” from interested parties.

“We don’t know exactly what that’ll look like until then,” Guard said.

The current plan is to shutter BMFA on Dec. 31, while new management is being sought, he said.

“We don’t want to have a dark building in the middle of Linear Park,” Guard said. “That serves nobody. We’re looking at this as an opportunity. I can definitely see how people would think it’s a challenge, and it is. But at the same time I know there are interested organizations in Brownsville that want to see an ongoing operation.”

Art museums struggle even in many big cities with large foundations to support them, he noted, adding that it’s essential that the RFI and selection processes are transparent and fair.

Candace Matelic, the museum consultant hired by the city, is looking at Brownsville’s overall historical/cultural/fine arts community to come up with recommendations for encouraging collaboration among the various entities and maximizing the use of assets and facilities in a way that benefits the city and encourages people to visit, Guard said.

“She’s had a couple of community meetings,” he said. “It’s basically been engagement and data gathering. She’s going to do a little bit more of that next month.”

Also, members of the city commission and Brownsville’s art community will take a junket to art museums elsewhere in order to bring back ideas and input for Matelic’s final report, which will probably come out in May or June, Guard said.

Initially needed a consultant just to help with presenting a private art collection property of the Clarissa Francis Foundation to be installed in the San Fernando Building downtown, he said.

“Originally we were looking at hiring a museum consultant to help us with that particular facility,” Guard said. “But after everything happened with BMFA, we started looking at the bigger landscape. We decided that we needed a bigger scope.”

Besides BMFA, Matelic is assessing Market Square, Gladys Porter Zoo and other of the city’s popular attractions “to develop a comprehensive vision that honors Brownsville’s heritage while making cultural attractions more accessible and engaging for the community,” according to the city.

Matelic in a press release cited “an amazingly rich concentration of original historic elements in Brownsville.”

“It’s a resource that distinguishes the city and deserves preservation — not only for tourists to learn about Brownsville but for residents to take pride in their own history, art and culture,” she said.

Although the museum will close Dec. 31, Crepe Town Artisan Kitchen, which does business in a portion of the building, will remain open for business.

“There’s no reason for them to close,” Guard said. “They continue to pay their rent and provide a wonderful dining opportunity in that part of town. We’ll keep them on a month-to-month lease and allow them to carry on their business while we search for what the ultimate operating structure or organization looks like for the rest of the building.”

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