Following an extensive search that yielded applications from across the US, the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) has hired Kirsten Swartz as its new Manager of Education & Community Engagement Programs. Swartz holds a master’s degree in Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program and worked previously at Cambridge Arts, Tower Hill Botanic Garden, and Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute.
“We are thrilled to have Kirsten join our team at BMAC,” said BMAC Director Danny Lichtenfeld. “Her passion for sharing art and ideas with people from all walks of life is palpable. She is going to be a wonderful addition to the Brattleboro community.”
“This is my dream job,” Swartz said. “I have a lot of ideas, and I’m really excited to be able to apply all the things I’ve been thinking and learning about.”
After living in small towns for most of her life, Swartz moved to the Boston area five years ago. “It’s been really nice,” she said, “but now I’m excited to have a piece of land to garden, and to be in a community environment where people say hi on the street. Brattleboro just feels like home.”
Swartz is working remotely for now but will be relocating to southern Vermont this summer. “I’m excited to meet as many people as possible,” she said. “I want to get a big-picture sense of what the community’s needs are. I want to build BMAC’s community engagement and education programs around the intersection between what the community needs and what we can do.”
“BMAC has always seen itself as a community-centered organization, and Kirsten is going to help us realize that vision to its fullest extent,” said Lichtenfeld. “As a non-collecting art museum, BMAC does not exist for the purpose of preserving and studying great works of art. We are here to engage our community and visitors in fun, inspiring, and illuminating experiences involving art and creativity. Kirsten gets that. She is just the right person to lead our efforts in that regard.”
In addition to her work in arts education, events, and outreach, Swartz is a fiber artist, teaches fiber arts classes, and works with watercolors and pen and ink illustrations. She began her career in the disability field, which helped to shape her belief that the arts should be accessible to everyone.
“Art museums have a real responsibility to be of service to the community that they’re in,” she said. “ I believe that art is for everyone—it’s part of being human.”
Swartz encourages schools, community groups, and others interested in collaborating with BMAC to contact her at [email protected] or 802-257-0124 x111.
Founded in 1972, the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center presents rotating exhibits of contemporary art, complemented by lectures, artist talks, film screenings, and other public programs. BMAC is open Wednesday-Sunday, 10-4. Admission is on a “pay-as-you-wish” basis. Located in historic Union Station in downtown Brattleboro, at the intersection of Main Street and Routes 119 and 142, the Museum is wheelchair accessible. For more information, call 802-257-0124 or visit www.brattleboromuseum.org.
BMAC is supported in part by the Vermont Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by Allen Bros. Oil, Brattleboro Savings & Loan, C&S Wholesale Grocers, the Four Columns Inn, Sam’s Outdoor Outfitters, and Whetstone Station Restaurant & Brewery.
Photo credit: Michelle Frehsee