Next week we will be talking more about privately-established museums, their bequests, and their motives. We’ve visited two of these already, for another purpose: the Freer and the Sackler galleries. This week I’d like you to look at several of the small private museums that have been installed in private mansions in Northwest DC. Each was set up by a private patron for a particular and peculiar function. Each has required extensive adaptation to meet modern fire codes, museum viewing requirements, handicap access, security, and the like. Most have bookstores. In other words, it isn’t simple to turn a private house into a public museum.

Here’s the deal. Please choose TWO of the following museums to visit. Some have entrance fees and all have funny hours--please call first for hours and directions, or check their web pages. NOTE: ALL OF THESE MUSEUMS ARE CLOSED ON MONDAYS! PLAN FOR THAT. The choices:

Near Dupont Circle--take the Metro Red Line to Dupont Circle stop:

• The Phillips Collection, 1600 21st Street NW.” Admission charge. The old wing is the Phillips family mansion. The Goh Wing was added in the 1960’s, renovated in the 1980’s.
• The Textile Museum, 2310 and 2320 S St. NW. Suggested contribution. Two buildings now; one the original mansion of George Hewitt Myers, and the other the Textile Museum itself, that he founded and had built next door. What happened to the place in 1980, do you think?
• The Anderson House, 2118 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Headquarters of the Society of the Cincinnati. Small historical collections on exhibit. Not an art museum, but interesting in its reuse for what it is (What is it?).Note: Limited hours, closed on Sundays.

Elsewhere in Northwest DC:

• Dumbarton Oaks, 32nd and R Streets, NW, in upper Georgetown. It’s about a mile uphill from Dupont Circle or Foggy Bottom Metro stops. It may be easier to drive, or to take the bus up Wisconsin Ave. You can park nearby, but be sure to move your car every two hours or you WILL be ticketed! Note that the museum is only open from 2-5, though the gardens are open until 6 PM--separate entrance. Please do not confuse Dumbarton OAKS with Dumbarton HOUSE, a different museum altogether.
• Hillwood Museum and Gardens. 4155 Linnean Avenue NW, off Tilden St. near Rock Creek Park. Russian and French decorative arts, and a shrine to the founder Marjorie Merriwether Post. Visit by reservation only: call 202-686-5807 days ahead, or make another plan. You can walk from the Van Ness Metro stop on the Red line.
• Kreeger Museum. 2401 Foxhall Road. Spectacular modern mansion by Philip Johnson with a well-known collection of 20th century modern art. Visit during open hours without reservations on Saturday afternoons, 1-4 PM. Otherwise, call for tour reservations: 202-338-3552. Car necessary. OK, I admit it, I’ve never been here. Surprise me.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF, or the docent, or to glean from the literature:

• Who set this place up, and what did he/she/they collect? How did they get interested in that?
• Was this the collector’s own home?
• How was the decision made to turn it into a museum?
• What alterations can you see had to be made to accommodate the museum? Was the original house preserved, or added onto, or simply gutted and rebuilt?
• What sort of atmosphere does the museum try to convey? Does it succeed?
• What decisions might you have made differently?
• How is the donor memorialized?

WRITE-UP: Please summarize the most notable discoveries by way of the questions above, in a page or so each. A final comparison might be useful. Due in class on Tuesday , July 22nd.