American Art Awards Names Best Gallery Or Museum In New Hampshire, 2022: Rochester Museum Of Fine Arts

Thom Bierdz
6 min readMay 29, 2022

Each year the American Art Awards selects the 20 Best Galleries And Museums In America; only one museum or gallery per state per year. Among other criteria, selections are based on years established, industry reputation, online buzz, location, size, socially relevant exhibits, motivational and educational programs, represented artists as well as artist, client and visitor references.

American Art Awards: “We considered thousands of the most established art venues from Hawaii to Maine. We selected a Mid-West art center doing important community work for 44 years, and a lively Southern gallery linked to a 5 day festival. Most the galleries we selected are heralded longtime landmarks with expansive interiors perfect for exhibiting today’s contemporary masters. Many have several locations and cater specifically to regional collectors with regional artwork, but just as many represent all genres of work from all levels of national and international artisans. This year we chose five museums, one with an impeccable reputation for 125 years, one 80, one 50, one 40, and this one, 11 years.

“American Art Awards selects the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts as our Best Gallery or Museum in New Hampshire, 2022, and one of our Top 20 American Galleries and Museums for 2022. Co-founded in 2011 by Matt Wyatt, Amy Regan, Devin Swett, and Ian Hartsoe, and run by spirited trailblazers and volunteers, this non-profit works to enrich people’s lives through the presentation of fine art. A free public art initiative that helped a city revitalize; a community art venue dedicated to the accessibility of contemporary works made by regionally, nationally, and internationally recognized artists. Artists receive 100% commission of work sold at RMFA exhibits.”

MORE ABOUT THE MUSEUM:

Notable past exhibitions featured Susan Kare, graphic designer responsible for many of the interface elements and typefaces for the original Apple Macintosh; Eric Carle, author and illustrator of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, a picture book that has been translated into more than 65 languages and sold more than 46 million copies; Wayne White, painter, puppeteer, set designer for Pee Wee’s Playhouse; Robert Indiana, creator of the iconic LOVE statue and stamp; Bob Gruen, famous rock ’n roll photographer for John Lennon, Led Zeppelin, Sex Pistols, and many more; Sunday B. Morning, the screen printing company behind Andy Warhol’s second Marilyn Monroe series; and the Picasso Estate Collection, a selection of original lithographs qualified by Picasso’s granddaughter, Marina Picasso.

Recovering the Classics was one of many successful and innovative RMFA programs. The Creative Action Network invited illustrators, typographers, and designers of all stripes to create new covers for 100 of the greatest works in literary history. All designs are available for sale as prints, apparel, and other products to support the artists, and Digital Public Library of America (DPLA).

The museum is located in the Rochester Community Center (Suite 135) and Rochester Public Library. The historic Andrew Carnegie Gallery (at the Rochester Public Library) and Mayor Harvey E. Bernier Room (at the Rochester Community Center, Suite 135) feature temporary art exhibits by emerging and seasoned artists, on an alternating monthly basis. The galleries showcase a wide range of original work — from painting and sculpture to works on paper and photography.

“Now there is artwork being displayed in the formerly bare windows of vacant buildings, there are murals on the sides of buildings, and sculptures stand along a major gateway to Rochester… It makes me especially glad to think of all the children and young adults who are being impacted by this art in their neighborhoods.” — Laura Harper Lake, Stay Work Play New Hampshire.

“Sunday B. Morning LLC has donated the entire selection of Marilyn prints to the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts. The prints will be exhibited temporarily in the RPAC Art Gallery then added to the museum’s permanent collection… Once again, they’ll be open to the public for viewing free of charge. Kudos to the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts for making artwork of this quality available to anyone on the Seacoast.” — Kyle Stucker / Foster’s Daily Democrat / SeacoastOnline.com

“Every once in awhile, we have the opportunity to really highlight a few of those individuals who really exemplify ’603 pride,′ who really push their time and their efforts and make their sacrifices (to make the community better),” Gov. Chris Sununu said of RMFA co-founder Matt Wyatt.

“Matt Wyatt, who wears many hats in Rochester’s arts scene, including president of the MFA, said Thursday that he’s “thrilled” about the Best of NH honor as well as the fact that the magazine specifically pointed to the arts as a force “that is paving the way to revitalize Rochester.””- Kyle Stucker / Foster’s Daily Democrat / SeacoastOnline.com

UPCOMING EVENTS: Please contact the museum for the latest info.

Contact: matt@rochestermfa.org

Web Site: http://www.rochestermfa.org/

Address: Rochester Community Center (Suite 135) / 150 Wakefield Street | Rochester, NH | 03867

Phone: (603) 332–4120

www.AmericanArtAwards.com annually awards 20 museums and galleries in spring, and with their critique in autumn, awards 300+ artists (painters, photographers, sculptors and digital artists).

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Thom Bierdz

One of Medium’s TOP ART CONTRIBUTORS, award-winning author, actor, film-maker, painter. 12 books: 6 on art. President of WAA & AAA & ACCA.