The Barnes Needs Work – And Friends of the Barnes Is Looking for Help
- Philip Thibodeau
- Apr 2
- 5 min read
Back in 2015, Chris Iverson was an Eagle Scout looking for a service project. Told to contact the Barnes Museum, he went on a tour of the grounds with the curator at the time, Marie Secondo. As soon as she pointed out a set of rotting rose arbors, he knew what he would be working on. “She said, ‘Are you sure?, and I replied, ‘Yes, how hard could it be?’ Well, it was hard, but it was totally worth it. They’re ten years old now and they still look great.”
That project led Iverson to see if there were other ways he could be of service to the historic house museum at 85 North Main Street. Fast forward to the present, and he now serves as president of the Friends of the Barnes, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that helps organize events for the museum and fundraise for it.
The Friends is a small organization, with just a handful of members at the moment. Yet the number of people in town who appreciate what the Barnes does is quite large. Last spring, Iverson and current curator Christina Volpe were deeply moved by the show of support the museum received from local residents when the prospect of cuts to its staff budget loomed.
In an effort to harness some of that energy, the Friends will be holding a new member meeting in the Community Room at the Southington Public Library this Monday, April 6, at 5:30. “We want to have a new member meeting because last budget cycle there was huge energy for the museum,” said Iverson. “The Town Council room was packed with people who had nice things to say. We want to build off that energy this year.”
The broad purpose of Monday’s meeting is to bring in more people either as volunteers or board members. But Iverson and Volpe have in mind another specific challenge that they are looking for the public’s help in addressing - the rapidly deteriorating condition of the building’s exterior:
The problem is readily evident to anyone who gets close to the structure. On three of its sides, the yellow and white paint is flaking, and in places falling away to reveal the original wood, which dates to the 1880’s. According to Volpe, the peeling paint was applied in 2008. The only part of the museum’ exterior that is in decent shape is its west side, which was repainted in 2021.
The town of Southington, which owns the building, is aware of the issue. A note on page 96 of this year's budget proposal summarizes the situation: “Exterior paint is in very poor condition. Continuing to defer necessary maintenance may lead to structural issues and higher repair costs in the future. There is currently $40,000 in reserve; this additional funding [$50,000] would enable us to complete the project.”
Despite this acknowledgment of the situation, the Town Manager and the Board of Finance ultimately decided against including the $50,000 in the budget. For now at least, it looks like the Friends of the Barnes will have to take the lead in raising funds for the fix.
While pointing out the deterioration, Iverson noted that the problem has come to involve more than just paint. “A lot of it is preservation work,” he said. “Around the corner you can see that some of the beautiful original millwork is rotted through. That’s the kind of thing that your everyday contractor is not going to be able to fix. The town will need to find uniquely qualified businesses to do this kind of repair work.”
“This is the bay window for the dining room,” he added. “Would you let your house look like that? If my house looked like that I’d be in overdrive. It needs a lot of love.”
“The museum is available for private event rental,” he noted. “People have gotten married or had vow renewals here on the property. Ideally it would be as beautiful as possible so people can take advantage of this jewel. As someone who volunteers a lot of time here and fundraises for the museum, I’d like people to see with their own eyes what we’re working with.”
According to Iverson, helping with improvements has been a longstanding aim for the Friends. “There have been friends of the Barnes Museum ever since the museum was created in 1975. Since then the organization has been completing small projects. For example, there’s a player piano in the music room. For a long time it was not operational. It works with an air pump you kick with your feet and it plays off of a scroll. The Friends of the Barnes fundraised to have that fixed and now it works. It’s a highlight of the tour – people love it.”
“There are security cameras on the outside of the museum,” he continued. “For a long time there weren’t any, and that was a safety concern. Lots of people come through here during the Apple Harvest, and this is essentially a park. Now that there are cameras, it keeps the museum safe and it keeps the people who enjoy the museum safe. The Friends purchased those cameras for the museum.”
To raise the money for those projects, the Friends holds a variety of fundraisers throughout the year. Iverson stressed two in particular: “Our most consistent annual events include a wine tasting that we do every August. We’re really grateful to our sponsors, especially Taylor [Deegan], a really generous guy, and Chris [Conlon] at Smokin with Chris. The wine tasting raises a few thousand dollars that we can put to the museum. Brenda [Wooding] organizes the raffle for dinner at the museum. The dinner is in October; we sell tickets during Apple Harvest. People might win a dinner for six catered by chef Hector Delgado who owns Fratellis, a really generous guy.”
The time commitment required is similar to that for most clubs in town: “You meet once a month at the museum after hours, get to know what we’re doing and how to participate. Christina and our interns will tell you everything you need to no, so there are no surprises.”
“I would like to find people who love Southington and have a special skill that they are willing to apply to this place,” he concluded. “I was just talking to Christina about how few towns have their own museums. It’s difficult to quantify, which shows how special this is, and how unique of an asset.”
“We would love to have people at the Library Community Room on the 6th at 5:30 so we can talk to people about what the Friends do and become volunteers.”
