Cyrus Dallin Art Museum

Cyrus Edwin Dallin was born on November 22, 1861 in Springville, Utah.[3] His sculpting and artistic talent was recognized at an early age, and he was sent to Boston at 19 to study with T.H. Bartlett. Today he is regarded as one of the most important sculptors in American art.[4]

Dallin found the road to success rocky. But his perseverance and dedication are revealed in his efforts to complete whatever he started. A telling testament to Dallin's tenacity is his 58-year trial to get an equestrian statue of Paul Revere funded and fabricated. After seven versions, Dallin's statue was erected in 1940 in Boston's historic North End.[3]

In 1891, Dallin married the writer, Vittoria Colonna Murray. The couple raised three sons.[3] During this time, Dallin actively pursued commissions, exhibited, and won many prizes. Stable income to support his family came from teaching appointments, chiefly at the Massachusetts Normal Art School (Massachusetts College of Art and Design), from 1900 to 1941.[4]

Dallin gained the respect of other famous artists of his day, including Augustus St. Gaudens and John Singer Sargent, who became a close friend. (Sargent's sketch of Dallin's Portico is a treasured item in the Museum's collection.)[5] Dallin's art was reproduced and collected on a broad scale. Among his most beloved works are his monuments of Native Americans, which changed the face of public art in America.

In 1900, at the age of 39, Dallin moved to Arlington, Massachusetts, where he lived and worked for the rest of his life. As a result, Arlington is now the home for many of his works. Dallin died at his own home on November 14, 1944, a week shy of his 83rd birthday.[4]

The museum is a joint venture of the Cyrus E. Dallin Art Museum, Inc. (an independent nonprofit organization) and the Town of Arlington. In the 1982, the Arlington Arts Council received a $720 grant from the State Lottery. The funds were applied to a historic marker for the Robbins Memorial Flagstaff that includes five sculptures by Cyrus Dallin.[6]

Robbins Memorial Flagstaff with sculptures by Cyrus Dallin is located near to the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum.

In 1984, Growing awareness of Dallin fostered to the formation of a committee to canvas the town buildings to find and catalog Dallin's works throughout the town. That project led to the discovery of twenty-four works, many of which were in need of care.[6] In 1985, following the recommendation of the committee, Arlington Town Meeting established the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum. The stated mission of the museum was to collect, preserve, and exhibit the work of Cyrus Dallin. The following year the Board of Selectmen appointed a volunteer board of trustees to operate the museum. A fundraising effort begun in 1988 raised $35,000 toward a restoration program. [6]The collection did not have a home until 1998, when the town acquired the historic Jefferson Cutter House and made the property available for use as the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum. In October 1998, founders James McGough, Geri Tremblay, David Formanex, Richard Bowler, Ann Bowler and others celebrated the opening of the Museum's first two exhibition galleries in the Jefferson Cutter house.[7] In 2000, the nonprofit Cyrus E. Dallin Art Museum, Inc. was established to serve as the fundraising and fiduciary arm of the museum. Two additional galleries were added in 2001 and in 2004. Since that time the collection has grown to over 90 works including sculptures in the round, reliefs, medals and paintings.[5]