Art for a wider community

During his tenure as director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Michael Milkovich has expanded its holdings, as well as its galleries, diversity and appeal.

By MARY ANN MARGER

© St. Petersburg Times,
published November 25, 2001

Unknown artist (Ecuadoran, 500 B.C.-500 A.D.), Seated Couple, ceramic with color, 18.5 by 18.5 inches, from the Parrish collection.

ST. PETERSBURG -- Michael Milkovich's 19-year tenure as director of St. Petersburg's Museum of Fine Arts, the longest of any museum director in the bay area, has resulted in a museum strengthened in size, support and, most important, in holdings.

Under his stewardship, the museum's collection has more than doubled with the addition of about 2,200 works of art, including the Parrish collection of pre-Columbian art, Steuben glass from Helen Harper Brown, photography from the Robert and Chitranee Drapkin collection, and antiquities and other works from Costas "Gus" Lemonopoulos.

In honor of Milkovich's retirement, a selection of these works is on view Friday through Jan. 6.

But his legacy doesn't end with what you see.

Behind it is an invisible support structure that has made the visible raison d'etre, the art itself, possible.

Growth of the collection necessitated growth of the museum. In 1989, the building's square footage was expanded by more than 40 percent and its exhibition space enlarged by 78 percent. Plans are under way for a second major expansion.

Under Milkovich, the museum has brought in works from some of the most prestigious art institutions in the world. "Before I came, we did not participate in many activities in America and abroad," he points out.

The Louvre in Paris, for example, sent three paintings for an Egyptian show in 1996, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York sent a painting by Abraham Bloemaert last spring. From the Forbes Collection came a stunning Faberge egg, coinciding with "Treasures of the Czars" at the Florida International Museum in 1995. A large collection from the Petit Palais, Geneva, came to the museum in 1999. Meanwhile, major works from the museum, such as Georgia O'Keeffe's Poppy and Jacques-Emile Blanche's Contemplation, have gone on tour.

But asked about his greatest legacy, the single contribution of which he is most proud, Milkovich says it is the inclusion of the Jewish community in the museum's support base.

Milkovich had enjoyed generous support from that sector in his previous post as head of the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis. Yet here, he discovered to his surprise, many Jews felt alienated and unwelcome.

Jews in cities nationwide are known to be strong patrons of the arts. But St. Petersburg society had historically promoted exclusivity in the things it chose to support.

In fact, had Milkovich been director in 1965 when the museum first opened, he would have found a climate of unusual prejudice in St. Petersburg, even for those days. No Jews could belong to downtown civic clubs, or the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, or the Suncoasters, or the Junior League.

And though the civil rights movement had awakened the nation to greater tolerance and inclusion of all groups, St. Petersburg by 1982 still lagged behind. Up to that time, the museum's only trustees of Jewish background had been two mayors whose jobs automatically got them a seat on the board.

Florence Fayer, who became the fourth Jewish docent in the history of the museum shortly before Milkovich arrived, recalls, "He chastised the board because there were no Jewish members." Soon after, E. Stan Salzer, a Jewish accountant and art collector who had established social connections in the gentile community, was appointed a trustee.

Lee Malone, Milkovich's predecessor, had tried to reach out to the Jewish community, Salzer said, by asking its prominent members to join.

Milkovich took a more direct approach. He invited the Jewish community to exhibit personal Judaic objects in a museum show.

The response was his second surprise. It was overwhelming. "I never hit on a project which had so much interest," he said at the time. People came forward with treasured possessions passed down from generation to generation, from homeland to homeland, wherever their ancestors had lived. Exuberant lenders continued to bring in objects after the deadline, causing a delay in publication of the show's catalog. For the opening, usually a members-only affair, he invited the entire Jewish community.

Later he brought in a second Judaica collection and often set up a case of Hanukkah menorahs to display, along with Christmas trees, during the holiday season. He served as a judge for Temple Beth-El's annual Art Festival Beth-El, an exhibit of works by artists throughout the United States.

Today the museum counts many members of the Jewish community among its higher-level givers, and there are about two dozen Jewish docents.

The museum has a special tie-in to the Dixon museum through Justin and Herta Adler, Jewish collectors in Memphis who became close friends of Milkovich. They donated a prized pewter collection to the Dixon.

The Adlers had a cousin in St. Petersburg, Betty Sembler. When Betty's husband, Mel, was appointed ambassador to Australia in 1989, she turned to Milkovich to help her furnish the ambassador's residence with works appropriate to the colonial-style mansion. Eight works from the museum's collection traveled to Canberra for the Semblers' sojourn there.

Last week, Mel Sembler won confirmation as ambassador to Italy. Milkovich has again helped the Semblers, lending works from the museum for the ambassador's residence in Rome.

Milkovich and curator Jennifer Hardin have also worked to include other groups in the city. Several African-Americans have served as board members, docents and volunteers. "That's something we're certainly trying to increase," says museum spokesman David Connelly, who points to outreach programs under Hardin and the acquisition of numerous works by or about African-Americans.

Milkovich has had the advantage of serving during a time of prosperity, and the museum's facility and support base would have improved anyway. But there is no denying that Michael Milkovich has added far-reaching enhancements to St. Petersburg's cultural picture.

AT A GLANCE

"Collecting for the Community: Twenty Years of Treasures at the Museum of Fine Arts," Friday through Jan. 6 at the museum, 255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission: $6; seniors $5; students $2. Free on Sundays. Call (727) 896-2667 or check www.fine-arts.org.

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