Since he joined the Brandywine Museum of Art in 20212, James H. Duff Director Thomas Padon has helped guide the Museum’s mission forward, and a scan through its exhibitions, events and programs reveals a commitment that believes art is medium that should be enjoyed by everyone.

Recently, Padon answered questions about the Museum, the experience that inspired him to pursue a career in art, the Museum’s long association with the Wyeth family and a rather large and eclectic dinner party wish list.

Chadds Ford Life: You first joined the Brandywine Museum of Art in 2012, so you have had more than one dozen years to witness and help guide the evolving mission of this museum. In terms of its strategic and institutional planning, what was most important to the Museum in 2012 and what is most important now? 

Padon: When I came to Brandywine, the most important thing was injecting a renewed sense of energy into what was a beloved institution, but one not known well enough outside the immediate area— even in nearby Philadelphia — by introducing an ambitious program of special exhibitions that would raise the museum’s profile. Right now, we’ve been focused on expanding our collection and educational programming and activities so that we are open to the widest possible audience.

Dr. Albert C. Barnes, whose legacy resides in part at the Barnes Foundation, believed strongly that institutions of art were far too pretentious, catered toward the elite and therefore kept at a far distance from the common man and woman. Through his vision, everyday citizens could now come within a foot of paintings by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Paul Cézanne and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. That seems to be the working philosophy at the Brandywine Museum of Art, given its ability to connect art to everyone, yes? 

Dr. Barnes’s certainly had a dichotomy in his approach! On the one hand, he believed in providing art education and access to his collection to lower and middle-class audiences, while on the other, vehemently denying access to the upper class and art establishment whom he never forgave for their negative reaction to a preview of his collection in 1923 at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. At Brandywine, we are very deliberate about mentoring an interest in art at an early age and making children and families feel comfortable in a museum setting. I think the excellence of our collection, the low-key atmosphere at the museum, and the lush setting on the Brandywine all work to create a remarkably harmonious experience of art.  

For nearly everyone in every profession, there has been a lightning bolt moment that told them, “This is where I need to go and what I need to be doing.” In terms of what may have ignited your professional career, do you have a similar moment? 

 Indeed!  While studying art history as an undergraduate, I volunteered in the Contemporary Art department of the Denver Art Museum. Working alongside the staff there made clear to me a path into the museum world, and I’ve never looked back.

To mark the 25th anniversary of the transition of Kuerner Farm from a family home into a public site, the Museum and Reynolda House Museum of American Art have collaborated on Andrew Wyeth at Kuerner Farm: The Eye of the Earth, which is running currently. This exhibition is the latest chapter marker in a seemingly never-ending tribute to Chadds For’s most famous artist. How did the Museum’s relationship with the Wyeth family begin, and how – and with whom – is it maintained? 

 Frolic Weymouth, Brandywine’s visionary co-founder, was a close friend of Andrew and Betsy Wyeth. It was Wyeth’s iconic art that was a lifelong inspiration to Frolic’s own trajectory as a painter. It’s remarkable that the artistic legacy is still thriving 120 years after it began with N.C. Wyeth, and I’ve so enjoyed the opportunity to get to know Jamie Wyeth, who continues to grow as an artist and one around whom we recently organized a highly successful exhibition that traveled across the United States.  

You hold art history degrees from the University of Colorado and the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. You served as assistant director of the Vancouver Art Gallery, deputy director for exhibitions and programs at the American Federation of Arts, held senior curatorial positions at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City and have collaborated on exhibitions with some of the most prestigious museums of art in the world. Is there a painting or a museum that still remains on your artistic bucket list, one that you haven’t seen or visited? 

Definitely!  I would love to visit the Benesse Art Site Naoshima, a group of museums and art spaces, including many designed by architect Tado Ando and spread across three islands in Japan.  

What is your favorite spot in Chadds Ford? 

The ruin of Mother Archie’s church on Ring Road. It’s such a remarkable piece of the area’s history and so visually evocative. Lydia Archie was a force of nature in this community in the early twentieth century, and this building, a former Quaker meeting house, was a formidable place of inspiration for Andrew Wyeth.   

You organize a dinner party and can invite whomever you wish – living or not, famous or not. Who do you want to see gathered around that table? 

Jane Fonda, King Philip II of Spain, F. Scott Fitzgerald, N.C. Wyeth, Marie Antoinette, Gary Cooper, Rameses II, Queen Elizabeth I, Elizabeth Taylor, Theodore Roosevelt, Dorothy Parker, and Miles Davis. There would certainly be no lack of interesting conversation! 

What item can always be found in your refrigerator? 

It’s my freezer, technically, but Häagen-Dazs ice cream—always and forever! 

To learn more about upcoming exhibitions, collections and events at the Brandywine Museum of Art, visit www.brandywine.org.