Fitchburg Art Museum is marking its centennial with an extended four-year celebration, reflecting on its origins in 1925 and its physical opening in 1929. The museum has dedicated much of its gallery space to a series of exhibitions showcasing its diverse collection, while offering free admission throughout the festivities.

The museum’s director, Nick Capasso, emphasized the institution’s ongoing commitment to Fitchburg, a city with an industrial past now turning to the arts as a tool for economic revitalization. Capasso highlighted the museum’s broader role beyond exhibitions, including outreach in education, economic development, and community support. “We have to do more than just have people come to the museum,” he said, underscoring efforts to assist local families and youth.

The museum was founded by Eleanor Norcross, who contributed her substantial art collection and resources to establish the institution. Having spent decades immersed in the Paris art scene, Norcross aimed to share her collection to inspire and uplift the families of mill workers in Fitchburg. Capasso noted that the museum is continuing to uphold her vision with a modern approach.

One of the centerpiece exhibitions, “Kaleidoscope: 100 years of Collecting for our Community,” features over 1,000 objects spanning FAM’s extensive holdings, which now number approximately 8,000. The collection spans a wide range of media and styles, including Roman sculpture, a medieval altarpiece panel, African art, contemporary photography, and decorative arts. Noteworthy artists represented include Edward Hopper, Childe Hassam, and Georgia O’Keeffe. The exhibition seeks to highlight the museum’s deep roots within Fitchburg by juxtaposing locally significant works with important pieces from the overall collection. Curated salon style without traditional wall labels, the show invites visitors to engage with unexpected pairings and explore visual connections independently.

Another significant exhibition, “FEsTIVal: a Celebration of African Art at the Fitchburg Art Museum,” draws on FAM’s unusual strength in African art, featuring more than 1,000 objects that span the continent’s history from the first millennium BCE to the present day. The show is organized thematically around ceremonial, ritual, domestic life, and masquerade traditions, with galleries devoted to masks, sculptures, ceremonial costumes, weapons, and funerary objects. Highlights include a 2,000-year-old figure and a late 20th-century Ghanaian coffin shaped like a 1957 Chevrolet. Capasso noted that the African collection both distinguishes the museum and serves as a vital connection to the region’s African diaspora, allowing the community to see itself represented and welcomed.

Reflecting Fitchburg’s changing demographics, where nearly 60 percent of schoolchildren are Latino, the museum has maintained bilingual engagement for over a decade with all exhibition texts available in English and Spanish and bilingual staff at the front desk. Beyond programming, FAM has partnered closely with local schools, distributed food during the pandemic, and played a key role in downtown revitalization efforts, including artist housing development.

Capasso pointed to broader municipal investments in Fitchburg’s arts and culture, amounting to roughly $200 million over three years. New restaurants and about 500 units of market-rate housing are emerging near the commuter rail station. “If the city doesn’t thrive, we’re not going to thrive,” he said.

In honoring Eleanor Norcross’s legacy, Capasso expressed hope that the museum continues to serve the families for whom it was originally founded. “I always hope that she would think I’m doing a good job,” he said.