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https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/8f441a5c44ab28733bb3618c0ddb7259.pdf
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Text
SEPTEMBER 1974
THE MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF BUSINESS, GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
60 CENTS
�N. C. Museum of A.rt
A NEW DiRECTOR, NEW DiRECTioNS
The State of North Carolina owns
and displays a collection of art that is
valued in the multiple millions of
dollars. By Moussa M. Domit's estimate, it is at least the 14th most valuable accumulation of art treasures in
the United States.
As the new Director of the North
Carolina Museum of Art, Mr. Domit
views that fact with pride ' and with
some satisfaction-but not too much.
In a way, he regards the museum and
its contents with no small amount of
frustration.
"It's really a bit discouraging sometimes to think that in ' all of last year
only 80,000 visitors out of a state
population of more than 5 million
came to the museum," says this native
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of Lebanon in his highly articulate
and only slightly accented English.
Since the museum first opened its
doors in the mid-1950's, a new generation of Tar Heels has grown to
adulthood, and the cultural resources
of the state have grown far faster than
the population. But perhaps no more
than one of every 100 residents of
North Carolina has ever set foot inside the museum.
That goes against the grain of
Moussa Domit, for he's the sort of
museum director who believes that
art is - or should be - for the people.
"But so many people don't even
know we have an art museum in Raleigh," he animatedly exclaims. They
don't know it's free and that it
is the one pure major public museum
supported by state appropriations.
"It is," he adds with strong emphasis, "the common man's museum. For
too long art museums have been associated with the rich, but ours is
definitely not that kind of museum. It
belongs to the people of North Carolina, and it's here for their education
and their delight."
Mr. Domit's predecessors in the
museum directorship, beginning with
the late Dr. William Valentiner, all
recognized that it was not enough
simply to establish a museum, line its
galleries with art, and put a figurative
welcome sign on the door. Over the
years the museum has reached out to
NORTH CAROLINA/ SEPTEMBER 1974
�:he
ith
all
gh
its
lve
:he
to
the people in a number of ways, many
of them innovative and effective. Still,
the annual volume of visitors is somewhat less than the total paid attendance at a couple of Big Four football
games.
Moussa Domit doesn't dwell upon
negatives; introspection seems not a
dominant factor in his nature. Despite
his background of scholarship in art,
his personality provides the impression of intense and restless energy
which are focused intO' strong and
widely-directed initiatives. One sus,pects that those characteristics might
as easily have carried him to success
in business-or even politics-as in
the arts. He is, if we may be fO'rgiven
the cliche, action-oriented.
Thus constituted, Mr. Domit
makes no attempt to conceal his impatience with the long delays imposed
by the running contrO'versy of the past
18 months over the location of a new
State Art Museum. Barring court action or an unexpected step by the
1975 General Assembly, that issue
would now seem settled. If so, then a
few years hence, upon' open stateowned land some five mile~ from
downtown Raleigh, a building de-
974
NORTH CAROLINA/ SEPTEMBER 1974
it
1m
la~or
asis
It
ro-
on
signed as an art museum, will open
its doors to the public. The dingy
brick building, occupied for years by
the State Highway Commission and
for the past quarter-century used as
housing for the state art collection,
can then be put to other use.
"All of these delays have hurt us,"
exclaims Moussa Domit. "They have
cost the taxpayers; inflation is eating
into the museum building appropriation at the rate of 20 percent a year.
We need to get on with it as quickly
as possible."
Of necessity, Mr. Domit was required to maintain an O'fficial neutrality in the controversy over whether
to build the new museum in a suburban locatiO'n, as the Art Museum
Building Commission proposed, or in
the dO'wntO'wn state government complex, as. sO'me Raleigh officials and
certain legislatO'rs insisted upon. With
the dispute apparently settled in favor
of the suburban site, however, Mr.
Domit indicates that the chosen location has his endorsement.
"I think the building commission
went about the selection process in
the right way,'t. he remarks. "A lot of
people didn't seem to understand the
rationale of building the new museum
away from a central location, but how
many of them actually read the commission's report and the justification
of the experts for the Camp Polk 10cation?"
Everyone agrees that construction
of a new museum building is a consummation devoutly to be wished,
Mr. Domit not excepted. But his mind
runs ahead of completion and construction of the new building to what
might follow.
"Sure, it will be great to have the
new building," he says. "But I certainly would hate for the building itself, rather than the art it contains,
to be the principal attraction."
An art museum director, especially
the director of a state-owned museum, 'must perfO'rm in a variety of
roles, Mr. DO'mit says he has discovered during his 20 months or so in
North Carolina as associate director,
later as acting djrector, and, since
early summer, as full director.
The roles include those of art expert with a broad grounding in art of
all historical eras in all parts of the
wO'rld; of businessman with an incontinued
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�stinct for the value of an art work
and the neg0'tiating of purchases at
the best prices; of p0'litician and lobbyist wh0' works with legislators and
seeks adequate state appropriations
fr0'm them; 0'f administrat0'r who directs a diverse staff of highly educated
and talented personnel; and, if you
will, the role 0'f showman and impresario.
His talents in the last-mentioned
role ,were impressively displayed in
the selectiDn and assembly of American Impressionist paintings and the
preparation of a catalog f0'r their exhibiti0'n at four great museums, in the
United States during 1973 and 1974.
Mr. Domit began his w0'rk on this exhibition while a staff member at the
National Gallery of Art in Washington. He continued his labors after he
moved to N Drth Carolina as associate
director of the state museum. The exhibition 0'f Impressionist works came
to the N0'rth Carolina Museum of Art
in March and April of this year; it
was, by all accounts, the most successful and strongly-attended event in
the museum's history.
"It isn't difficult to get peDple into
an art museum for a first visit," Mr.
Domit observes. "The perpetual question for every museum staff is, how
dD you bring them back? Shows like
the ImpressiDnist exhibiti0'n are part
of the answer, I think. But only part
of the answer."
And what are other components of
the answer?
"In our case, I think we have a
strong obligation to take the art in the
museum far bey0'nd the city limits, of
Raleigh," he replies. "North Car0'lina,
is a large state; it's a long ,way from
Raleigh to Asheville, and we know
there are many people in that area of
the state who can never be able to
come to see the museum here. We
must, in a sense, take the museum to
them."
A museum "extension service" is
by no means a new idea. Art works
have traveled fr0'm Raleigh to other
cities in many ways. But Museum
Director M0'ussa Domit intends to implement the idea on a larger scale.
Last year, f0'r example, the. museum's
entire collection of English art was
loaned to the Mint Museum in Charlotte for exhibition there. At the time
of this interview Mr. Domit was supervising travel plans for that English
collecti0'n, plus the American collection, to Asheville's museum in September.
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The most exciting project currently
underway by Moussa Domit is a
planned exhibition at the museum of
Egyptian and African works Df art.
His twin specialties in the world · of
art are 19th century French painting
and the art 0'f ancient Egypt. Some of
the state museum's more conservative
Egyptian mummy case, one of two acquired this year, is a popular attraction
at the State Museum of Art. Purchase
was made possible by gift from the
James G. Hanes Memorial Fund of Winston-Salem.
patrons may have been mildly
shocked when Mr. Domit recently
brought in a pair of Egyptian mummy
cases, both more than 2,000' ye.ars
old. They were a gift from the
James G. Hanes Memorial Fund; last
year Mr. Domit journeyed to Europe
with Winston-Salem industrialist and
art patron Gordon Hanes to search
out the mummy cases for acquisition
through the art fund named for Gordon Hanes' father.
"I really expect the Egyptian and
African show tD out-draw the Impressionist show," predicts, Mr. Domit.
"There's a tremdndous amount of interest now in art works created outside the traditional Western Eur0'pean
schools of painting and sculpture.
And of course the works fr0'm the
cultures of ancient Egypt have always had the fascination of mystery
about them. And don't be mistaken,"
he says with emphasis, "they are
genuine and representative works of
art of their time."
Mr. Domit was instantly and permanently impressed the first time he
saw the North Carolina Museum Df
Art several years, ago. "I had no idea
there was such an extensive collection
here," he remembers. He was also impressed with both the permanent staff
and the ranks of unpaid volunteer
docents who conducted 't ours of childrenand adults through the museum.
"But we need more," he stresses.
"We need six or seven more professional people. t0' handle the. things we
need tD be. d0'ing, and to expand our
programs of telling and teaching people. about art-not just the dates and
names of the. artists, but the technical
points of color and form. The. workshops we hold for young people on
the finer parts of art are very popular - we're swamped with calls from
mothers who want to bring their kids
to them. To meet our obligations to
the people. as the museum continues
to grow, we simply must have a bigger
staff."
As the. state art c0'llection grows, in
volume and variety, ever smaller percentages of the total can be displayed
to the public.
"I'd say that at least one-third of
it simply can't be shown in our present space, and it's prDbably closer to
one-half of the total," says Moussa
Domit. "That's frustrating, and it's
all the more reason to get on with a
new museum where, when all phases
are finally completed, we can really
display all the works of art that we
NORTH CAROLINA/ SEPTEMBER 1974
�i
Proposed new State Museum of Art as represented in architectural drawings (above and below) now on display at the present
museum building. New building, as proposed for construction on state-owned land near Raleigh, was designed by Edward Durell
Stone of New York City in association with Holloway-Reeves Arch itects of Raleigh.
have-and display them properly."
Moussa Majed Domit was born 42
years ago in Lebanon, the most westernized of the Middle Eastern nations.
His father was a landowner and
farmer and Moussa's early education
was catholic in nature, in the literal
and broad senses of the word. An
Eastern Rite Roman Catholic priest
was instrumental in introducing the
young man to world cultures and intellectual ideas.
As was the case with many natives
of the Old World, Moussa Domit's
introduction to the United States
came through a visit t0' immigrant
relatives. He came to Columbus,
Ohio, at the age of 20., began to learn
English, and, although he had already
completed high school back hnme,
enrolled in a local high school. He
entered Ohio State University in the
late 1950's and there first became
seriously interested in art. An undergraduate degree in art was obtained
from that institution, followed by
graduate work. Later he did more
graduate wnrk at Yale University,
and obtained a Master's degree in art
educatinn from. Southern Connecticut
State Cnllege in -1967. While engaged
in graduate studies he instructed in
art histnry and held important posts
at the art museums of the institutions
he was attending.
Mr. Domit joined the staff of
Washingtnn's Corcoran Gallery in
1968 and was associate direct0'r when
he left in 1970 to become curator of
the National Gallery nf Art. In 1971
NORTH CAROLINA/ SEPTEMBER 1974
he came to Raleigh as associate director of the North Carolina Museum of
Art. When bad health forced Director
Charles Stanford to' leave his ,work at
the museum Mr. Domit became acting director and, recently, permanent
director.
Mrs. Domit is the former Yvonne
Baini, whO' was born in French West
Africa and holds dual citizenship in
Lebanon and France. Their four children range in age from 10 to two.
Certainly Moussa Domit's presence
at the state museum these past two
years has imparted a new sense of
purpose and dedicatinn to the staff
and to such supporting elements as
the State Art Society and the controlling Department of Cultural Resources.
"Even though this is a publiclyowned museum, there is a minimum.
of bureaucracy," says this director
who appears quite capable and willing
to plunge through any snrt of restrictive red tape. "We have a lot of freedom, and although we have the sort
of personnel and budgetary limitations that plague most museums, I
think we have something here that is
unique and wnrthy of the state that
created it.
"What we are dedicated to doing,"
says Moussa Domit, "is making this
museum attractive to the public,
available to it in all possible ways,
and current-up-to-date. We want it
to be a living, breathing museum. that
everyone in North Carolina will think
of proudly as his or her own."
END
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�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Domit Family Papers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Moussa Domit was born May 24, 1932, in Mazraat al Toufah in Zgharta, Lebanon to Majed Moussa Domit and Jamili Yousef (Khoury) Jreige. His grandparents had spent time in Pennsylvania, and both his father, Majed and his aunt, Margaret Domit (called Aunt Peggy), were born in the United States. In 1953, Moussa immigrated to Columbus, Ohio, to complete his high school education. He then returned to Lebanon where he met Yvette Baini. Yvette was born in French Senegal, West Africa. Her parents returned to Lebanon when she was a child; she attended a French school in Tripoli.</p>
<p>Moussa Domit and Yvette Baini married on February 11, 1960, an the following year moved to Columbus so that Moussa could attend college. Moussa earned a BA in History of Art at Ohio State University in 1962 and an MA in Art History at Southern Connecticut State College in 1967. The became an American citizen the same year. During this period, the couple had four children, Maggie, Majed, Mark, and Matthew.</p>
<p>Domit conducted postgraduate work at Yale University before serving as Associate Director of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., from 1968 to 1970, and as Curator at the National Gallery of Art from 1970 and 1972. In 1972, Moussa became Director of the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina, a position he held until 1981. In this position, Domit developed the museum's collection, providing exhibit space for international and multicultural artists and historic art pieces. He led the campaign to move the museum away from its original location in downtown Raleigh to a new facility on Blue Ridge Road. In 1981, the Domit family left Raleigh for Memphis, where Moussa took a position as Director of the Dixon Gallery and Gardens before moving to the Appleton Art Museum in Ocala, Florida, in 1986. Towards the end of his life, Domit spent time in Lebanon, where he worked to restore his family’s summer home. Moussa Domit passed away in 2005.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p>The Domit Family Papers contains documents and articles related to Moussa Domit's career in the art field, family photographs, and early letters from Domit's time in Columbus, Ohio. Additionally, the collection contains genealogical information through family trees and an oral history. The collection also includes a diary and an autobiographical narrative written by Maron Domit Barkett, a great-uncle of Moussa Domit.</p>
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Maggie Domit Bennett
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905-circa 1986, undated
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Relation
A related resource
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/23">Saleh Family Papers</a>
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Processed by Khayrallah Program staff. Collection Guide content contributed by Claire A. Kempa and updated by Allison Hall, 2023 November.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Lebanese--United States
Language
A language of the resource
English
Arabic
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KC 0022
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
kc0022_019
Title
A name given to the resource
"A New Director, New Directions," <em>We the People of North Carolina Magazine</em>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Lebanese--United States
Description
An account of the resource
Article on Domit's role as Director, North Carolina Museum of Art. Entitled "A New Director, New Directions." The article touches upon the controversy surrounding the museum's move, but emphasizes Domit's role in growing the collection.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
We the People of North Carolina Magazine
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Moussa Domit
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1974 Sept
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Text/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
1970s
Art
North Carolina