The Westmoreland Museum of American Art will celebrate its 65th anniversary with a trip through the museum’s years of history.

With “65 Artists, 65 Years: An Anniversary Exhibition,” the museum plans to highlight artists from its collections, return to points in its past and include commentary from community members and local artists on the future of The Westmoreland.

Works ranging from well-known artists such as Mary Cassatt, John Kane and Thaddeus Mosley to lesser-known figures like Alex Fletcher and Elijah Pierce will be arranged in a timeline that takes a retrospective look at the Museum’s history. Archival photos of the museum over time will be interspersed amongst the art.

The exhibit opens to the public Feb. 11 and closes Sept. 8.

“In a way, it is the story of the museum, the story of the institution, the story of the collection, the story of the building, and the story of some of the key people who have made this institution possible, including staff and donors,” said Silvia Filippini-­Fantoni, the Westmoreland’s new CEO and director.

Other sections of the exhibition document major acquisitions or expansions of the museum’s collection and show how the institution has changed over time.

A concluding section called “A Museum of the People” includes interpretations of portraits from the museum’s collection that were provided by the public and individuals connected to the museum. Visitors are encouraged to contribute their comments to add to a conversation about the museum and visions for the years to come.

“We hope this exhibition serves as a celebration of our past, a recognition of our present and an opportunity to consider our future,” Filippini-Fantoni said.

Though the 65th is not a traditional “big anniversary,” Filippini-Fantoni felt it was a good opportunity — and good timing — to shine a light on the museum’s legacy.

“It came at a time where we’ve had a lot of changes here — a new director, new curator and new education staff. In the last couple of years, we’ve really changed up,” she said. “It felt like the right time — it was sort of a good thing to look back at where we started and where we are now.”

As a woman, Filippini-Fantoni said, it was particularly interesting for her to see other women in the history of the museum’s leadership, including past female directors.

“I feel very honored to be part of the legacy of women who have been part of the history of this institution,” she said. “That has become really evident through looking at the last 65 years of the museum.”

Jeremiah William McCarthy, chief curator, said the goal was to show how artists could tell the museum’s story.

“Something that was really important was to balance the familiar, fun, well-known stories with the underrepresented perspectives or elements of the collection that people were less familiar with but were also extraordinary,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to put stuff on view that has never been out before.”

To compile the historical narrative of the museum took not only archival research but also oral history interviews with people who had been involved with or seen past exhibits at the Westmoreland, McCarthy said.

“I hope people see a little bit of themselves in the exhibition,” he said. “It’s one of those exhibitions you could spend a lot of time with and that you could kind of go back to.”

In putting the exhibit together, the museum’s team looked at its history “in an open-ended way,” he said.

“There’s an openness to the possibilities of the future of the museum within the exhibition,” he said. “For as many stories as we chose to tell, I think there’s 65 other stories we could have chosen. This is only one look at this moment at the museum. Hopefully, it is a reflection on where we’ve been, and a little bit of a mirror of what we are, and hopefully a gesture towards what we could be.”

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