Interior of the Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton. (Courtesy photo)

East Bare Hill Road residents David and Pam Durrant were at the Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton Oct. 16, to greet visitors who were there for the grand opening of the new exhibit, Two Museums/One Culture. The exhibit, which will run through May, features religious icons on loan from the State Tretyakov Gallery in Russia, icons that have never before been out of that country and will be exhibited in the United States only at the Clinton gallery. The event also marked the opening of the new addition to the historic 19th-century structure that houses the museum, designed by the Durrants.

The museum, which is home to the largest collection of Russian icons in the United States and is the only museum outside of Russia dedicated solely to Russian icons, opened to the public in October 2006, after a complete building renovation designed and overseen by David Durrant. To make the building as energy-efficient as possible, Durrant incorporated state-of-the-art technology into the design, including a solar panel system designed by Solar Design Associates of Harvard. The 30 photovoltaic panels on the building’s roof generate about 20 percent of the power needs of the building. Interior lighting is provided by low-voltage LED lights. Programmable temperature controls ensure that an optimal environment will be maintained for the museum’s collection of icons, some of which are 400 years old.

Durrant said that planning for the new 3,000-square-foot addition began about a year ago, when he and his wife began discussing design concepts with museum founder and president Gordon B. Lankton. Lankton, meanwhile, was negotiating with Valentin Rodionov, general director of the State Tretyakov Gallery, on a possible exhibit in Clinton of icons from the gallery’s collection. After word was received on the loan of icons from Russia—an agreement the museum calls a “groundbreaking cultural collaboration between the U.S. and Russia”—construction on the addition began in May, with a target of completing it for the opening of the exhibit. Durrant lauded the teamwork of the contractors who, he said, “pulled out all the stops” to complete the job on time.

Exterior of the museum. (Courtesy photo)

An icon of St. George circa 1750 is one of many icons featured at the museum. (Courtesy photo)

Durrant said that the Russian curators “had strict specifications” on how their icons were to be displayed. Rather than being wall-mounted, he said, they were to be mounted about 4 to 6 inches off the wall, set on special brackets that he designed himself, since there were none available commercially that met the specifications. When the 13 crates of icons arrived at the museum, none could be opened until Russian officials were present and until they had determined that the environment had reached the right temperature. But Russian concerns about the loan of the icons to the Clinton museum were not limited to their physical well-being.

Kent dur Russell, CEO and curator of the Museum of Russian Icons, explained that, to the Russians, the icons are not mere art to be displayed in a museum. They are considered religious objects, he said, normally found in churches, and are venerated by those of the Russian Orthodox faith.

Out of respect for these beliefs, the museum requested that the gallery space be consecrated by an official of the Russian Orthodox Church. Last fall the rector of the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Nicholas in New York City, the highest-ranking official of the Russian Orthodox Church in the U.S., performed a rite to sanctify the gallery’s exhibit area. Russell said that people may now worship at the museum, and can even marry there.

Religious significance aside, there can be no doubt about the importance of the icons as works of art. The value of the Clinton museum’s collection alone is estimated to be in the millions of dollars, making the museum a dest-ination attraction. Last year the museum drew 5,000 visitors; this year that number was reached in the first six months. The Two Museums/One Culture exhibit is expected to attract large numbers of visitors. For the duration of the exhibit the museum is sponsoring round-trip bus excursions to Clinton from Boston.

Pam Durrant explained that the museum’s new addition will help to accommodate not only an increased number of visitors, but also a diversity of functions, providing more opportunities for cultural programs that the museum has already started to offer, such as concerts and lectures.

For more information about the museum and the exhibit on loan from the State Tretyakov Gallery visit www.museumofrussianicons.org.