Amy Regan
Amy Marie Regan earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts, with a concentration in photography, from the New Hampshire Institute of Art (Manchester, NH) in 2008. In addition to co-founding the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts in 2011, she opened See Saw Art, a 120-square-foot exhibition space located within Mosaic Art (Manchester, NH), in 2022. To learn more about See Saw Art, visit seesaw.gallery.
“Creating exhibition opportunities is foundational to my work with the RMFA. The New England community is filled with talented, generous artists who work on their craft each day. Being able to showcase and uplift this work is my greatest pleasure, as well as meeting and learning from so many genuine people along the way.”
Amy Regan
Matt Wyatt
Matt Wyatt studied at the New Hampshire Institute of Art (Manchester, NH) and earned a certificate in Digital Photography from Cornell University’s online program, eCornell. His art has been exhibited in a variety of venues, including Back Hill Beer Company (Gonic, NH), Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington, DC), Art Current (Provincetown, MA), Diane Von Furstenberg Studio (New York City), and The Gatehouse Gallery (Tamworth, NH).
“We want everyone to be able to enjoy art for free. Our alternative version of an art museum is a sustainable model that is easily replicable with the right people and energy. We encourage other communities to look at what we’ve done and copy us. Improve it, make it better, bigger. Art belongs everywhere.”
Matt Wyatt
History
Matt Wyatt and Amy Regan first met in 2007 when they attended the New Hampshire Institute of Art while studying under New Hampshire Artist Laureate and Professor Emeritus, Gary Samson.
In 2011, Wyatt and Regan worked with two friends, Devin Swett and Ian Hartsoe, to co-found the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts in a multi-use office building. With a mission to create art opportunities for artists and viewers, the young, naive team struggled to find their footing, relocating several times and confusing even their most ardent supporters.
Eventually, through a collaboration with the City of Rochester, the team created a permanent home in what is now known as the James W. Foley Memorial Community Center, formerly Rochester Community Center and Spaulding High School.
Over the years, Wyatt and Regan have acquired more than 250 pieces of donated art, coordinated over a dozen public art installations around the city, curated hundreds of gallery exhibitions, and collaborated with over 700 artists from around the world. In 2014, then-Governor and current US Senator Maggie Hassan thanked them for their efforts to make fine art easily accessible to the people of New Hampshire.
From 2016 to 2018, the duo organized Rochester Pride, an annual downtown event with a mission to promote unity, visibility, inclusivity, and equality — as well as uplift local businesses and organizations that stand with the LGBTQ+ community in Rochester. The event attracted thousands of attendees and featured several guest speakers, including United States Representative(s) Carol Shea-Porter and Chris Pappas, respectively.
In addition to the RMFA, Wyatt and Regan served on the Commission for Arts and Culture for the City of Rochester for many years, with Wyatt serving as Chair from 2013 to 2022. In September 2022, they were honored for their contributions at the annual Rochester Arts Awards. Additionally, Wyatt was presented with a Golden Gavel for his years of dedicated service as chairperson. The plaque accompanying the Gavel reads:
“For the years served as the Arts and Culture Commission chairman. Your tireless dedication to the arts community in Rochester is unparalleled. Your continuous contributions to the success of the Arts and Culture Commission have built a solid road for decades in the future. And for that, we honor you.”
City of Rochester, New Hampshire
In addition to numerous news articles, magazine/newspaper covers, radio and podcast interviews, and several mayoral and gubernatorial proclamations and commendations, their work has been highlighted on NESN New Hampshire Life, WCVB Boston Chronicle, and WMUR New Hampshire Chronicle.
The RMFA received an American Art Award in 2020, and again in 2022, for Best Art Museum or Gallery in New Hampshire and Top 20 Best Art Museum in the United States. Also in 2020, the New Hampshire Business Committee for the Arts awarded the RMFA the Community Arts Build Award. In 2022, they received the New Hampshire Review’s Best of Business (BOB) Award for “Most Ingenious Promoters of Arts and Culture”.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the RMFA, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu sent an official commendation congratulating the art museum for its work to make art accessible in Rochester and the State of New Hampshire.
To this day, Matt and Amy are faithful to the original mission of the RMFA — volunteer to uplift and give voice to artists everywhere, celebrate extraordinary talent and diversity, and create viewing opportunities for people of all ages and socioeconomic levels.