PERIOD DRAMA

Can a Gilded Age home catalyze urgent community conversations? At the Newark Museum of Art's Ballantine House, Linda C. Harrison bets yes

- SAM COCHRAN

It's an unseasonably warm morning in October and Linda C. Harrison, the director and CEO of the Newark Museum of Art, is in a characteristically inquisitive mood. "How can we be not just a center of cultural change, but of social and economic change?" she wonders, reflecting on her organization's role in a diverse and fast-changing city. "How does a museum become more relevant to a community without canceling out other stories?" Ruminating aloud, she pivots quickly from audience development to curatorial ambitions to broader institutional goals, chief among them fostering curiosity. "People," Harrison says, "should feel that they can come here and ask questions."

On this particular visit, the here of which she speaks is the Ballantine House: an 1885 mansion that was acquired by the museum in 1937 and has since stood, Harrison notes proudly, as its "largest collection object." Overlooking Harriet Tubman Square, the home was designed by architect George Edward Harney for Jeannette and John Holme Ballantine-prominent industrialists who amassed their fortune in the beer-brewing business and lived well in 27 lavishly appointed rooms, their decoration a bold mix of styles by D. S. Hess & Co. (Each first-floor space, case in point, features paneling in a different wood.) This past fall, the house emerged from a $12 million restoration, inside and out.