Museum director Francell knows what he's doing

Since he started work on Aug. 1, 2000, Museum of the Big Bend Director Larry Francell has worked tirelessly, and almost always, on getting out of there.

"[Dr. Vic Morgan] said, 'You raise the money, you can have it,'" Francell said of the museum's new digs, which open Aug. 18, after a $5 million fundraising campaign.

For several years, the museum was located on the ground floor of Lawrence Hall, a small space that allowed for small, "cheesy" exhibits, he said.

Francell is a native of Odessa, but spent summers working as a seasonal ranger at Fort Davis. "It was my first sort of museum job," he said.

"I wanted very much to go into the park service," he said, but Francell graduated from Austin College in Sherman in the late '60s to a hiring freeze caused by the Vietnam War.

"I always liked museums, so I started looking for a museum job," he said.

He became the director of the museum in Wichita Falls, but on April 10, 1979, it was destroyed by a huge tornado.

"It was the crown jewel of the community," said Francell, and within weeks, including insurance coverage and donations, enough money was raised to rebuild with an addition, which took about a year.

In 1981, Francell was hired as the project manager for the construction of a new facility for the Dallas Museum of Art. "It's an amazing building, a wonderful structure," he said. He then became the contract administrator for the move of the exhibit into the new building, which was overseen by a Boston firm called Fine Arts Express.

Upon completion of that project, Francell became the owner and operator Fine Arts Express-Southwest. He oversaw the move of 20 museums and consulted on others, along with the move, installation and restoration of art from coast to coast.

He also wrote a guidebook, Planning For the Move of the Museum Collection, at one point a best-seller in the trade.

Eventually Francell and his five Boston partners had different views on the direction of the company, and," I asked them to buy me out," he said.

About that time in 1997, the Fort Davis family home of Francell's wife, Beth, "opened up."

"So we came out here," he said. "That's what we had dreamed of. That's what we had been working toward."

Francell was working as a consultant, and in the first 26 weeks of 2000, he flew out of Midland 24 times.

"The purpose for living here is to enjoy it," he said. "And then this job opened up."

Right from the start, Francell was dreaming big. "I probably could've laid back, done five or six exhibits a year, teach a little, do a little research. But I believe our mission is to tell the story of the history and culture of the Big Bend, and that was trapped at Lawrence Hall."

Francell is passionate about an education program, particularly for children.

"I want to have kids in this museum," he said. "Without a children's program, we're not for real.

"That's what I'd like it to be. That's my story and I'm sticking to it."

Francell received his bachelor's degree in history and political science from Austin College, and his master's in history from the University of Texas Austin.

He and Beth have one son and two grandchildren.

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Museum director Francell knows what he's doing

Since he started work on Aug. 1, 2000, Museum of the Big Bend Director Larry Francell has worked tirelessly, and almost always, on getting out of there.