For more than two decades, the former Medfield State Hospital campus has stood largely dormant, leaving an expansive historic landscape waiting for a new chapter. Jean Mineo, Executive Director of Bellforge Arts Center, saw an opportunity within that setting: Could cultural life help establish a sense of community as the property enters a new era? Bellforge’s developing campus suggests one possible answer, with arts programming serving as an early presence in the site’s transformation.
The idea places culture near the beginning of redevelopment. Redevelopment projects are often discussed through housing, square footage, investment, and infrastructure, while questions of belonging and cultural life can receive less attention. Bellforge is pursuing a different sequence, bringing performance, education, rehearsal, and gathering spaces into operation as the broader property continues to evolve. Its facilities are expected to open in fall 2027, ahead of the surrounding residential development planned for 334 units.
The setting adds considerable depth to the project. Medfield State Hospital opened in 1896 with a cottage-style campus designed around daylight, fresh air, exercise, and social interaction. The property once included an orchestra, teaching facilities, farms, gardens, and other resources that supported a substantial resident population. After the Commonwealth closed the hospital in 2003, the Town of Medfield acquired the property in 2014 and completed a master plan following four years of public input. In 2020, Bellforge secured a 99-year lease for the Lee Chapel and adjacent Infirmary.
Those two buildings are now becoming the foundation of Bellforge’s permanent campus. A $30 million historic preservation and renovation project broke ground on June 1, 2026. The Chapel is being converted into a 300-seat flexible performance venue, while the Infirmary is being renovated to provide 17 practice rooms and classrooms. A new glass connector is planned as an accessible entrance, lobby, and gallery, with additional work including outdoor learning and performance areas, utilities, parking, and backstage facilities.
For Mineo, the project also draws meaning from the site’s original relationship with creativity, land, and community. “The legacy of healing and innovation that shaped this campus more than a century ago is the same spirit that guides us now,” she says. “This is an extraordinary opportunity to reimagine this place as somewhere people come to make and enjoy art, to engage with each other, and to connect with the land.”
That vision has already had an opportunity to develop outdoors. Since 2022, Bellforge has presented concerts, festivals, wellness activities, youth theater, spoken word, and community gatherings across the campus. “Over our first four outdoor seasons, we’ve welcomed numerous people to the campus, and those experiences have given us an early glimpse of the year-round cultural life we hope to create here,” Mineo says.
The programming also reflects Mineo’s interest in creating opportunities across generations and artistic disciplines. Bellforge currently works with musicians, theater artists, educators, youth performers, and regional cultural organizations. Its planned facilities could expand that ecosystem through music instruction, dance and theater rehearsal, private lessons, master classes, residencies, youth programs, summer arts camps, lectures, film screenings, exhibitions, and community events. Future phases may extend into visual and culinary arts, with possibilities including artist studios, maker spaces, shared commercial kitchens, culinary classrooms, and renewed agricultural use of fields surrounding the campus.
The timing of the cultural investment also intersects with the wider redevelopment of the property. Bellforge has raised almost $21 million toward its $25 million capital campaign and is seeking pledges for the remaining $4 million. Separately, $5.5 million in state funding has supported building infrastructure, helping advance construction. Mineo views the fundraising period as an important stage in bringing the permanent campus to completion.
Economic considerations provide another dimension to Bellforge’s cultural vision. The organization participated in an Americans for the Arts economic prosperity study to better understand how cultural events can contribute to surrounding communities. The findings inform Bellforge’s view that performances, festivals, and other gatherings may encourage visitor spending and support activity for nearby businesses, including restaurants and florists. For Mineo, this connection gives cultural programming a broader role within the community, extending its reach into the local businesses and experiences that surround the campus.
Mineo’s own background helps explain the emphasis on access, artistic development, and community participation. She has worked with contemporary galleries and nonprofit arts organizations, served as director of Boston Sculptors Gallery, and helped establish the Cultural Alliance of Medfield in 2015, now known as the Bellforge Arts Center. Her experience in arts administration and her longstanding connection to Medfield have informed her perspective on how cultural spaces can contribute to civic life.
As construction progresses, Bellforge’s transformation offers a visible example of how an historic property might acquire a new cultural purpose. The buildings are being preserved and adapted, while the outdoor programming has already introduced audiences to the campus. With performance and education facilities planned for 2027, Bellforge may provide the cultural foundation from which a larger community can continue to develop around this remarkable historic landscape.