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Never mind the Academy Awards. Next week, the red carpet will be rolled out figuratively, if not literally, at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art.

"It's going to be fun," said Judith O'Toole, museum director and CEO. "We're going to have a Hollywood casual theme."

The event is the first public screening of the documentary about the museum, which kicks off the 11th season of the national broadcast public television series "The Visionaries."

The museum's show, one of 13 that will be aired this year, is the product of Visionaries Inc., a Boston-based nonprofit educational organization created by producer Bill Mosher.

The series seeks out and tells the stories of philanthropists. Ordinary people devoting their lives or careers to building housing, providing medical care, helping the hungry and providing educational opportunities -- in other words, visionaries -- are profiled.

Chosen from 40 applicants, the museum's inclusion marks the first time an art facility has been featured in the program.

The premiere, free to the public, will be held 7 p.m. Feb. 23 in the Greensburg Salem Middle School auditorium. A reception will follow at the museum, featuring light refreshments and music provided by the regional folk group the Newlanders, who are included in the episode.

Last month, O'Toole and museum staff members were in New York as series host actor Sam Waterston taped his introduction.

After its selection last spring, the museum was descended upon by a four-person production crew.

"It was fun and exciting," O'Toole said of the on-site filming. "Sure, it was disruptive, but in the best possible way."

Filming included Mosher hopping aboard a school bus to quiz a group of fourth graders about their art knowledge.

The documentary highlights three museum programs. One, called "Every Picture Tells a Story," connects fourth-graders' study of Pennsylvania history with the paintings in the museum.

The educational outreach program uses guest speakers to complement the museum's artwork and help the students in their study of state history.

Another program, "Born of Fire," is a collaboration by the museum with the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Corridor and the Newlanders.

The documentary will also focus on the museum's support of regional artists, with producers spending time with Pittsburghers Ron Donoughe and Barry Shields as they painted local landscapes.

"We are always trying to make the case that art can make a difference in communities and in people's lives," O'Toole said. "They were looking for a museum that connected with its community. They really liked the fact that we pay attention to the art of the region."

O'Toole has seen the 27-minute final cut.

"It was very dramatic, watching the film," she said.

The series will air in the Philadelphia area first, she said. Pittsburgh public television station WQED has not yet set an air date.

The museum staff hopes for a big turnout for next week's screening.

"We really want this to be a celebration for the community," she said.

The national interest, she said, was overwhelming.

"It was really gratifying to have someone from outside come in and recognize what we are trying to do," O'Toole said.

High drama

Mosher, who will attend the premiere, said his recognition of the museum staff's efforts was instant.

"I was blown away," he said of his first visit. "I'm an amateur oil painter. I was impressed by the quality of paintings they have. ... The other thing that really surprised me and made the show special was the group of people working there."

The teamwork created by the small market museum, he said, is a model other, larger, museums might replicate.

"We've done over 100 of these shows," he said. "I've done 40 or 50 myself. ... This is one of the top five, as far as drama."

That drama includes a fact he discovered after his arrival, and included in the storytelling. Two and a half years ago, museum curator Barbara Jones donated a kidney to O'Toole, who had polycystic kidney disease and whose earlier transplant had failed.

That story, he said, helps show that, "Real people, real human beings, that have real lives work in this place."

Mosher said he was interested in expanding the series' exploration of nonprofits.

"There are issues and causes beyond working in soup kitchens, and volunteering in refugee camps," he said. "I think that culture goes beyond the walls of a museum. Art plays a role in education. ... It can provide in a more dynamic way than waiting for people to show up and look at things hanging on the walls."

The series may next explore science, he said, possibly research labs.

But the Greensburg facility has also spawned an idea for another documentary.

"We will probably do another museum in the next season," Mosher said, "because we have had such a great experience."

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