The nonprofit Rochester Museum of Fine Arts will open to the public this summer.

A board of directors and a jury of artists led by Matt Wyatt, of Wyatt Studios, plan to establish the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts in June.

The board is still deciding between three locations in the Lilac City that have accepted their proposal, including Granite State College’s regional campus. Wyatt said they may end up filling more than one space, though all the options are large.

So far, the museum has acquired more than 50 works of art, most by donation and some on loan. They are actively seeking more, without setting a maximum. Individual jury members submit nominations from any artist, anywhere, then the group votes on whether to accept them.

The main goal of the museum is to preserve fine art works for generations, Wyatt said.

“It’ll be the first and last museum in Rochester,” he said. “It means a lot to me. I want it to be here forever.”

Wyatt has made it his personal mission to change negative perceptions of Rochester by promoting the area’s arts. He said some people wish it were different, but don’t do anything to make it better.

“I’m doing it because I love it,” he said. “If you don’t like (Rochester), it’s because you’re not doing enough to change it.”    

Wyatt has already helped improve the art scene in Rochester. For one thing, he has worked with Artstream Studios and other local businesses to reinstate the city’s Art Stroll event on the first Saturday of every month. The museum will enter an arts community that already includes Artstream, The Franklin Gallery, the Jenny-Wren Gallery and Wyatt’s own Wyatt Art Studios, along with exhibits at the Portable Pantry and other local businesses.

“I think the museum will really solidify the arts and culture in this city,” Wyatt said. “It is working, slowly. You have to make a presence.”

Wyatt and co-owner Mandie Haynes founded their own gallery and studio space at 87 North Main St. about seven months ago. In addition to hosting rotating art exhibits about every month, the gallery has run satellite shows at three other downtown businesses. Wyatt said the satellites are on hold while he focuses on preparing for the museum.

In addition to the permanent collection, the museum is expected to have smaller rotating exhibits that complement the work and give visitors a push to come back.

Artstream owner Susan Schwake is on the museum’s jury and said Artstream will be the official art school in association with it. Her book, “Art Lab for Kids,” is being released next month.

Also, the Jenny Wren Gallery plans to run a gift shop, likely with prints and posters of work in the collection, and the Portable Pantry plans to cater receptions and other events.

Wyatt said the contemporary art work in the permanent collection probably won’t stray far from the aesthetic he promotes in his gallery, leaning toward abstract expressionism, but it will be a mix of styles and mediums of “the highest caliber.”

“It’s really whatever these talented artists bring,” he said about the jury. “I trust their vision through their own work.”

Many of the artists have shown in Wyatt Art Studios and several people involved studied or work at the New Hampshire Institute of Art, which Wyatt attended. But he also finds emerging artists on the art blog rounds and makes new contacts.

The collection currently includes travel photographs by Ian Hartsoe, one of which is printed on a banner in Wyatt’s gallery, and paintings by Andy Ness, Ian Carpenter, James O’Brien, John Paul Gardner and Erin Gardner.

Wyatt is anticipating a piece by Heather Hilton, whose cityscape paintings are on display at Wyatt Art Studios through Jan. 6, and a donation from Hollie Chastain, whose mixed media collage work was up in the gallery’s previous exhibit.

He plans to curate and organize the collection so that it flows well, and possibly divide it into wings, including one for photography. He also hopes to provide an audio tour with statements from the artists to make the experience more enriching.

At a museum, Wyatt said, people can come enjoy art without feeling obligated to talk about it or buy anything. “They can be themselves,” he said.

The museum is expected to receive non-profit status this month, and after that, Wyatt said nothing will stand in the way.

“It will for sure happen,” he said. “There is no compromise. It will be awesome.”

Admission to the museum will be free and it should be open to the public for regular business hours this summer.