Maier Museum of Art facts for kids

The Maier Museum of Art is located at Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia. It shows amazing art by American artists from the 1800s to today. Randolph College started collecting American art in 1907. Now, the Maier Museum of Art is home to thousands of American paintings, prints, drawings, and photos.

The museum has many special art shows and fun learning programs all year. It offers great chances for Randolph College students to learn about art. The museum also provides valuable learning for everyone in the community.

How the Museum Started

Randolph-Macon Woman's College was the first college for women in the southern United States. It was founded by William Waugh Smith. A company called River Mont Land Company gave 20 acres of land for the college. This land is now in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Smith raised $100,000 from local people. The college officially opened on March 10, 1891. The first students arrived in 1893. There were 36 female students and 12 professors. The art collection began when the senior class of 1907 asked William Merritt Chase to paint a picture. It was a portrait of William Waugh Smith, the college's first president.

In 1911, Louise Jordan Smith started an art show each year. She was the college's first art professor. Since then, the college has bought at least one artwork from each yearly show. This helped the art collection grow bigger and bigger. In 2007, Randolph–Macon Woman's College started accepting male students too. Its name was changed to Randolph College.

Yearly Art Shows

Louise Jordan Smith, the college's first art teacher, loved American art. She knew her students could not easily travel to New York City to see art. So, she decided to bring the art to them! In 1911, she started a yearly show of modern art on campus.

Thanks to these shows, the college's art collection has grown a lot. It includes works by famous artists like Winslow Homer, Mary Cassatt, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Edward Hopper. It also has art by Faith Ringgold and Betye Saar.

In 1986, the museum showed "Tour of America." This was a traveling art show by three women artists. They called themselves "Abstract 3." The artists were Leny Aardse-Scholten from the Netherlands, Sheila Reid from America, and Mariette Teisserenc from France.

Project Y: A Secret Art Hideout

In 1951, the National Gallery of Art created a secret art storage place. It was code-named "Project Y." This special building was on the campus of Randolph-Macon Woman's College. It was built to keep important artworks safe during the Cold War. This was a time when there was a lot of tension between countries.

The building was made of strong concrete. It was designed to protect art in case of a national emergency. The college let the National Gallery use the building for 50 years. In return, the college owned the building. A trust helped pay for the building. It was finished in 1952 and cost less than $250,000. People just called it "the art gallery."

The National Gallery of Art even had trucks ready to move its masterpieces there quickly. The building also had a small house with three bedrooms for the art curator.

In the mid-1970s, the college got permission to make the space better. They wanted it to be more useful and comfortable for students and visitors. These changes were paid for by a special fund. After more updates in the early 1980s, the name changed. The "art gallery" became the Maier Museum of Art. This new name honored the Sarah and Pauline Maier Scholarship Foundation, which helped fund the museum.