Akron Art Museum facts for kids
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| Established | February 1, 1922 |
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| Location | One South High St., Akron, Ohio, United States |
The Akron Art Museum is an exciting art museum located in Akron, Ohio, United States. It's a place where you can explore amazing artworks from different times.
The museum first opened its doors on February 1, 1922. Back then, it was called the Akron Art Institute. It started small, in just two rooms in the basement of the public library. Edwin Coupland Shaw and his wife Jennifer Bond Shaw helped organize art classes there. The museum grew over the years. From 1948 to 1981, its main home was the Akron Public Library. A brand new museum building opened on July 17, 2007. Today, it shows art from all over the world.
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Exploring the Art Collections
The Akron Art Museum has a huge space, about 20,000 square feet, just for showing its art collection. This collection includes art made since 1850. The museum also brings in special art shows from other museums around the world.
Art from 1850 to 1950
The first floor of the museum's older building, which was built in 1899, features art from 1850 to 1950. This building has a beautiful Italian Renaissance style.
- The first rooms show art from the late 1800s and early 1900s, including impressionism.
- Other rooms explore modernism and art from northeast Ohio between 1910 and 1950.
- One room is completely dedicated to the works of William Sommer, a famous artist from northeast Ohio.
- You can see paintings by artists like Thomas Wilmer Dewing and Frederick Carl Frieseke in these galleries.
Art from 1950 to Today
Art created since 1950 is displayed in eight rooms in the museum's newer Knight Building, which opened in 2007. These galleries show many different styles of art from the late 1900s and early 2000s.
- You can see photorealism, which looks like super-detailed photos.
- There's also Pop Art, which uses images from popular culture.
- Famous artworks include Chuck Close's large painting Linda.
- You can also find Andy Warhol's silk-screened Single Elvis and Brillo Boxes.
- Don't miss the cool carved sculptures by Ohio artist Elijah Pierce, like The Wise and Foolish Virgins and Four Other Scenes.
Special Art Shows
The second floor of the Knight Building is where the museum holds its big temporary art shows. These shows often travel from other museums.
- Past shows have included American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell.
- The museum also creates its own shows, like A Shared Vision: The Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell Photography Collection.
- There's also a smaller space, over 2,000 square feet, for showing art by new artists. This area also hosts art projects with the community and changing photography exhibits.
The Knight Building: A Modern Design
The John S. and James L. Knight Building is a large, 63,000-square-foot addition to the museum. It was designed by a famous architecture firm from Vienna called Coop Himmelb(l)au. They were chosen because they are good at adding new parts to old buildings. This building was their first public project in North and South America. Construction started on May 22, 2004.
Coop Himmelb(l)au's design connects the new building with the museum's old 1899 building. They used surprising and fun shapes:
- The "Crystal" is a three-story glass lobby. It's the main entrance and connects all parts of the museum.
- The "Gallery Box" holds the museum's main collection and temporary shows.
- The "Roof Cloud" is a long, 327-foot steel and aluminum structure. It stretches over both the old and new buildings. It creates a striking landmark for downtown Akron. One critic even said it looked like "a mechanical alligator snarfing down a Beaux Arts post office."
This expansion greatly increased the museum's ability to host traveling exhibits. It also allowed them to show their own unique art collections. Now, they can display large artworks that were rarely seen before, like Elliot Torrey's Surf, which was the first artwork the museum ever collected in 1923.
Wolf D. Prix, the main architect for the project, said, "The design embraces the past, rather than replacing or destroying it." He believes the building helps create a public space in the city and a private space for our own thoughts.
Images for kids
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Akron Art Museum with its cool lighted roof cloud at night
See also
In Spanish: Museo de Arte de Akron para niños
