Albany Museum of Art facts for kids
The Albany Museum of Art is a cool place to visit in Albany, Georgia, United States. It's like a special club for art that doesn't try to make money. Instead, it's run by a group of 28 people who help guide the museum.
Contents
History of the Museum
The museum started way back in 1964. It grew out of a group called the Southwest Georgia Art Association. At first, the museum was in an old sock factory!
In 1969, a kind person named W.B. Haley, Jr. helped the Art Association build a small building in a local park. Then, in 1983, people in Albany and Southwest Georgia raised money to open a brand new museum building. This new building was right next to Albany State University.
The museum building has six areas where art is shown, a gift shop, and a big room for events that can hold 200 people. There's even a special gallery for kids where they can learn by doing fun activities! Plus, there's a classroom for art classes.
On January 2, 2017, strong winds caused serious damage to the museum building. But just seven months later, the museum was able to open three of its art galleries again. They also reopened the gift shop, classroom, and event room.
Right now, the museum's main collection of art is kept safely in a different place. But the museum still has lots of exciting art shows and programs for everyone to enjoy. The museum is planning to move to a new spot downtown soon. Once they move, their entire art collection will be back together in one place!
Art Collection and Shows
The Albany Museum of Art has a growing collection of many different types of art. This includes paintings, drawings, sculptures, and photos from the 1800s and 1900s, from both America and Europe.
The museum also has one of the biggest collections of traditional African art in the Southeast United States, outside of a university. In total, the museum shows more than 200 pieces of art from its collection of 2,400 original works!
The African art collection includes cool things like masks, sculptures, pottery, baskets, fabrics, jewelry, and gold weights. It's a very important collection of art from Sub-Saharan Africa.
The American and European collections feature paintings, drawings, photos, and sculptures. You can see paintings by famous American artists like Edward Henry Potthast, Joseph H. Sharp, Ernest Lawson, Reginald Marsh, and A.L. Ripley.
Museum Galleries
Here are some of the different galleries you can explore at the museum:
- The Banks Haley Gallery - This gallery often shows special art exhibits that travel from other places or are put together by experts.
- The East Gallery - Here you can see art made by artists from the local area and from all over the country.
- The West Gallery - This gallery also features art by regional and national artists.
- The Ralph Hodges Sales Gallery - In this gallery, you can buy art made by talented local and regional artists.
- The AMAzing Spaces Gallery - This is a super fun gallery for kids! You can learn by doing hands-on activities. It has masks and a "Recollections Room" where you can make colorful art just by moving around.
(TEMPORARILY CLOSED)*The Miller Gallery - This gallery usually shows art and artifacts from the museum's amazing Sub-Saharan African collection. (TEMPORARILY CLOSED)*The Raymond F. Evans Sporting Art Gallery - This gallery is for art about wildlife and sports. (TEMPORARILY CLOSED)*The McCormack Gallery - This gallery shows art from the museum's own permanent collection or art that is borrowed from other collections.
Exhibitions You Can Borrow
Sometimes, the museum has special art shows that other museums can borrow and display. (TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE)
- “Master Drawings from the Shaffer Collection” - This show has 34 amazing drawings from the late 1400s to the early 1700s. They come from different art styles like Dutch, Flemish, French, German, and Italian.
- “Mose Tolliver” - This exhibit features 14 paintings by a talented African-American folk artist named Mose Tolliver.
- “Warhol Flowers” - This show has 10 silk screen prints of flowers by the famous artist Andy Warhol. These prints have even been hand-watercolored!
- "Studio Glass from the Schuman Collection" - This exhibit includes 63 cool glass sculptures made by artists like Harvey Littleton and Dominick Labino.
See also
