Angel Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1 May 1998 |
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| Dissolved | 29 September 2018 |
| Location | 656 Pleasant St, Beloit, Wisconsin |
| Type | Private museum |
| Key holdings | Oprah Winfrey Black Angel Collection |
| Collection size | 13,600 |
The Angel Museum was a special place in Beloit, Wisconsin. It was a museum filled with a huge collection of angel figurines. The museum opened in 1998 inside an old church building. This church, called St. Paul's Catholic Church, was located right by the Rock River. Sadly, the Angel Museum closed its doors in 2018 because it didn't have enough money to stay open.
History of the Angel Museum
The idea for the Angel Museum came from a woman named Joyce Berg. She started collecting angels way back in 1976. Her very first angel figurine was an Italian one showing two angels on a seesaw. By 1994, her collection had grown so much that a newspaper, the National Enquirer, wrote about her. The headline said, "Heavens above! Grandma's living with 10,455 angels."
Joyce Berg realized in 1995 that her house was too small for all her angels. She started looking for a new home for them. Around the same time, the old St. Paul's Catholic Church in Beloit was going to be torn down. Joyce chose the church as the perfect spot for her museum. People in Beloit helped turn the church into a museum.
The Angel Museum officially opened on May 1, 1998. The city of Beloit let the museum use the church building for only $1 a year! When people visited, Joyce Berg sometimes dressed up in a fun angel costume. She wore cherub socks, angel earrings, a halo, and even wings!
The museum stayed open for 20 years. But in 2018, it had to close. The people who ran the museum wrote a letter saying they didn't have enough money or helpers to keep it going. All the angels from the museum were sold at an auction in October 2018. The city of Beloit later planned to turn the old church building into a place for events.
Amazing Angel Collections
The Angel Museum was famous for having the biggest private collection of angel figurines in the world. The Guinness Book of World Records even said so in 2001! By 2008, the museum had over 13,600 angels. About 10,000 of these were on display, on loan from Joyce Berg.
These angels came from more than 60 different countries. They were all different sizes, from tiny ones the size of a thimble to huge ones over 5 feet tall! The angels were made from many materials. Some were made of porcelain, glass, copper, or plastic. Others were made from unusual things like lambskin, corn husks, tree roots, and even spaghetti! Outside the museum, two big concrete angels, each weighing 100 pounds, stood guard.
One of the most special parts of the museum was Oprah Winfrey's collection. She donated 571 black angel figurines to the museum. In 1997, on her TV show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Oprah told the singer Cher that it was hard to find black angel figurines. After that, Oprah's fans started sending her so many angels that she had to ask them to stop! Oprah gave her collection to the Angel Museum in 1997, just before it opened. Other people also gave angels to the museum, often as special gifts to remember loved ones.
