Cleveland Museum of Art facts for kids

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Cleveland Museum of Art


Established	1913 (1913) (officially opened in 1916)
Location	11150 East Boulevard Cleveland, Ohio
Visitors	769,000 annually (2018)

The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is a famous art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. It is known around the world for its amazing collections of Asian and Egyptian art. The museum has over 61,000 artworks from all over the globe.

A great thing about the CMA is that it offers free general admission to everyone. It is also one of the richest art museums in the United States. With about 770,000 visitors each year, it is one of the most visited art museums in the world.

Discovering the Museum's History

View of the museum from the steps of the Euclid Avenue entrance to Wade Park, overlooking the Lagoon. In the foreground is Frank Jirouch's 1928 bronze sculpture, Night Passing the Earth to Day.

How the Museum Began

The Cleveland Museum of Art started in 1913. It was created with money from important Cleveland business leaders like Hinman Hurlbut, John Huntington, and Horace Kelley. The museum building is made of white Georgian Marble. It was designed in a style called Beaux-Arts. The building cost $1.25 million to build.

The museum is located in Wade Park. The park and museum were designed by a local company, Hubbell & Benes. The museum was meant to be the main feature of the park. The park is named after Jeptha H. Wade, who gave part of his land to the city in 1881.

The museum first opened its doors on June 6, 1916. Jeptha H. Wade II, the grandson of Jeptha H. Wade, said it was "for the benefit of all people, forever." Today, Wade Park and the museum are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Growing Through the Years: 20th Century Expansions

Northern entrance, showing the 1971 addition designed by Marcel Breuer.

The museum has grown many times over the years. In 1958, the first addition opened, making the museum twice as big. This new part added more gallery space and an art library.

In 1971, the North Wing opened. This part was designed by Marcel Breuer, a modernist architect. Its design was very different from the original building. The museum's main entrance moved to the North Wing. Classrooms and lecture halls also moved there, making more room for art galleries in the old building.

Another part, the West Wing, was finished in 1983. This addition gave the museum a bigger library and nine new galleries.

Big Changes in the 21st Century

Inside the museum's atrium, which opened in 2012

Between 2001 and 2012, some of the older additions were taken down. A new, much larger building was constructed. This project cost $350 million and doubled the museum's size. It was designed by Rafael Viñoly.

The new design connected the older parts with new east and west wings. A huge glass roof now covers a central atrium. This atrium was created where the older additions used to be. The east wing opened in 2009, and the north wing and atrium opened in 2012. The West Wing opened in 2014.

This "Building for the Future" project was the biggest cultural project in Ohio's history. It made the museum's total floor space much larger. The museum celebrated the completion of this huge renovation on December 31, 2013.

Chester Beach's 1927 Fountain of the Waters adjacent the museum's main entrance in Wade Park.

In 2021, the Cleveland Museum of Art opened a community arts center. It is in Cleveland's Clark-Fulton neighborhood. This center displays art and floats from past "Parade the Circle" events.

Exploring Wade Park's Art

Wade Park is not just a park; it's also an outdoor art gallery! Many sculptures from the museum's collection are displayed here. You can find them between the museum's main entrance and the lagoon.

Some highlights include:

Chester Beach's 1927 Fountain of the Waters.
A monument to the Polish hero Tadeusz Kościuszko.
Frank Jirouch's 1928 bronze sundial, Night Passing the Earth to Day. This sundial sits across Wade Lagoon from the museum.

Auguste Rodin's famous sculpture, The Thinker, is at the top of the museum's main staircase. In 1970, the statue was damaged. It was never fully fixed. This damage makes this particular casting of The Thinker very special. It was the last one made during Rodin's lifetime. A plaque at its base tells its unique story.

Amazing Art Collections

The Spitzer Cross, a 12th-century example of Medieval art.

George Bellows, Stag at Sharkey's, 1909.

The Cleveland Museum of Art has 16 different art departments. These include Chinese Art, African Art, European Art, American Painting and Sculpture, and Photography.

Many famous artists have their works here, such as:

The museum also has a strong collection of sub-Saharan African art. It is also known for having one of the best collections of Asian art in the U.S.

In 2004, the museum bought an ancient bronze sculpture called Apollo Sauroktonos. Experts believe it might be an original work by the famous Greek sculptor Praxiteles. The museum has studied the statue carefully. In 2013, they held a special exhibit about it. They announced that it was likely an original work by Praxiteles himself.

In 2008, the United States Postal Service chose the museum's Botticelli painting, Virgin and Child with the Young John the Baptist, for their Christmas stamp.

Modern European Painting and Sculpture

This collection features art from 1800 to 1960. It includes about 537 pieces. You can see works from Impressionism, Post-impressionism, and German Expressionism here.

The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, by J. M. W. Turner, 1834–35
Reading, by Berthe Morisot, 1873
The Red Kerchief Portrait of Madame Monet, by Claude Monet

European Painting and Sculpture

This collection holds art from 1500 to 1800. It includes important works from the Italian Baroque, Spanish Baroque, and Italian Renaissance periods. There are also many French, British, and Dutch paintings.

The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew, Caravaggio, 1607 - Post-Restoration
Saint Paul the Hermit, Mattia Preti, 1663
Portrait of a Woman, by Cornelius Johnson, 1619
Tieleman Roosterman, Frans Hals, 1634
The House in Nazareth, by Francisco de Zurbarán, c. 1640
Holy Family on the Steps, Nicolas Poussin, 1648
A Hare and a Leg of Lamb, Jean-Baptiste Oudry, 1742

American Painting and Sculpture

This collection has about 300 paintings and 90 sculptures. Some famous pieces include William Sideny Mount's The Power of Music and Frederic Edwin Church's Twilight in the Wilderness. The museum also highlights art from local Cleveland artists.

Twilight in the Wilderness, by Frederic Edwin Church, 1860
The Race Track (Death on a Pale Horse), by Albert Pinkham Ryder

Photography Collection

The museum has a small but important collection of fine art photography. It includes works from early photographers from France, England, and America. The collection also has special sets like The North American Indian by Edward S. Curtis.

A Nakoaktok Chief's Daughter
Walker Evans, Allie Mae Burroughs, Wife of a Cotton Sharecropper, Hale County, Alabama, 1936.

Decorative Art and Design

This collection is well-known around the world. It includes beautiful and useful objects where the shape and decoration are the main focus.

A cabinet from 1690

Asian Art

Cloudy Mountains, Mi Youren, 1130

Ingalls Library: A Treasure of Books

The Cleveland Museum of Art also has the Ingalls Library. It is one of the biggest art libraries in the United States. When the museum started in 1913, the plan was to have a library with 10,000 books. By the 21st century, the library had over 500,000 books! The library was a big part of the museum's $350 million expansion project.

ARTLENS Gallery: Interactive Art Fun!

Museum visitors interacting with a gesture-based ARTLENS display.

The ARTLENS Gallery is a cool, interactive space. It uses digital screens and a mobile app to help visitors explore the museum's art. ARTLENS has four main parts:

The ArtLens Wall is a huge 40-foot screen. You can use it to see all the artworks in the museum, even some that aren't currently on display. The wall shows artworks grouped by things like shape or color.
The ArtLens Exhibition has different artworks that you can explore with digital games. For example, you can match your hand gestures to an artwork or copy poses from paintings.
The ArtLens Studio lets you create your own digital art. You can make digital pottery or collages using images from the museum.
The ArtLens mobile app gives you information about the museum and its art. It can even tell you where you are in the museum using Bluetooth. You can save your favorite artworks in the app.

Studies show that ARTLENS makes visiting the museum more fun. Most visitors felt it "enhanced their overall museum experience." It also encouraged them to "look closely at art and notice new things." People spent much more time looking at art after using ARTLENS.

Special Programs and Events

The Cleveland Museum of Art offers many special events. These include art exhibitions, talks, movies, and music concerts. The performing arts department brings talented artists from around the world to Cleveland.

The education department creates programs for all ages. They have lectures, studio classes, and community events. Some popular events are "Parade the Circle," the "Chalk Festival," and the "Winter Lights Lantern Festival."

Open Access to Artworks

A digital display highlighting works released as part of the Open Access initiative.

In 2019, the Cleveland Museum of Art made a big announcement. They decided to share high-quality images and information for about 30,000 artworks from their collection. These artworks are now in the "public domain." This means anyone can use them for free! This "Open Access" material is available on a special part of the museum's website.

Museum Leadership and Support

Visitor Numbers

The museum welcomes many visitors each year. In 2018, a record 769,435 people visited the museum. This was the highest number of visitors since 1987!

How the Museum is Funded

The Cleveland Museum of Art is one of the richest art museums in the country. A large part of its money comes from an endowment. This is a special fund that earns interest. The museum also gets support from the Ohio Arts Council and Cuyahoga County residents. This money helps the museum operate and buy new artworks.

Art with a Past: Researching Provenance

The museum carefully researches the history of its artworks. This is called provenance. Sometimes, an artwork's history might be unclear. For example, in 2013, the museum worked with the family of Arthur Feldmann regarding a drawing. The museum paid the family to keep the drawing, which had been taken from him before he died. In 2017, the museum returned an ancient Roman marble head to Italy. This head had been taken from a museum there in 1944. The museum continues to work to ensure its collection has clear and ethical histories.

Museum Directors

William M. Griswold (2014–present)
Fred Bidwell (2013–2014, interim director)
David Franklin (2010–2013)
Deborah Gribbon (2009–2010, interim director)
Timothy Rub (2006–2009)
Katharine Lee Reid (2000–2006)
Kate Sellars (1999–2000, interim director)
Robert P. Bergman (1993–1999)
Evan H. Turner (1983–1993)
Sherman E. Lee (1958–1982)
William M. Milliken (1930–1958)
Frederic Allen Whiting (1913–1930)

Images for kids

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Winter Lights Lantern Festival.
Noche Flamenca, part of CMA's VIVA! & Gala, now called the Performing Arts Series.