Foosaner Art Museum facts for kids
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| Established | March 14, 1978 |
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| Location | 1463 Highland Avenue Melbourne, Florida |
| Type | Art |
The Foosaner Art Museum was a special place for art lovers. It used to be called the Brevard Art Museum. This museum was located in Melbourne, Florida, right by the Indian River.
Since it first opened in 1978, the museum collected over 5,000 art pieces. These artworks covered 20 centuries of history. They showed the museum's interests and the lives of people in the community.
Visitors could always see new and exciting art shows. These shows featured artists from around the world. They displayed both modern and historical art styles. The museum's main collection focused on Modern and Contemporary Art. It also held a large collection of works by Ernst Oppler.
Contents
Discovering the Museum's History
How the Museum Started
The Foosaner Art Museum began on March 8, 1978. It was first known as the Brevard Art Center and Museum, Inc. Its first building was bought in the summer of 1978. It was then changed to fit the needs of an art museum. This first space had three galleries and was about 4,500 square feet.
Growing with Community Support
In June 1980, a kind person named Samuel J. Foosaner made a big donation. This gift helped the museum buy another building. This new building was 6,000 square feet and was next to the first one. It was turned into the Renee Foosaner Education Center. Here, kids and adults could take art classes and create their own art.
In February 1986, the museum moved to an even bigger place. This new building was across the street. It had five galleries, which tripled the space for art shows. It also had more room for offices and storing artworks safely. This allowed the museum to show more important collections. The permanent collection grew to over 3,000 objects.
Adding Science and Education
After a local science museum closed in 1994, the art museum decided to expand. They added a children's science education area. This new part added about 5,000 square feet of science exhibits. The new science center opened in the fall of 1995.
In February 1995, the museum officially changed its name. It became the Brevard Museum of Art and Science. Later, in 1999, the science center was named the Ruth Cote Clemente Children's Science Center. This was to honor a generous donor.
Teaching and learning remained very important to the museum. It offered many programs for everyone in the community. As the largest art museum in Brevard County, Florida, it was a key place for both locals and visitors.
Changes and Mergers
More than 30 years after it started, the museum had grown a lot. It had much more exhibition space. It also used modern ways to care for and store its growing art collection. The Renee Foosaner Education Center continued to offer classes. These included pottery, painting, drawing, and printmaking.
In June 2007, the museum's name changed again. It went from the Brevard Museum of Art and Science back to the Brevard Art Museum. The old Science Center space was then used to make bigger painting and ceramic studios.
On July 1, 2011, the museum joined with the Florida Institute of Technology. This is a university in the Southeast. The museum received a $1 million gift from the Foosaner Foundation. This gift came from Samuel Foosaner's daughter, Dione Negroni-Hendrick. The museum was then officially named the Foosaner Art Museum.
The Museum's Closure
In January 2018, the university decided to close the museum. This was because it was expensive to run. However, a second vote in February allowed it to stay open until July 2021. Florida Tech sold the museum building to developers in April 2020. The museum's art collection was then moved to the Appleton Museum of Art in Ocala.
Past Exhibitions
The Foosaner Art Museum hosted many interesting exhibitions over the years. Here are a few examples:
- Langdon Kihn: An American Story (March 22 - May 11, 2014): This show featured over 80 artworks by W. Langdon Kihn. Many pieces came from Dr. Clifford Bragdon's personal collection. The exhibit also included photos from The New York Times. These photos showed Kihn's career. There were also items from western North American Indigenous communities.
- Clyde Butcher: Florida's Photographer (June 8, 2019 – ): This exhibition displayed 69 stunning black and white landscape photographs. They captured the beauty of Florida.
- Abstraction: Retrospective Memories (March 2021 – July 2021): This show featured works by Rene Griffith and Steve Steinberg.
