Haan Mansion Museum of Indiana Art facts for kids
A view of main hall and drawing room at Haan Mansion Museum of Indiana Art
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| Established | 2013 |
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| Location | 920 E. State Street, Lafayette, Indiana, US, 47905 (765) 742-6449 |
| Type | Art museum |
The Haan Mansion Museum of Indiana Art is a special place in Lafayette, Indiana. It's a public museum that holds the biggest collection of art from Indiana anywhere in the world! You can find it inside the beautiful Potter-Haan Mansion.
This museum shows off more than 100 paintings by famous Indiana artists, including those from the Hoosier Group and Regionalism art styles. It also has amazing ceramics, old furniture, and other cool decorative items. The museum is part of the American Alliance of Museums, which means it meets high standards for museums.
The museum started with the private art collection of Robert (Bob) and Ellen (Ellie) Haan. They were the people who created and used to own Haan Crafts Corporation.
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History of the Museum
Bob and Ellie Haan bought the mansion in 1984. They started collecting Indiana art in 1992, gathering many wonderful pieces over the years.
The Haan Mansion Museum of Indiana Art officially opened in September 2013. At that time, it started offering public tours once a month. In July 2015, Bob and Ellie Haan gave the mansion building to the museum. This made sure the art collection would be available for everyone to enjoy for a long time.
About the Mansion's Design
The Potter-Haan Mansion is a Colonial Revival style building. It was designed by a talented architect named Edward T. Hapgood. The mansion was built in 1904 by Wales Lines Co. It cost $30,000 to build, which was a lot of money back then!
This mansion was first used as the Connecticut Building at the St. Louis World's Fair. After the fair ended, the entire building was moved all the way to Lafayette, Indiana. Some parts of the mansion, like the front door and entryway, came from an even older house called the Hubbard Slater Mansion, built in 1760.
Inside the mansion, you'll see grand features like columns and pilasters with special "ionic capitals" in the Great Hall. Two of the most amazing parts of the mansion are a wide-open space with a huge brass and crystal chandelier (it has 26 lights!) and a grand double staircase that leads up to the second floor.
Amazing Art Collections
The Haan Museum has the largest collection of paintings by the Hoosier Group artists in the world! This group included five very important Indiana painters: TC Steele, Richard Gruelle, William Forsyth, J. Ottis Adams, and Otto Stark. You can see works by all of them here.
The museum also has two still life paintings by another famous artist, William Merritt Chase. Many artists from the Brown County Art Colony are also shown in the Haan collection, including Ada Walter Shulz.
What You Can See at the Museum
The museum always has over 60 paintings by Indiana's most important historic artists on display. You can also see works by famous historic and modern ceramic artists from Indiana. The mansion itself is filled with beautiful American antique furniture, mostly from the years 1860 to 1890.
Some special pieces of furniture include a very fancy Wooton desk and a huge Thomas Brooks pier mirror. There's even a Swiss music box that plays music with drums, bells, castanets, and sounds like an organ and flute!
At the St. Louis World's Fair, the Weller Pottery Company showed five huge vases. The Haan Museum owns the three largest ones, including a seven-foot-tall Weller vase that won a Gold Medal at the fair!
Outdoor Art and Nature
Outside the mansion, there's a sculpture garden with 25 artworks. These sculptures are made from bronze, ceramics, steel, stone, and glass by Indiana artists. You can explore them along a path that is easy for wheelchairs to use. The path winds through native Indiana plants.
The Sculpture Garden also has a Theater Garden and a stage (which is still being built) for outdoor performances. There's also a nature trail about a mile long that features 30 different types of native Indiana trees. Both the Sculpture Garden and the Nature Trail are open and free to visit every day during daylight hours.
Past Exhibitions
The Haan Museum also hosts special temporary art shows. For example, in 2011, the Indiana State Museum showed an exhibition called "Indiana Realities." This show featured many Indiana paintings from the 1930s and 40s, all from the Haans' collection.
From September to November 2016, the museum had its first temporary exhibit. It was called "Jim Davis: An Indiana Legend" and celebrated Jim Davis, the creator of the famous cartoon cat, Garfield.
In October 2014, the museum hosted the Indiana Ceramics Celebration. This event showed about 500 pieces by Indiana ceramic artists, including Laura Anne Fry, Marvin Bartel, Mark Goertzen, John Goodheart, Richard Tuck, and Alan Patrick.
From April to early July 2017, the museum displayed "100 Cups: One Artist's Journey" by Julia Livingston.
Museum Activities and Events
The Haan Museum offers regular guided tours where you can learn more about the art collection. They also have guided nature walks on their beautiful grounds. During the summer months, you can enjoy music concerts held on the museum lawn.
