Huntington Museum of Art facts for kids

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Huntington Museum of Art
Huntington Museum of Art
Established	1947 (1947); opened 1952
Location	2033 McCoy Road Huntington, West Virginia
Type	Art museum
Visitors	50,000+ annually

The Huntington Museum of Art is a cool art museum in Huntington, West Virginia. It's located in the Park Hills neighborhood, right above Ritter Park. This museum is super big, covering over 50 acres of land. It has almost 60,000 square feet of space inside! It's actually the largest art museum in the whole state of West Virginia.

The museum grounds also have fun nature trails to explore. Plus, there's the C. Fred Edwards Conservatory, which is like a giant greenhouse filled with amazing tropical plants. Inside the museum, you'll find all sorts of art. There are paintings, sculptures, and drawings from America and Europe. They also have beautiful glass art, especially pieces made in West Virginia. You can see American folk art, Chinese and Japanese items, and art from Haiti. They even have a collection of old firearms! Besides the art on display, the museum hosts special traveling shows. It also has a library for art research, an auditorium, and five art studios. Artists sometimes visit to teach classes there.

History of the Museum

The Huntington Museum of Art first started in 1947. It officially opened its doors on November 9, 1952. Back then, it was called The Huntington Galleries. The name changed to the Huntington Museum of Art in 1987.

The land for the museum, which is 52 acres, was given by Herbert Fitzpatrick. He also donated his own art collection to start the museum's collection. This first gift included over 400 items. These were a mix of fine art (like paintings and sculptures) and decorative arts (like British silver and rugs). The museum also showed the Dean Firearms Collection when it opened. This collection was later given to the museum and is now always on display.

In the mid-1960s, the museum got bigger thanks to a gift from the Henry L. and Grace Rardin Doherty Foundation. This gift helped build the Grace Rardin Doherty Auditorium and the Francis Art Library. It also added new galleries and a second building with three art studios. All these new parts were designed by a very famous architect named Walter Gropius. He was the founder of a design school called the Bauhaus. More studios were added in the mid-1970s. In the mid-1990s, a new gallery was built for the Near Eastern collection. This collection was given by the Touma Family. At the same time, the C. Fred Edwards Conservatory was added. This was a gift from Joan C. Edwards, a local supporter.

After Isabelle Gwynn Daine passed away in 2004, the museum received a large gift from her. This money helped build a new gallery in 2010. This gallery honors her and her husband, Robert Daine. Mrs. Daine also left money to help pay for future art exhibitions at the museum.

Educational Programs

Walter Gropius Master Artist Program

The Walter Gropius Master Artist Program is a special program at the museum. It brings famous artists to visit. The first artist to teach in this program was Robert Cottingham in 1992. The program was started with money from Roxanna Y. Booth. She wanted to create art education based on the ideas of Walter Gropius. Her son, Alex Booth, also helped make it happen.

Each year, the museum hosts between three and six artists. When a Master Artist visits, the museum shows their artwork. They also give a talk about how they create their art. This talk is open to everyone. Plus, they lead a hands-on workshop in the museum's art studios.

Museum Making Connections

Museum Making Connections (MMC) is the main education program at the Huntington Museum of Art. It has nine different areas of activities. These programs aim to give both kids and adults chances to learn about art. These opportunities might not be easy to find in smaller towns or areas. The activities happen at the museum and also in other places. This includes local schools and after-school programs. About 28,000 people take part in these programs every year!

Art Collections

The Huntington Museum of Art has almost 17,000 artworks! This makes it the biggest art collection in West Virginia. Most of these artworks were given to the museum by people who live in West Virginia. Important donors include Herbert Fitzpatrick and Herman Dean. Others like Ruth and Arthur Dayton, Wilbur Myers, and Winslow Anderson also gave hundreds of gifts. The museum also buys new art to make its collection even better. This is possible because of special funds set up by artists Sarah and Harold Wheeler, and others.

American Art

The American Art collection has many different types of art. You'll find paintings, prints, sculptures, and decorative arts. It also has a large collection of folk art. Many of the first American artworks came from Herbert Fitzpatrick. Later, gifts from The Daywood Collection added even more. The folk art collection grew thanks to a former museum curator, Eason Eige. He found amazing examples in the American South. This includes a self-portrait by the sculptor Asa Ames. The collection also features works by famous artists like Childe Hassam, Robert Henri, John Singer Sargent, Andy Warhol, and Andrew Wyeth.

Asian Art

The Asian Art collection started with Herbert Fitzpatrick's gift of decorative objects. Now, it includes prints, paintings, sculptures, and textiles. The collection has grown with gifts from collectors like William Warner Jones and Charles Burkart. Charles Burkart gave 400 modern and Japanese prints to the museum in 2019.

European Art

The European Art Collection has paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures, and decorative arts. Many of the first European artworks came from Herbert Fitzpatrick. Later, other collectors added more pieces. A special part of the museum's collection is the British silver given by Fitzpatrick. Some of these pieces were made for important British families! You can see works by artists like Georges Braque, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Jean-François Millet, Pablo Picasso, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

Glass and Decorative Arts Gallery – Huntington Museum of Art

Glass Collection

The museum's glass collection is its largest, with over 4,000 objects. These pieces range from ancient times to today. They show the amazing work of many glass companies. There's a special focus on glass made in the mid-Western/Ohio Valley region. Some of the collection is always on display in the Glass and Decorative Arts Gallery. A very cool addition is a large glass tower by artist Dale Chihuly. It's located in the C. Fred Edwards Conservatory. The Wilbur Myers Glass Collection is also part of this big collection.

Inuit Art and Sculpture

The small collection of Inuit art was put together in the early 1950s. Herman Dean, who collected firearms, found these pieces during trips to Canada. He met with art dealers who worked with the artists. Most of the collection has sculptures of people and animals. The museum also has important photos from these trips in the Dean Papers.

The George L. Bagby Collection of British Portraits

George Littlejohn Bagby was a musician from Kentucky. He gave an important group of paintings to the museum. These are portraits made by leading artists in Great Britain during the 1700s. Famous British artists like William Beechey, Henry Raeburn, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and George Romney were very busy painting wealthy people. The museum's collection includes portraits of Miss Arabella Margaretta Phipps and Colonel Sir James Malcolm.

The Daywood Collection

The Daywood Collection was given to the museum starting in the late 1960s. Ruth Woods Dayton donated almost 400 artworks. This collection focuses on American art from the late 1800s and early 1900s. It especially highlights American Impressionism. But it also has some important European artworks. Mrs. Dayton wanted the collection to stay in West Virginia. She chose the Huntington Museum of Art as the best place for it to be kept and shown.

The Herman P. Dean Firearms Collection

Herman Dean's collection of firearms includes many historical objects. It has everything from the earliest hand cannons to weapons from the mid-1800s. It especially focuses on how firing mechanisms developed. It also shows weapons from the American frontier, like the Kentucky Rifle. This collection has 212 firearms. It is the third largest permanent display of firearms in the United States!

Dish with vines and grapes, Turkey, Iznik, 17th century, Touma Collection

The Touma Near Eastern Collection

This collection mostly comes from gifts by Drs. Omayma and Joseph B. Touma. The Touma Near Eastern Collection has over 400 artworks. These include ceramics, glass, paintings, scientific tools, and weapons. The collection is shown in the Touma Near Eastern Gallery, which opened in 1996. Besides the Touma family's gifts, the collection also has important prayer rugs. These rugs were collected by Herbert Fitzpatrick and others.

The Wilbur Myers Glass Collection

Wilbur Myers was a local collector who loved glass objects. He mostly collected pieces made during the Victorian era (1837–1901). Among the hundreds of vases, bowls, and cups are pieces with beautiful enamel work and other decorations. Two very special pieces on display are a pair of rare Morgan vases. These vases were even shown on the TV show Antiques Roadshow in 2015!

The Winslow Anderson Collection of Haitian Art

Winslow Anderson (1917–2007) was an artist and glass designer. He became the main glass designer for the Blenko Glass Company in West Virginia. Starting in 1948, he often traveled to Haiti. There, he looked for art made by local painters and metalworkers. His collection of Haitian artworks first came to the museum in 1981. Later, he gave them to the museum permanently. The collection continues to grow with money he left for the museum.

Living Collections

C. Fred Edwards Conservatory

The C. Fred Edwards Conservatory opened in 1996. It was a gift from Joan C. Edwards. This conservatory is the only one of its kind in West Virginia. It has tropical and subtropical plants. Besides plants, the conservatory is home to many animals! You can see koi fish, poison dart frogs, axolotls, and a saltwater aquarium. The aquarium has different types of corals and other sea animals. The plants in the conservatory are grouped into four main types: Orchids, Agriculturally Important, Fragrant, and Unusual.

Orchids – This collection has many different kinds of orchids from all over the world.
Agriculturally Important – These are plants that we eat or use in some way. Examples include banana, cashew, chocolate, coffee, pineapple, and vanilla.
Fragrant – These plants have very strong and unique smells.
Unusual – This group includes plants that you don't usually see every day. Examples are the pitcher plant and the sensitive plant.

Nature Trail System

The museum's nature trails have been around since the 1950s. By the 1970s, they became part of the national trails system. Now, the trails are over a mile long. There are six different paths with various types of land. These include the Teubert Sensory Trail, which is easy to use for people with disabilities. Other trails are the Gentle Oak trail and the Spicebush trail. The Steelman Butterfly Garden is located at the start of the trail system. It's a great place to see butterflies!

Archaeological Collections

Besides the art, the museum also has two important collections of Native American artifacts. These are The Pitt Stark Archaeological Collection and The Adams Archaeological Collection. These items were found in West Virginia in the late 1800s and early 1900s. They only include non-human items, like tools, animal bones, and pottery pieces. Most of these items are not on display. They are available for viewing only by approved researchers.