Lowe Art Museum facts for kids
Lowe Art Museum on the University of Miami campus in October 2015
|
|
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| Established | 1950 |
|---|---|
| Location | University of Miami 1301 Stanford Drive Coral Gables, Florida, U.S. |
| Type | Visual arts museum |
| Visitors | 41,000 |
| Public transit access | Metrorail access via University station |
The Lowe Art Museum is a cool art museum located at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. You can find it right on the university campus, and it's easy to get to by Miami Metrorail if you get off at University Station.
The museum has a huge collection of over 19,250 amazing art pieces! These artworks show more than 5,000 years of human creativity from all over the world. The collection is spread across 14 special rooms, each focusing on a different art style or theme. Besides these rooms, the museum also has the Palley Pavilion, which is all about glass art, and an outdoor garden with modern sculptures.
Contents
History of the Museum
The Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami first opened its doors on February 22, 1950. It was created thanks to a generous gift from two kind people, Joe and Emily Lowe. When it opened, it was the very first art museum in South Florida.
Early Growth and New Buildings
In 1951, Joe and Emily Lowe helped pay for a brand new building just for the museum on the University of Miami campus. This new building was needed because the museum's art collection was growing very fast! The new Lowe Art Gallery officially opened on February 4, 1952.
Just four years later, in 1956, a man named Alfred I. Barton gave his large collection of Native American art to the Lowe. A special 1,300 square-foot area was built to hold these new artworks.
In 1961, the Lowe Art Gallery was chosen to receive 43 important artworks from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. These pieces were European art from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. A new part of the museum was built just for them.
Becoming a Museum and Expanding
In 1968, the Lowe Art Gallery changed its name to the Lowe Art Museum. In 1972, it became the first museum in Miami-Dade County to be officially recognized by the American Alliance of Museums. This means it met high professional standards.
In 1985, the State of Florida recognized the Lowe as a very important cultural place. It was the first museum in Miami-Dade County to get this special title.
In 1991, the museum got even bigger because it kept getting more art, mostly through gifts. A Miami architect named Charles Harrison Pawley designed this big expansion. It added 13,000 square feet of new space for showing art, bringing the museum's total size to over 36,000 square feet. This expansion also improved the museum's air conditioning, security, and fire safety systems.
Amazing Art Collections
The Lowe Art Museum has a huge and varied collection of art. Its permanent collections include art from the Greco-Roman world (ancient Greece and Rome), the Renaissance, and the Baroque periods. It also has European art from the 17th and 19th centuries, 19th-century American Art, and modern art.
The museum's art comes from all over the world, including Latin America, Africa, Asia, Native America, Ancient Americas, and the Pacific Islands. It also has a large collection of beautiful glass artworks. Some famous artists whose glassworks are in the collection include Pablo Picasso, William Morris, and Harvey Littleton.
The museum's most recent expansion, the Myrna and Sheldon Palley Pavilion for Contemporary Glass and Studio Arts, opened in 2008. This added another 4,500 square feet of space for showing art. The museum's collections include pieces from classical archeology to contemporary art.
Ancient Greek and Roman Art
Sylvia and Ray Marchman, Jr. Gallery
This gallery shows pottery, sculptures, metalwork, and glasswork from ancient Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. These pieces date from over 2,000 years ago up to the 4th century CE. You can also see a large painting by Washington Allston called Jason Returning to Demand His Father's Kingdom (1807-1808) here.
Renaissance and Baroque Art
Samuel H. Kress, Palley Gallery and Sheila Natasha Simrod Friedman Gallery
In these galleries, you will find paintings, sculptures, and decorative art from Western Europe during the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. This includes works from the Samuel H. Kress Collection, which the museum received in 1961.
Art from Africa
The Potamkin Family Gallery
This gallery features artworks from all parts of the African continent, especially from the Sub-Saharan Africa region. You can see architectural pieces, ceremonial objects, costumes, textiles, and sculptures. Some pieces are as old as 500 BCE! There are also ceramic, stone, metal, and paper objects from Egypt, the Near East, and Western Asia.
Art from Asia
Sol and Sheila Taplin Gallery
This gallery has ceramics, metalwork, sculptures, costumes, textiles, and architectural pieces from China, Japan, Korea, India, and Southeast Asia. These artworks range from the Neolithic period (very ancient times) up to today.
Indigenous Art of the Americas
Alfred I. Barton Wing
This gallery is kept dimly lit to protect the artworks. It displays pottery, basketry, sculptures, costumes, and textiles made by Native peoples of North, Central, and South America. The works here span from 2500 BCE to modern pieces by living Native artists.
Contemporary and Modern Art
Ben Tobin Galleries
This long gallery is dedicated to contemporary art, which is art made in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. This art is influenced by cultures from all over the world. Contemporary art often mixes different materials and ideas, and it challenges traditional boundaries. It's part of a bigger conversation about things like identity, politics, and nationality.
Contemporary Glass and Ceramics
Myrna and Sheldon Palley Pavillion and Pat and Larry Stewart Hall, Beaux Arts Bay and Matus Bay
The Myrna and Sheldon Palley Pavilion for Contemporary Glass and Studio Arts holds over 100 objects from the Lowe's amazing glass collection, as well as ceramics. This pavilion opened on May 1, 2008, thanks to the generous support of Sheldon and Myrna Palley, who are long-time supporters of the University.
See also
In Spanish: Lowe-Art Museum para niños
