Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art facts for kids
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| Established | 1919; in current building since 1979 |
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| Location | 1900 W. MacArthur, Shawnee, Oklahoma  |
| Type | Art Museum |
| Founder | Fr. Gregory Gerrer |
The Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art is a cool art museum in Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA. It's located on land that used to be part of St. Gregory's University. Even though the university closed, the museum kept going strong! It's an independent place, not run by any university.
The museum has over 3,500 amazing artworks. These pieces cover more than 8,000 years of history. You can see art from ancient Egypt, China, and even pre-Columbian cultures. There's also art from Africa, Native America, Europe, and the USA. The museum is special because it has the official picture of Pope Pius X. It also has Oklahoma's only real Egyptian mummies! You can find a gift shop there too, with fun educational toys and local crafts.
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Museum History
The museum is named after Fr. Gregory Gerrer. He was a Benedictine monk who loved art and history. Fr. Gregory traveled all over the world. He visited the United States, Europe, Africa, and South America. During his trips, he collected many artworks and interesting objects. He wanted to bring them back to Oklahoma for everyone to see.
In 1919, his collection moved into Benedictine Hall. It was first called St. Gregory's Abbey Art Gallery and Museum. Later, a new building was built just for the collection. This was possible with help from the Mabee Foundation. The Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art opened in its current building in 1979. An addition was built in 1990 to offer more educational programs.
Ancient Etruscan Treasures
The museum once hosted a very special exhibit called "Etruscan Treasures." The Etruscans were an ancient people who lived in Italy before the Romans. This exhibit showed beautiful gold jewelry and other items from the Vatican Museums. It was the first time some of this gold jewelry was ever shown to the public! The exhibit ran from June to October in 2004.
Mummy Secrets Revealed
In 2015, the two Egyptian mummies at the museum had CT scans. This is like a special X-ray that shows what's inside. The scans helped scientists learn more about how the mummies were prepared. For example, they found that one mummy, named Tutu, had her organs carefully preserved and placed back inside her body before she was wrapped.
What You Can See
The museum's collection started in 1903 with a small gift. Fr. Gregory Gerrer was given an ancient Egyptian scarab (a beetle-shaped charm). This scarab had a special goose symbol carved on it.
The museum has many amazing artifacts. You can see an ancient Egyptian mummy and its sarcophagus (coffin). There are also animal mummies from ancient Egypt. Other cool items include Roman glass and ancient Greek pottery. You can also find ancient Chinese terracotta figures and beautiful European ivory carvings. The collection also includes Venetian armor, Mesoamerican stone carvings, and African masks.
Spanish Colonial Art
The museum also has a collection of Spanish Colonial art. This includes retablos, which are small religious paintings often made on tin. There are also wooden sculptures of saints. One painting, "Christ of Ixmiquilpan," is from the early 1800s. It shows a special scene from Mexico City. Parts of this collection have been shown in other museums too.
See also
- Fr. Gregory Gerrer
- St. Gregory's Abbey
- St. Gregory's University
- Benedictine Hall
- Oklahoma Baptist University
