Maier Museum of Art facts for kids

The Maier Museum of Art is a special place at Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia. It shows amazing artworks by American artists. These artworks were created from the 1800s all the way up to today. Randolph College has been collecting art since 1907. The museum now holds thousands of paintings, drawings, prints, and photos. The Maier Museum also has many exciting art shows and learning programs throughout the year.

How the Museum Started

Randolph-Macon Woman's College was the first college for women in the southern United States. It was started by William Waugh Smith. He got help from a company called River Mont Land Company. They gave 20 acres of land in what is now Lynchburg, Virginia.

Mr. Smith also raised $100,000 from 150 people in the area. The college officially opened on March 10, 1891. The first students arrived in 1893. There were 36 female students and 12 professors.

The college's art collection began in 1907. The senior class asked a famous artist, William Merritt Chase, to paint a picture. It was a portrait of William Waugh Smith, the college's first president.

In 1911, Louise Jordan Smith became the college's first art professor. She started a yearly art show featuring new art. Since then, the college has bought at least one artwork from each show. This helped the art collection grow a lot.

In 2007, Randolph-Macon Woman's College started accepting both male and female students. Its name changed to Randolph College.

The Yearly Art Show

Louise Jordan Smith, the first art professor, loved American art. She knew her students could not easily travel to New York City to see art. So, she decided to bring the art to them!

In 1911, she started a yearly art show on campus. This show featured new and exciting art from that time. Because of these shows, the college's art collection grew. It now includes works by famous artists like Winslow Homer, Mary Cassatt, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Edward Hopper.

In 1986, the museum hosted a special traveling show. It was called "Tour of America." This show featured art by three women artists. They were Leny Aardse-Scholten from the Netherlands, Sheila Reid from America, and Mariette Teisserenc from France.

Project Y: A Secret Art Hideaway

In 1951, the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. created a secret storage place. It was code-named "Project Y." This special place was built on the campus of Randolph-Macon Woman's College. It was for their important art collection.

This secret building was made of strong concrete. It was designed to protect art during a national emergency, like the Cold War. The college agreed to let the National Gallery use it for 50 years. In return, the college would own the building.

A group called the A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust paid for the building. It was finished in 1952 and cost less than $250,000. People simply called it "the art gallery." The National Gallery of Art even had trucks ready to move their masterpieces there quickly. The building also had a small house for the gallery's art expert.

In the mid-1970s, the college got permission to update the building. They wanted to make it better for students, teachers, and visitors. The National Endowment for the Arts helped pay for these changes.

After more updates in 1981-82, the building got a new name. In 1983, money from the Sarah and Pauline Maier Scholarship Foundation helped create a special fund for the museum. That's when "the art gallery" became the Maier Museum of Art.