Mead Art Museum facts for kids
The Mead Art Museum is a cool place that holds the amazing art collection of Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. It first opened its doors in 1949. The building is named after a famous architect named William Rutherford Mead, who went to Amherst College a long time ago. His wife, Olga Kilyeni Mead, left all her money to the college, which helped make the museum possible. The Mead Art Museum is part of a group called Museums10, and it's free for everyone to visit!
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What You Can See at the Mead
The Mead Art Museum has a huge collection of about 19,000 different art pieces. You can find all sorts of interesting things there, like:
- Paintings from America and Europe
- A special collection of Russian art from Thomas P. Whitney
- Cool pottery from Mexico
- Tibetan scroll paintings, which are like long, painted stories
- A whole room from England that's over 300 years old
- Ancient carvings from Assyria
- Sculptures from West Africa
- Beautiful Japanese prints
You can even search through the museum's collection online using a special database shared with other local museums.
Awesome Things to Explore
Ancient Assyrian Carvings
Imagine stepping back in time to 879 B.C.E.! That's how old some of the carvings at the Mead are. In 1857, Amherst College got these special stone panels from the palace of a king named Ashurnasirpal II in a place called Nimrud. The walls of his palace were covered with these huge carvings.
One carving shows King Ashurnasirpal II wearing fancy clothes and a royal hat. In one hand, he holds a cup for offering gifts to the gods, and in the other, he has his bow, which shows how brave and strong he was in battle. Next to him are carvings of winged spirits, who were believed to protect the king.
These carvings also have ancient writing called cuneiform. This writing tells stories about King Ashurnasirpal II's victories in war, how special he was to the gods, and how grand his palace and other buildings were. He even moved his capital city to a new place called Kalhu (now Nimrud). He built many temples and homes there, and it's thought that up to 60,000 people lived in Kalhu during his time!
So, how did these ancient carvings get to Amherst? A British explorer named Austen Henry Layard found them in 1845. An American missionary named Dwight Marsh suggested that colleges in the U.S. would love to have some of these panels. So, in the early 1850s, panels were sent to colleges like Amherst, Yale, and Dartmouth. Amherst College's president, Edward Hitchcock, helped get them for the college. To make them easier to move, the carvings, which were originally a foot thick, were made thinner and cut into squares. Even then, they weighed about 2 tons! They traveled a long way from Nimrud to the U.S. and were first shown in the college library before moving to a special "Nineveh Gallery."
The Rotherwas Room
Another amazing thing at the Mead is the Rotherwas Room. It's an old English room designed in a style called Jacobean, which was popular in the early 1600s.
This room wasn't built for the museum. It originally came from a big country house in England called Rotherwas Court, where the Bodenham family lived. Sir Roger Bodenham had it made sometime after 1600, and it was finished in 1611. Some of the coolest parts of the room are its carved oak fireplace and the walls covered in beautiful walnut wood panels. Back then, this room was used as a parlor, a cozy space where families would eat privately or have casual visits with guests.
In 1945, a man named Herbert L. Pratt gave the room to Amherst College. Before that, it was in his own large house in New York. While the wooden wall panels and the fireplace are still the original ones, nobody knows exactly what furniture or ceiling designs were in the room when it was first in England.
Fun Programs and Events
The Mead Art Museum isn't just for looking at art quietly! They have lots of free events and programs throughout the school year for students and the community. Some regular events include:
- Exhibition openings: Special parties to celebrate new art shows.
- Student-led tours: Students who know a lot about art will show you around.
- Study At the Mead: During exam times, the museum opens its galleries for students to study, with food and desks!
- Community Day: A fun day for everyone with free art activities, tours, and other programs.
You can always find out about the latest events by checking the Mead's website, Facebook page, or Instagram!
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