Meadows Museum of Art facts for kids

The Meadows Museum of Art is a cool place to see art at Centenary College of Louisiana in Shreveport. Its main job is to collect, protect, and show amazing artworks. It's also a great spot for students who want to learn about art history or how to run a museum. These students often help out at the museum.

The Meadows Museum of Art is one of two art museums started by a generous oilman named Algur H. Meadows. The first one is the Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University.

Museum History

The Meadows Museum of Art opened at Centenary College in 1975. This was a special year because the college was celebrating its 150th birthday! The museum was made possible by a gift from Algur H. Meadows, who used to be a student at Centenary.

In 1969, Mr. Meadows bought 360 original artworks. These pieces were from a French artist named Jean Despujols. Mr. Meadows spent $250,000 on them. He then gave them to Centenary College. His goal was to create a second Meadows Museum. This happened just four years after the first Meadows Museum opened at SMU.

Mr. Meadows also gave $200,000 to the college. This money was used to change an old building into the new art museum. The building was built in 1926 by an architect from Shreveport, Edward F. Neild. It has been used for many things over the years. It was once classrooms, a library, and an office building. Now, it's the Meadows Museum of Art. Later, Mr. Meadows gave another $150,000 to help keep the museum running.

The Indochina Collection

The Meadows Museum at Centenary College started with a special collection. It was different from the Spanish art collection at SMU's Meadows Museum. Centenary's museum began with the Indochina Collection. This collection has paintings and drawings by Jean Despujols. He was a French artist who worked for the French government in Indochina from 1936 to 1938. Indochina is an area that today includes Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.

Despujols' art is special because it shows real-life scenes. He accurately drew the different people, cultures, landscapes, and religious practices of the area. This was important because the region would soon change a lot due to wars. Before coming to Shreveport, the collection was shown in Hanoi and Saigon in 1938. It was also displayed at the Smithsonian Museum in 1950. In 1951, National Geographic Magazine even featured 21 paintings from the collection. This collection is one of the largest groups of French colonial art still in existence. Despujols moved to the United States during World War II. He lived in Shreveport, Louisiana, until he passed away.

Willard Cooper, who graduated from Centenary in 1947, became the museum's first art director. He also taught art and led the art department at the college.

The Meadows Museum Today

Since it opened, the museum's collection has grown a lot. It now has about 1600 artworks. The museum has even added traditional clothes from Southeast Asia. These are the same kinds of clothes you can see in Despujols' paintings.

Besides the Indochina Collection, the museum has art by many famous artists. These include George Grosz, Emilio Amero, Mary Cassatt, and William Hogarth. There are also works by Louisiana artists like Clyde Connell and Clementine Hunter.

The Meadows Museum of Art also owns a rare copy of The Triumphal Arch of Maximilian I. This amazing artwork was made by the artist Albrecht Dürer. The museum also has a large collection of Inuit art, which includes prints and sculptures.

Exhibitions and Programs

The Meadows Museum of Art does more than just collect and protect art. It also hosts special art shows that change over time. These shows introduce people to many different kinds of art and artists. The museum also invites art experts and curators from other places to share their knowledge.

Some recent shows have featured artists like Sean Starwars and Mali De-Kalo. The museum also had shows with photographs by Keith Carter and art by Marlene Tseng Yu. A special exhibition celebrated the photographer O. Winston Link.

The museum wants everyone to enjoy art. That's why it never charges money to get in! It's a great place for the Shreveport community to visit. The museum also helps make the college's learning programs even better.

Accreditation

Centenary's Meadows Museum is officially recognized by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). This is the highest award a museum can get in the United States. Being accredited means a museum is excellent. It shows other museums, governments, and visitors that the museum meets high standards. The Meadows Museum first received this award in 1980. It has been re-accredited three times since then. This means it has been a top-quality museum for 40 years!