Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art facts for kids

The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art (NEHMA) is a cool place to see art! It's an art museum at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. This museum focuses on modern and contemporary art. That means you'll see art from recent times, not just very old paintings.

NEHMA started in 1982. It began with a special collection of ceramic art. This art was given by a kind person named Nora Eccles Harrison, who the museum is named after. Today, the museum has over 5,500 art pieces. Most of these artworks are from the western part of the United States.

Discovering Art at NEHMA

The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art is a great spot to explore art from the American West. It shows how art has changed over time. You can see many different styles here. The museum helps people learn about art and how it connects to our lives.

What Kind of Art Will You See?

The museum's main collection focuses on art from the western United States. You can find art from important art movements. These include styles like Beat art and Los Angeles Post-Surrealism. There's also Santa Fe Transcendentalism and Bay Area Abstract Expressionism. These are all different ways artists have expressed themselves.

The museum also collects and shows new art. This art gives you a peek into the lively art scenes in cities across the Western United States. It's like seeing what artists are creating right now!

A Special Gift: The Vogel Collection

NEHMA is also home to a very special art collection. It's called the Vogel Collection. In 2008, the museum received 50 artworks from New York art collectors Herbert and Dorothy Vogel. This was part of a big program. The program gave 50 artworks to one museum in each of the 50 states. It's a huge gift of modern and contemporary art!

The Museum's Journey: How NEHMA Grew

Nora Eccles Harrison and her husband, Richard Harrison, helped start the museum. They gave money to build the museum building. They also donated more than 400 ceramic art pieces. The building was designed by a famous architect named Edward Larrabee Barnes. It first opened its doors in 1982.

The museum's art collection keeps growing. It adds more ceramics, drawings, paintings, and sculptures. This growth is possible thanks to support from several foundations. These include the Marie Eccles Caine Foundation and the Kathryn Caine Wanlass Foundation.

NEHMA is officially recognized by the American Alliance of Museums. This means it meets high standards for museums. It's also a certified Utah museum. The museum is always working to collect, protect, and show modern and contemporary art. It offers many educational programs for students and the public.

Past Exhibitions: A Look Back

The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art often changes its exhibitions. This means there's always something new to see! Here are some examples of past shows:

• ideas: an exhibition (January 22 – May 4, 2013): This show was put together by students. They explored "Conceptual Art." This is art where the idea behind it is more important than the finished artwork.

• Fragments of Terror: Drawings by Jim Starrett (January 16, 2012 – June 11, 2012): This exhibition featured 27 paintings and drawings. Jim Starrett's art was described as having "cool passion" and "fiery ice."

• Bang! Thwack! Plop! Comics: an Influence on Contemporary Art (June 14, 2011 – July 28, 2012): This exhibition looked at how comics have influenced modern art. It showed how ideas and styles from comics have crossed into the world of visual art.

• EcoVisionaries: Designs for Living on Earth (August 31, 2010 – May 9, 2011): This show featured artists who think about the environment. They used unusual materials to create new ideas. Their goal was to help reduce human impact on nature.

• Abstracting the Land: Southwest Transcendentalism (November 2007 – May 3, 2008): This exhibition showed art from the museum's collection. It focused on painters from New Mexico in the 1930s. These artists wanted their art to go beyond just showing landscapes or people.