Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art

Established	1990
Location	University of Florida Gainesville, Florida
Type	Art Museum
Accreditation	American Alliance of Museums
Collection size	11,300
Architect	Kha Le-Huu

The Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art is a cool art museum located at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. You can find it in the UF Cultural Plaza, which is a special area on campus.

The Harn Museum is one of the biggest university art museums in the southern United States. It has lots of space for showing art, plus five beautiful gardens. There's also a big auditorium, a museum shop, a study center, and even a cafe!

The museum has a huge collection of over 11,300 art pieces. These include art from Asia, Africa, modern and contemporary art, and lots of photography. The Harn also brings in special art shows from all over the world. The university helps by offering fun educational programs like films, lectures, and activities for families and schools.

In 2005, the museum got bigger with a new part called the Mary Ann Harn Cofrin Pavilion. This added more space for learning and meetings, and the Camellia Court Cafe, which was the first place to eat in the Cultural Plaza. In 2021, they announced plans for another new wing, which means even more art to see!

The museum is officially recognized by the American Alliance of Museums. You can even take a virtual tour online before you visit!

Museum History

The Harn Museum of Art is named after Samuel Peebles Harn. His family gave a lot of money to the University of Florida to build the museum. They pledged over $3 million in 1983. The Harn Museum of Art first opened its doors on September 20, 1990.

In 2000, the family of David A. Cofrin also made a big gift. This helped fund an 18,000-square-foot addition. This new part, called the Mary Ann Harn Cofrin Pavilion, opened in October 2005. It has extra space for showing international contemporary art. It also includes the Camellia Court Café and the Goforth Learning Center, which is used for classes and events.

Outdoor garden alongside the Asian art wing

In 2008, Dr. and Mrs. David A. Cofrin gave another $10 million. This money helped build a new wing just for Asian art. This 26,000-square-foot addition opened in 2012. It has a special gallery for Asian art, offices, and storage for the collection. This expansion also included a beautiful outdoor Asian garden.

Who Manages the Museum

The first director of the Harn Museum of Art was Budd Harris Bishop. He started in 1987. He chose the building's architect, hired the staff, and helped build up the museum's art collection. Bishop was the director until 1998.

Rebecca Nagy was the museum director for 16 years. She retired in 2018.

In July 2018, Lee Anne Chesterfield became the new director of the Harn Museum. She used to work at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Museum Architecture

Harn Museum architecture

The original Harn Museum building was designed by Kha Le-Huu. He was a student at the University of Florida. He designed the building to include peaceful elements, like a Buddhist-inspired entrance garden. He also used cool geometric shapes in his modern design. Kha Le-Huu & Partners also designed the newer wing for Asian art, which was finished in 2011.

The Harn Museum has several outdoor gardens. These include an Asian Water Garden and an Asian Rock Garden. These were designed by Hoichi Kurisu. The Arts in Medicine (AIM) program at the University of Florida even uses the zen rock garden for therapy. Patients work with the museum to create new patterns in the rocks. There are also two other gardens that you can see from inside the museum's galleries.

Art Collections

The Harn Museum has over 10,000 pieces of art! These artworks are shown at the museum or loaned to other places for special exhibits. The collection focuses on African, Asian, modern, and contemporary art, as well as photography. The Harn also has art from ancient America and Oceania, plus old prints and drawings from before 1850.

African Art

The art in the African collection is very old, some pieces are from the 5th century BCE! It also includes art from today. You can see sculptures made of wood, textiles, pottery, leather, beads, and metalwork. Most of the collection is from West Africa, but there are also pieces from other parts of Africa. Early on, the museum collected many wooden sculptures, especially masks and figures.

Asian Art

The Asian collection has art from the Neolithic period (a very long time ago) to modern works. It includes pottery, jade, metalwork, stone sculptures, paintings, and prints. This collection has over 2,000 pieces from many different Asian countries, like India, Japan, and China.

Contemporary Art

The Contemporary collection features art from 1945 to today. It includes paintings, photography, multi-media art, installation art, and films. This collection has almost 1,500 items from important art movements and new artists from all over the world. These works are often shown in special themed exhibits.

Modern Art

The Modern collection covers art from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s. It has paintings, sculptures, prints, and drawings. There are nearly 1,000 works from Europe and the Americas. Many pieces show major American art styles like Impressionism and early Modernism. The European art comes from France, Italy, Germany, and Spain. There's also a growing collection of Latin American art from countries like Mexico, Chile, and Brazil.

Photography Collection

The Photography collection includes photos from the 1800s to today. It has everything from daguerreotypes (very early photos) to large color prints. The collection started with famous photographers like Robert Frank and Irving Penn. As photography became more important, the museum added works from many different photographers. A highlight of the collection is the work of Jerry Uelsmann. He helped make the University of Florida a great place to study photography. The collection also has works by many other artists who taught or studied at the university.

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  Utagawa Kuniyoshi

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  Dvarapala

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  Umberto Boccioni

Featured Artists

Here are some of the artists whose amazing work you can see at the museum:

See Also

In Spanish: Museo de Arte Samuel P. Harn para niños

• University of Florida
• Buildings at the University of Florida