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 an art museum located at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. It is part of the UF Cultural Plaza area on the university campus.

The Harn Museum is a very large building, covering about 112,800 square feet. This makes it one of the biggest university art museums in the southern United States. It has 40,400 square feet of space just for showing art.

The museum also features five beautiful gardens, a large auditorium with 250 seats, a museum shop, and a study center. There is also a café and classrooms for learning. The Harn has a main collection of art that stays there, plus many special exhibits that change over time.

The museum's main collection has more than 11,300 art pieces. These pieces focus on Asian, African, modern, and contemporary art. They also have a strong collection of photography. The museum hosts art shows from around the world and ones focused on Florida.

The University of Florida helps the museum offer fun and educational programs. These include films, lectures, hands-on activities, and special events for schools and families.

In October 2005, the Harn Museum got bigger with a new section called the Mary Ann Harn Cofrin Pavilion. This added over 18,000 square feet of space. It brought new areas for learning and meetings, plus the Camellia Court Cafe. This cafe was the first place for visitors to eat in the Cultural Plaza.

In August 2021, the museum announced plans for another new wing. This expansion will add 20,000 square feet of space.

The museum is officially recognized by the American Alliance of Museums. This means it meets high standards for museums. You can even take a virtual tour of the museum online!

History of the Harn Museum

The Harn Museum of Art is named after Samuel Peebles Harn (1893–1957). His family, including his wife, daughters, and grandchildren, gave the first gift to the University of Florida to build the museum. In 1983, the family promised more than $3 million for the museum's construction. The Harn Museum of Art officially opened its doors on September 20, 1990.

In 2000, the family of David A. Cofrin made a gift to fund a new 18,000-square-foot addition. This addition, named the Mary Ann Harn Cofrin Pavilion, opened in October 2005. The Cofrin Pavilion added 6,500 square feet of space to show international contemporary art. It also included the Camellia Court Café, an outdoor plaza, and the Goforth Learning Center. This learning center is used for meetings, programs, and educational activities.

Outdoor garden alongside the Asian art wing

On February 6, 2008, Dr. and Mrs. David A. Cofrin gave $10 million to the University of Florida. This money was for a new wing just for Asian art. This 26,000-square-foot addition opened in 2012 on the northwest side of the museum. It features a special gallery for Asian art, offices for curators, and storage space for the Asian collections. The expansion also included an outdoor Asian garden to go with the new wing.

Museum Leadership

The first director of the Harn Museum of Art was Budd Harris Bishop. He had worked at the Columbus Museum of Art before. He started at the Harn in 1987. He chose the architect for the building, hired the staff, and greatly grew the art collection. Bishop was the director until 1998.

Rebecca Nagy then served as 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 had previously worked at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Museum Architecture

Harn Museum architecture

The original design for the Harn Museum was created by Kha Le-Huu. He was born in South Vietnam and studied architecture at the University of Florida. Le-Huu designed the building to include ideas from Buddhist gardens in the entrance area. He also used his modern style with geometric shapes, like the tetrahedron. Kha Le-Huu & Partners, from Orlando, also designed the additional 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 gardens were designed by Hoichi Kurisu of Kurisu International. The Arts in Medicine (AIM) program at the University of Florida works with patients to create new patterns in the Zen rock garden. This is a form of therapy for them. There are also two other gardens, designed by Aaron Lee Wiener, that you can see from inside the museum's galleries.

Art Collections

The Harn Museum has over 10,000 pieces of art in its collections. These artworks are shown at the museum or loaned to other places for 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, it has a collection of prints and drawings made before 1850.

African Art Collection

The art in the African collection dates from the 5th century BCE all the way to the 21st century. This collection includes many different types of art, such as wood sculptures, textiles (fabrics), ceramics, leatherwork, beadwork, metalwork, and paintings. The collection mainly focuses on art from West Africa. However, it also has works from different groups across West, Central, South, and East Africa. An important part of this collection from early on was its wooden sculptures, especially masks and figures.

Asian Art Collection

The Asian collection includes art from the Neolithic period (very old times) up to today's contemporary works. The art in this collection uses materials like ceramics, jades, metalwork, stone sculptures, paintings, and prints. This collection has over 2,000 pieces, showing a wide variety of art. It features works from India, Japan, and China, along with many other Asian countries.

Contemporary Art Collection

The works in the Contemporary collection are from 1945 to the present day. This collection includes paintings, photography, multi-media art, installation art, and film. It has almost 1,500 items from important contemporary art movements. It also features works from new artists around the world. The art from this collection is often shown in exhibits that focus on specific themes or ideas.

Modern Art Collection

The Modern collection covers art from the mid-19th century to the first half of the 20th century. The art in this collection includes paintings, sculptures, prints, and drawings. The collection has nearly 1,000 works from Europe and the Americas. Many pieces show major art movements in American art, like Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and early Modernism. The European works are from France, Italy, Germany, and Spain. There is also a growing collection of Latin American art from Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, Guatemala, Brazil, and Puerto Rico.

Photography Collection

The Photography collection includes photos from the 19th century up to today. It features different types of photography, from daguerreotypes (very early photos) to large color prints. The collection started by getting works from famous photographers like Robert Frank and Irving Penn. As photography became a main focus, more works from many different photographers were added. A special part of the collection is the works of Jerry Uelsmann. He helped make the University of Florida a key place for studying photography. The collection also has works by many others who taught or studied at the University of Florida.

Images for kids

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  Utagawa Kuniyoshi

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  Dvarapala

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  Umberto Boccioni

Selected Artists

Many artists have their work shown in the museum, including:

See also

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

• University of Florida
• Buildings at the University of Florida