Speed Art Museum facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Speed Art Museum

Speed Art Museum, March 2016
Established	1927
Location	2035 South 3rd Street Louisville, Kentucky 40208
Type	Art

The Speed Art Museum, often called the Speed by people in Louisville, Kentucky, is the oldest and largest art museum in Kentucky. It opened in 1927 and is located on Third Street, right next to the University of Louisville. About 180,000 people visit the museum every year!

The Speed offers many cool "art experiences" beyond its amazing collection and special shows. You can enjoy the Speed Concert Series, explore the Art Sparks Interactive Family Gallery, or even attend "After Hours at the Speed" for a fun late-night event.

The museum has art from all over the world, including ancient, classical, and modern art. It mainly focuses on Western art, from very old times to today. You'll find many paintings from the Netherlands, France, and Italy, plus lots of modern art and sculptures.

History of the Speed Art Museum

The Speed Art Museum was built in 1927. It was designed by Arthur Loomis, a famous architect from Louisville. The building has a classic, elegant look with a limestone front. A woman named Hattie Bishop Speed created the museum to honor her husband, James Breckenridge Speed. He was a well-known businessman, art collector, and a very generous person in Louisville. Hattie Speed also set up money to help the museum run, hoping it would always be free to visit.

From 2012 to 2016, the museum had a huge makeover and expansion project that cost $60 million! During this time, the museum was closed, but they opened a smaller place called Local Speed in another part of Louisville. This satellite space hosted special shows and events.

The new North Building added a lot of space, making the museum much bigger. It created room for larger special exhibitions, new galleries for modern art, a welcome center for families, a 150-seat movie theater, an indoor/outdoor café, and a museum shop. There's also a special area for performances and events. Plus, a new outdoor art park was created to display sculptures.

Key Moments in Speed Art Museum History

• 1927 – The Speed Art Museum opens and welcomes over 74,000 visitors in its first year.
• 1928 – The museum celebrates the 100th birthday of Kentucky painter Matthew Harris Jouett with a special show of his portraits.
• 1933 – The museum becomes a private organization with its own governing board.
• 1934 – The museum receives its first big donation: a valuable collection of North American Indian artifacts.
• 1941 – Dr. Preston Pope Satterwhite donates his collection of beautiful 15th and 16th-century French and Italian Decorative Arts, including tapestries and furniture.
• 1944 – Dr. Satterwhite donates an English Renaissance room, which was moved all the way from Devon, England! His gift led to the first of three additions to the museum, completed in 1954.
• 1946 – Paul S. Harris becomes the museum's first professional director. During his time, the museum added many decorative arts and furniture pieces to its collection.
• 1964 – New paintings and furniture from Mrs. W. Blakemore Wheeler's collection go on display. These include works by famous artists like Mary Cassatt, John Constable, Gustave Courbet, Thomas Gainsborough, Paul Gauguin, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and James Abbott McNeill Whistler.
• 1966 – A group called the Charter Collectors forms to help the museum buy art made before 1940.
• 1970 – A new group, the New Art Collectors, forms to help the museum buy contemporary art (art from our time).
• 1973 – The North Wing of the museum opens, adding new space for a theater, offices, and a library.
• 1977 – The Speed celebrates its 50th anniversary! A very important piece of art, Rembrandt's Portrait of a Woman, is added to the collection.
• 1983 – The 1983 Wing opens, adding more gallery space for the museum's permanent collection and special exhibitions.
• 1996 – Alice Speed Stoll passes away and leaves over $50 million to the museum. The Speed closes for a big renovation. They add new lighting, heating, cooling, and interactive labels about the art. The Laramie L. Learning Center and Art Sparks Interactive Family Gallery are also created.
• 1997 – The museum reopens its doors.
• 2012 – The museum begins another huge $60 million expansion project. This will create space for larger special shows, new modern art galleries, a family education center, a movie theater, a café, a shop, and a multi-purpose area for events. The museum closes for three years during construction.
• 2013 – The Speed staff moves to a temporary location downtown and opens Local Speed. This satellite space hosts exhibitions, family activities, and special events while the main museum is being built.
• 2016 – The museum officially reopens on March 12!

Art Collection at the Speed

Rembrandt van Rijn, Portrait of a Forty-Year-Old Woman, 1634

Frederick Arthur Bridgman, Funeral of a Mummy on the Nile, 1877

John Singer Sargent, Interior of the Hagia Sophia, 1891

The Speed Art Museum has a wide variety of art, including African art, ancient art, Native American art, American art, European art, and contemporary art.

Here are some of the famous artists whose works you can see at the Speed:

European Painting and Sculpture

Modern Art

American Painting and Sculpture

Contemporary Art

Museum Directors

• 2017–2021: Stephen Reily
• 2021–present: Raphaela Platow

See also

• List of attractions and events in the Louisville metropolitan area
• List of museums in the Louisville metropolitan area