The Andy Warhol Museum facts for kids
The Andy Warhol Museum in 2020
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| Established | May 13, 1994 |
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| Location | 117 Sandusky Street Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Type | Art museum |
| Visitors | 106,396 (2010) |
| Official name: Andy Warhol Museum (Volkwein's, Frick & Lindsay Building) | |
| Designated: | 2000 |
The Andy Warhol Museum is a special place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the biggest museum in North America that is all about one artist. This museum celebrates the life and art of Andy Warhol. He was a famous pop art artist born in Pittsburgh.
The museum is part of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. It was created with help from the Carnegie Institute, the Dia Art Foundation, and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
The museum building is very large, about 88,000 square feet. It has seven floors filled with art. There are 17 galleries to explore. You can see about 900 paintings and nearly 2,000 drawings. The museum also has over 1,000 unique prints and 77 sculptures. Plus, there are 4,000 photographs and more than 4,350 films and videos by Warhol. The museum also shares Warhol's art with the world. Since 1996, it has sent 56 traveling exhibits to 153 places. These shows have been seen by almost nine million people!
Contents
The Museum's Story
Plans for The Andy Warhol Museum were first announced in October 1989. This was about two and a half years after Andy Warhol passed away. When the museum was announced, artworks worth about $80 million were given to it. These gifts came from the AWFVA and the Dia Art Foundation.
Getting Ready to Open
Thomas N. Armstrong III became the museum's first director in 1993. He used to be the director of the Whitney Museum of American Art. Before the museum opened, Matt Wrbican joined the team. He helped sort through Warhol's belongings in New York. Matt later became the museum's archivist and a top expert on Warhol's art.
By 1993, the museum building was ready. It was an old industrial warehouse that was renovated. The changes cost about $12 million. The AWFVA also gave more than 1,000 of Warhol's artworks. These were worth over $55 million. Later, this donation grew to about 3,000 artworks.
Opening Day and Beyond
The museum officially opened on May 13–14, 1994. About 25,000 people visited during the opening weekend! Thomas Armstrong, the first director, left nine months after the opening.
On November 1, 1997, the museum received an important gift. The AWFVA gave the museum all the copyrights for Warhol's films and videos. This means the museum now owns the rights to these works.
New York Annex Plans
In 2013, there were plans to open a smaller museum in Manhattan, New York City. This annex was going to be part of a new development called Essex Crossing. It was planned to open by 2017. However, in March 2015, the museum decided not to open the New York annex.
Lost Music Discovered
In October 2019, something exciting was found at the museum. An audio tape of music by Lou Reed was discovered. This music had never been heard by the public before. It was based on Warhol's 1975 book, "The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again".
The Pop District Project
In 2022, the museum announced a big new project. It is called The 'Pop District'. This project will expand the museum's presence over six blocks in Pittsburgh. The plan is to build a music venue and a social media studio. The studio will be called Warhol Creative. There will also be more places for public art exhibits.
The new area will be around 58,000 square feet. It will include a concert venue for up to 1,000 people. There will also be an events space for up to 360 people. This big project is expected to take ten years to complete. It is mainly funded by local foundations.
See also
- List of single-artist museums
- Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art, Medzilaborce, Slovakia
