Columbus Museum of Art

By Bebaychna Rai on November 22, 2011 in Arts And Museums

Columbus museum of art is an experience of great art for everyone. The museum presents art exhibitions, organizes art making activity and reflects its belief that art has its own unspoken language and it does communicate to each and every one of us in various different ways. Columbus museum of art projects that art is a means through which a person communicates to its inner self and also to the outside world.

Columbus Museum of Art Location

Columbus museum of art is an art museum which is located at Columbus, Ohio. Columbus Ohio art museum is the first museum in Ohio to register its charter to the state as an art museum.

Columbus Museum of Art History

It was established in the year 1878 and was called the Columbus gallery of fine arts. The building of Columbus art museum Ohio was originally a session mansion, which was later replaced in the year 1931. In January 22, 1931 the museum was opened. The designs were by the Columbus architects named Richards, Bulford and McCarty. The museum has been registered under the national register of historic places because of its architectural importance on March 19, 1992.

Columbus Museum of Art Exhibits

Around 200,000 people come to visit the museum of art and design to tour or to take part in the various activities presented and organized by the museum for all age groups from school kids to scholars. The art museum connects to various people with diverse interest and style. The Columbus metropolitan museum of art has mainly focused on the collection of European and American modern art which are from the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century. But in the recent years, the museum has also started focusing on the contemporary arts and the photography collections too. ????

The collection of arts from the museum mainly includes examples of German Expressionism, Impressionism and Cubism. The museum of art Columbus has also recognized the arts of the regional artists. The museum has recognized the largest collection of the art of wood carving by the local Columbus folk artist Elijah Pierce and the paintings and lithographs of the artist who is a native from Columbus named George Bellows, he is also regarded as the finest American artist of his times.

The museum acquired the photography collection in the year 2001. The photographs of the artist like W. Eugene Smith, Berenice Abbott and Weegee were included in the photo league collection. Later in 2005 the art museum acquired the collection of American Social Contemporary art 1930- 1970 created by Philip and Suzanne Schiller. The Chief Curator of Smithsonian American Art Museum, Virginia Mecklenburg has even considered the collection of Philip and Suzanne Schiller as the most important collection of its kind in the country.

The museum’s permanent collect includes early cubist paintings by Juan Gris and Picasso, and works by Matisse, Edward Hopper, Boucher, Norman Rockwell, Degas, Cézanne and Ingres. The museum now has collection of photography from artist like Ben Shahn, Moses Soyer, Jared French, Romare Bearden, Lucienne Bloch, Lucile Blanch, George Tooker, Rockwell Kent, Paul Cadmus, George Grosz and Jacob Lawrence.

The walls of the museum galleries are traditionally decorated with various colors rather than the contemporary style of white block cubes. The paintings are placed in the old salon style with the painting hung above and next to the other painting than to place it on the side of the other painting spaced apart. The museum also has other features like the outdoor sculpture gallery, an “Eye spy: Adventure in art”, a café, and an interactive activities mostly for children.

There are exhibitions organized by the museum and some of them include symphonic poem. This was an exhibition by more than 100 mix media works of Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, it explores the artist memory of her neighborhood Columbus Ohio, while celebrating and reviving the histories of the vanishing African American communities. The museum also held the exhibition of the Columbus artist Aminah Robinson. The illusions of Eden: visions of the American heartland was held in 18th Feb. – 30thApril 2000, which brought four contemporary arts from the 1920’s to 1940’s to explore the identities of the region’s culture. It included photographs, more than 100 paintings and four installations which explored and captured the spirit of the nation. These were considered the millennium project which was toured outside the United States to promote political, economic and culture exchange.

Columbus Museum of Art Educational Programs

There are educational programs held at the museum for groups, adults, families and for teachers. These programs give an opportunity to individuals to brush up on their skills or to learn about the inspiration of the famous artist.

Columbus Museum of Art Operating Hours

Tuesday to Sunday: 10am to 5:30pm

Mondays: closed

Thursdays: 10:30am to 8:30pm

The museum would be closed on Columbus Day, Martin Luther King Day, Labor Day, President’s day, Thanks giving day, Memorial Day, and Christmas day.

On the following dates, the museum would close early:

Thanks giving eve, 24th November: 3pm

Christmas Eve, 24th December: 3pm

New Year’s Eve, 31st December: 3pm

Columbus museum of Art Tickets

Members: Free

Adults: $10

Seniors 60+ and students 18+:$8

Students 6 to 17: $5

Children under 5: Free

The Columbus museum of art provides various opportunities for the visitors of all age and taste for an experience to come closer to art. From interactive sessions for the kids to interaction with the artist themselves and the lectures held at the museum by prominent scholars, all these activities gives an opportunity to communicate with our self and to the community through art. The artists’ talk are held where the artist themselves talks about their work, its process, what were their inspiration and what can be taken from the art.