Minnesota Museum of American Art

The Minnesota Museum of American Art (MMAA), founded as the St. Paul School of Fine Arts in 1894, is an American art museum with offices in Saint Paul, Minnesota.[1] The museum has been housed in a variety of St. Paul locations throughout its history, including the Jemne Building, Landmark Center, and through January 2009, the West Publishing Company.

Minnesota Museum of American Art
Location within Minnesota
Former nameMMAA MMAA Project Space
Established1927
Location350 Robert Street North St. Paul, Minnesota 55101
Typeart museum
DirectorKristin Makholm
Websitewww.mmaa.org

History

Founded in 1894 as St. Paul School of Fine Arts, and membership at the time cost $3.[2] In 1909, the name changed to St. Paul Institute (or St. Paul Institute of Art and Science) and briefly became part of the forerunner to the Science Museum of Minnesota.[2] From 1910 to 1918, artist Lee Woodward Zeigler was the director of the Saint Paul Institute.[3][4]

The museum incorporated in 1926.[2] In 1939 it was renamed the St. Paul Gallery and School of Art.[2] The institution began collecting art in 1940 after receiving a collection of Chinese jade art pieces in a bequest. In 1962 it was known as the St. Paul Art Center.[2] It was renamed the Minnesota Museum of Art in 1969 and they changed locations to the Jemne Building, an art deco building.[2]

It was renamed the Minnesota Museum of American Art (MMAA) in 1992, after a failed fundraising effort which included the sale of the Jemne Building and a move to the Landmark Center building.[2]

In 2009, the museum was on the brink of bankruptcy, the MMAA galleries closed after losing its gallery space to redevelopment, though they maintained offices and traveling exhibitions.[2][5] Most of the works were put in storage. In 2012, MMAA announced they would reopen for limited hours in the Pioneer Building in Lowertown in October of that year.[6] In December 2018[7][8], the museum opened an expanded permanent facility designed by Minneapolis-based architects VJAA in the Pioneer Endicott building complex.[9] [10] [11][12]

Further expansion, including a new wing for the museum's permanent collection galleries, is scheduled to open in 2020.[13]

See also

References
  1. Staff report (October 28, 1894). Current news of the fine arts. The New York Times
  2. "Timeline: The long, twisty journey of the Minnesota Museum of American Art". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  3. "Zeigler, Lee Woodward". Oxford University Press, Benezit Dictionary of Artists. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/benz/9780199773787.001.0001/acref-9780199773787-e-00201274. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
  4. "Timeline: The long, twisty journey of the Minnesota Museum of American Art". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2020-03-10. 1909: The school becomes part of the St. Paul Institute, a forerunner to the Science Museum of Minnesota.
  5. Roberts, Chris (November 21, 2008). MMAA in St. Paul to close indefinitely. MPR News
  6. Combs, Marianne (June 15, 2012). MN Museum of American Art finds a home. MPR News
  7. Nast, Condé. "The 15 Most Noteworthy Museums Opening This Year". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  8. "The M to open its new St. Paul home; Ode to Navarathri at the Walker". MinnPost. 2018-11-30. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  9. "Bigger and better than ever, St. Paul's only art museum reopens". Twin Cities. 2018-12-01. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  10. Grumdahl, Dara Moskowitz (2019-01-07). "How One Woman Brought the Minnesota Museum of American Art Back from the Brink". Mpls.St.Paul Magazine. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  11. Combs, Marianne. "'The M' emerges: St. Paul's only art museum reopens Sunday". www.mprnews.org. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  12. "Welcome to the New, Old Minnesota Museum of American Art". www.minnesotamonthly.com. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  13. "Once homeless, Minnesota museum is reborn in a historic St. Paul setting". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2019-01-08.

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