Erie Art Museum

Erie Art Museum

Established	1980, originally the Art Club of Erie est. 1898
Location	411 State Street Erie, Pennsylvania, USA
Type	Art Museum
Director	John Vanco
Curator	John Vanco
Website	erieartmuseum.org

Erie Art Museum is an art museum in Erie, Pennsylvania, with a collection of over 8,000 objects, including American ceramics, Tibetan paintings, Indian bronzes, contemporary baskets, and many other mediums. The museum hosts 18 to 20 visiting exhibitions annually and shares parts of its collection with national and international partners through traveling exhibits. In October of 2011, the Erie Art Museum was awarded the National Medal for Museum and Library Service.^[1]

The museum publishes a monthly eNewsletter on its main website and has hosted an annual blues and jazz music festival at Frontier Park since 1992.^[2]

Museum complex

The museum entrance is situated on East 5th Street between State and French Streets. The 2010 wing connects five historic buildings into a single complex:

The Old Custom House, a Greek Revival building constructed in 1837-39 of Vermont marble^[3]^[4]
The Cashiers House, a Greek Revival townhouse also completed in 1839^[5]
The Bonnell Block, a Greek Revival commercial building built in 1840 that houses the Erie County Historical Society
The Erie Art Museum's Holstein Gallery and Frame Shop, also housed in the Bonnell Block building
The Old Pumper House, the oldest surviving fire house in the city, originally built as a marble works in 1860

History

The Art Club of Erie was established in 1898 and met in the then-new Erie Library on Perry Square in downtown Erie. The Art Club moved to the Watson-Curtze Mansion in the 1940s. In 1956, the club raised money and found a home of its own in the Wood-Morrison House, adjacent to the Curtze Mansion. The new place was soon known as the Erie Art Center and had a professional director by 1968. The center became the Erie Art Museum in 1980 when it moved to the Old Custom House on State Street. The Ashby Printing Company building was purchased the same year and became the museum's annex.^[6]

In 1992, the Erie Art Museum became a part of the Discovery Square corporation, which invested $5 million in the development of a city block of museums, including the creation of the expERIEence Children's Museum in 1995 and the renovation and expansion of the Erie Art Museum and the Erie County History Center.^[6] Current plans are for the History Center to grow from 2,000 sq ft (200 m²) to 14,000 sq ft (1,300 m²), and the Art Museum to grow from 4,000 sq ft (400 m²) to 16,000 sq ft (1,500 m²).^[7] Although this plan was later abandoned, the Erie Art Museum completed an extensive renovation and expansion project, opening in October 2010.^[8] The project created the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building in Erie, Pennsylvania.^[9]

Folk Art

The Erie Art Museum was designated a Regional Folk Art Support Center by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts in 2003.^[10] As a part of this designation the museum works to recognize and support local folk artists and raises awareness for the traditional arts in northwestern Pennsylvania. ^[11] The museum also hosts the Old Songs New Opportunities project, a program run in conjunction with local agencies and daycare centers that provides job training and internships for women in the city's refugee communities and prepares them for childcare jobs in the United States. ^[12] With assistance from the Better Kid Care Penn State Co-op Extension Office the women receive training in child development theory, are instructed on the responsibilities of childcare workers,and learn how the arts can augment physical and mental development.^[13] They also exchange children's songs from their native countries, create singable English versions of them, and incorporate these songs into their childcare jobs. The program supports women from various countries and cultures including Bhutan, Sudan, Somalia, Russia, and Iraq and has successfully trained and placed many women into childcare positions. ^[14]

References

External links

Erie Art Museum website

Coordinates: 42°07′52″N 80°05′10″W / 42.1312°N 80.0860°W / 42.1312; -80.0860

Museums in Pennsylvania

Art	Allentown Art Museum Andy Warhol Museum Athenaeum of Philadelphia Barnes Foundation Brandywine River Museum Carnegie Museum of Art The Clemente Museum Demuth Museum Erie Art Museum Frick Art & Historical Center Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia La Salle University Art Museum Mattress Factory Michener Art Museum Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon Palmer Museum of Art Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Philadelphia Museum of Art Pittsburgh Glass Center Reading Public Museum Rodin Museum Susquehanna Art Museum University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology Westmoreland Museum of American Art Woodmere Art Museum

History, Culture, and Religion	African American Museum in Philadelphia American Jewish Museum American Swedish Historical Museum Civil War Museum of Philadelphia Erie Maritime Museum Gettysburg Museum Heinz History Center Independence Seaport Museum Johnstown Flood Museum Masonic Library and Museum of Pennsylvania Meadowcroft Rockshelter Mercer Museum Museum of the American Revolution Museum of Indian Culture National Civil War Museum National Constitution Center National Museum of American Jewish History Nationality Rooms Philadelphia History Museum Rosenbach Museum & Library State Museum of Pennsylvania U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center

Science, Technology, and Industry	Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University America On Wheels Carnegie Museum of Natural History Carnegie Science Center Center for PostNatural History Chemical Heritage Foundation Da Vinci Science Center Drake Well Museum Everhart Museum Franklin Institute Mütter Museum Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania Railroaders Memorial Museum Steamtown National Historic Site Wagner Free Institute of Science

Children's	Children's Museum of Pittsburgh Miniature Railroad & Village National Toy Train Museum Please Touch Museum

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