Museum of Art Cedar Rapids

Cedar Rapids Museum of Art
Established 1905
Location 410 Third Avenue SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Type Art museum
Website www.crma.org

The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art is a museum in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA. The museum is privately owned and was established in 1905[1] The museum acquired the old Cedar Rapids Public Library building after the library moved into a new location in 1985. In 1989 the current home of the museum was built adjoining the old library.

The mission of the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art is to excite, engage, and educate its community and visitors through its collection, exhibitions, and programs.[2][3]

Collection

Young Corn from the Grant Wood collection

The museum has significant collections from several prominent Iowa artists. The 63,000-square-foot (5,900 m2) museum displays temporary exhibitions of contemporary art and hold the world's largest collection of works by Grant Wood, Marvin Cone, and Bertha Jaques, works by Mauricio Lasansky and the Riley Collection of ancient Roman portrait busts.[3][4] The Grant Wood collection includes his paintings “Woman with Plants” and “Young Corn.”[5] In 2002, the CRMA was given the building that houses the original studio of Grant Wood. Located just three blocks from the Museum, the loft studio, known by its fictitious address of 5 Turner Alley, was designed and constructed by Wood, who lived and worked there between 1924 and 1935. It was here that he painted American Gothic[6] (1930)—now part of the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago—and many of his most famous paintings. The Grant Wood Studio is open to the public for guided tours several days per week.[7]

The Marvin Cone collection[8] includes many of his best-known landscapes and abstracts. Cone was a collaborator and friend of Grant Wood.[9]

The museum also includes significant pieces by Mauricio Lasansky, Ann Royer, and many others.

Flood 2008

Image of the 2008 flood

In 2008, the downtown of Cedar Rapids was devastated by the worst flood in the city’s recorded history. The lower storage areas and basements[10] of the Museum were severely damaged by flooding that also threatened the exhibition spaces.[11] The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art had just installed a $200,000 art storage system in its basement six months before the June floods.[12] The Museum’s collection was moved to the higher levels and none of the artwork is known to have been damaged.[13]

References

  1. Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. Crma.org (2007-12-20). Retrieved on 2013-09-05.
  2. Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. Tfaoi.com. Retrieved on 2013-09-05.
  3. 1 2 View Museum Info. Museumsusa.org (2009-05-20). Retrieved on 2013-09-05.
  4. Items Owned By Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. Museum Syndicate. Retrieved on 2013-09-05.
  5. Grant Wood At 5 Turner Alley. Tfaoi.com. Retrieved on 2013-09-05.
  6. Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. Crma.org (2007-12-20). Retrieved on 2013-09-05.
  7. Marvin Cone Online. Artcyclopedia.com. Retrieved on 2013-09-05.
  8. Marvin Cone Gallery. Public.coe.edu. Retrieved on 2013-09-05.
  9. Archived July 8, 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Archived January 20, 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  11. http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081227/NEWS/812270325&template=printart
  12. Flood Recovery Update - Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. Crma.org. Retrieved on 2013-09-05.

External links

Coordinates: 41°35′04″N 91°23′43″W / 41.584385°N 91.395148°W / 41.584385; -91.395148

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