Orlando Museum of Art
The Orlando Museum of Art represents Greater Orlando, Orange County area directly as a non-profit organization. A group of art enthusiasts founded the museum in 1924.
With creative and inspiring education initiatives that will continue as a cultural legacy in Central Florida, the aim of the Orlando Museum of Art is to interpret and present the most compelling art for the public to experience, and to positively affect people’s lives. By engaging people with art and creative ideas, the mission of the Orlando Florida Museum of Art is to encourage imagination, enthusiasm, and intellectual curiosity.
The Museum regularly holds 10-12 on-site exhibits and 13 off-site exhibitions, award-winning art education programs, unrestricted gallery tours, in-service teacher training programs, video programs, distinguished seminars, art appreciation lectures, workshop classes, lecture/luncheon programs, and in-house and community outreach services.
People from all 67 counties in Florida and the other 49 states and various international nations, benefit from the art museum’s programs. The Museum’s employees, its Board of Trustees and more than 700 volunteers are introducing these projects, many of whom are part of its 5,000 membership. 1Go To Source omart.com -“About The Orlando Museum Of Art”
Accreditations
The Orlando Museum of Art, accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, is a regional asset, a member organization of the Association of Directors of Art Museums, the Blue Star Museum, and a catalyst for life-long learning that serves the population of Central Florida and tourists from around the world.
Funding for the Orlando Museum of Art is provided from earned income with generous financial contributions from the Board of Trustees, the Ambassadors of the Museum, Council of 101, the City of Orlando and the Government of Orange County through the Arts & Cultural Affairs Program. 2Go To Source omart.com -“About The Orlando Museum Of Art”
Exhibits In The Orlando Museum Of Art
OMA offers a rotating series of museum-originated temporary exhibits, along with travelling displays, complemented by permanent collection exhibitions and continuing education programs for people of all ages.
OMA hosts year-round courses for children and adults, art appreciation classes, lectures, conferences, films, and guided tours. In 2014, the museum launched an exhibition project entitled The Florida Prize in Contemporary Art, which features work created today in the State of Florida by the most progressive and thought-provoking emerging and mid-career artists.
Traveling From Downtown Orlando To The Orlando Museum Of Art
The Orlando Museum Of Art is fairly close to the center of downtown. The art museum is located 2.6 miles north of downtown allowing visitors to easily walk. Buses and taxis are also available for a quicker trip to visit the museum of art.
Driving from downtown to the Orlando Museum of Art is a fast 8 min drive. Driving directions from downtown Orlando to the Orlando Museum Of Art.
Orlando Museum Of Art History
The history of the Museum of Art Orlando is one of development driven by the leadership of the city. OMA was founded in 1924 as the Art Association of Orlando. Its name was changed in 1960 to the Loch Haven Art Center, and again in 1986 to the Orlando Museum of Art.
With a group of artists who met informally in the early 1920s, exhibiting and criticizing their work, the organization started as a small art center. The city raised funds in the late 1950s to build a new facility designed by James Gamble Rogers III, which was completed in 1960.
In 1960, when it accepted the donations of significant American paintings by Georgia O’Keeffe and Charles Sheeler, OMA started collecting art. OMA, together with architects Nils Schweizer and Duane Stark, both Frank Lloyd Wright alumni, continued its expansion. By 1969, OMA had added new galleries, an auditorium of 250 seats, three classrooms in the studio, a library, a vault and offices.
OMA was granted a large collection of Art of the Ancient Americas and additional works of African Art during the 1970s, and also formed the center of its renowned Contemporary American Graphics Collection.
In 1985, the State of Florida declared OMA a “significant cultural institution.”
A $13.5 million building redesign and expansion project was completed by OMA in 1997, increasing the facility to its current size of 80,000 square feet.