The Minneapolis Institute of Art
 |
|
 |
|
 Location within Minneapolis–Saint Paul
|
|
| Established | 1883 |
|---|---|
| Location | 2400 Third Avenue South Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Coordinates | 44°57′31″N 93°16′27″W / 44.95861°N 93.27417°WCoordinates: 44°57′31″N 93°16′27″W / 44.95861°N 93.27417°W |
| Director | Kaywin Feldman |
| Website | artsmia.org |
The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), formerly known as the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, is a fine art museum located in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on a campus that covers nearly 8 acres (32,000 m²), formerly Morrison Park. As a major, government-funded public museum, the Institute does not charge an entrance fee, except for special exhibitions, and allows photography of its permanent collection for personal or scholarly use only. The museum receives support from the Park Board Museum Fund, levied by the Hennepin County commissioners. Additional funding is provided by corporate sponsors and museum members. It is one of the largest art museums in the United States.
The Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts was established in 1883 to bring the arts into the life of the community. This group, made up of business and professional leaders, organized art exhibits throughout the decade. In 1889, the Society, now known as the Minneapolis Institute of Art, moved into its first permanent space, inside the newly built Minneapolis Public Library.
The institute received gifts from Clinton Morrison and William Hood Dunwoody, among others, for its building fund. In 1911, Morrison donated the land, formerly occupied by his family's Villa Rosa mansion, in memory of his father, Dorilus Morrison, contingent on the institute's raising the $500,000 needed for the building. A few days later the institute received a letter from Dunwoody, who got the ball rolling: "Put me down for $100,000." A fundraising dinner a few days later brought in $335,500, donated in 90 minutes.
The new museum, designed by the firm of McKim, Mead and White, opened in 1915. The building came to be recognized as one of the finest examples of the Beaux-Arts architectural style in Minnesota. The art historian Bevis Hillier organized the exhibition Art Deco at the museum, presented from July to September 1971, which caused a resurgence of interest in this style of art. The building was originally meant to be the first of several sections, but only the front piece built. Several additions have subsequently been built according to other plans, including a 1974 addition by Kenzo Tange. An expansion designed by Michael Graves was completed in June 2006. Before the latest expansion, just 4 percent of the museum's nearly 100,000 objects could be on view at the same time; now that figure is 5 percent.Target Corporation, for which the new wing is named, was the biggest donor, with a lead gift of more than $10 million.
...
Wikipedia