Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts
Exploring Alabama’s oldest fine arts museum
The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts was founded in 1930 and is the oldest fine arts museum in the state. It first featured silver, pictures, china, and furniture that was loaned from local and regional collectors. Today, it features paintings and sculptures by artists from Alabama and around the world.
According to one of the front desk employees, it’s a part of Montgomery life because many events are held on the premises, including summer camps for families. Over 300 people visit in a week, and its popularity and number of visitors varies by month.
In 1959, the Museum became a department of the City of Montgomery and moved to a new museum and library complex on McDonough Street. In 1978, it was awarded accreditation by the American Association of Museums (now American Alliance of Museums). Not only was it the first museum in the state of Alabama to be awarded accreditation by the Association, it was re-accredited in 1992 and 2003.
Community donors have been among the strongest supporters of the museum. Donors have allowed the organization to grow by funding growth efforts. Ida Belle Young’s donations provided the museum 5,000 square foot exhibition wing, which was named The Young Gallery. In 1993, it was dedicated to house permanent collections, but the amount of space, has allowed for rotating exhibits of contemporary American art and Southern regional art.
Location
The location for this building was chosen because there’s enough room for growth. It’s close to a school, shopping districts, and next door neighbor to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. The Festival was explored by my classmates Brittany Nobles and Kodi Robertson.
Recent History
In 2006, the Museum added 23,000 square feet to the ARTWORKS interactive gallery, added two more studios for classes, and created better exhibition spaces.
This latest expansion was made possible by: business people and donors, Mayor Bobby Bright, the Montgomery City Council, the Montgomery County Commission, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts Board of Trustees. In addition, Ida Belle Young made a provision in her estate to donate to the museum. In 2007, the Board of Trustees established the Ida Belle Young Acquisition Endowment, which allows for purchase of traditional American art.
The museum marks its 30th anniversary of it’s new home in Blount Cultural Park this year.
