Currier Museum of Art
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The Currier Museum of Art is a museum in Manchester, New Hampshire.
The Currier Museum of Art is an internationally renowned art museum featuring European and American paintings, decorative arts, photographs and sculpture. The permanent collection includes works by Picasso, Matisse, Monet, O'Keeffe, Calder and Wyeth. Public programs include tours, live classical music and "Family Days" which include activities for all ages.
[edit] History
The museum, originally known as the Currier Art Gallery, was founded in 1929 from a bequest of former New Hampshire Governor Moody Currier and his wife, Hannah.
Currier's will provided for the establishment of an art museum, "for the benefit and advancement of humanity." While not an art collector himself, his funding allowed for the purchase of a great deal of art.
After his third wife's death in 1915, a board of trustees was appointed to carry out the Curriers' wishes that a structure be constructed, and in October, 1929, the art gallery opened its new facility.
In 1982, new pavilions, designed by the New York firm Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer, were built to accommodate the museum’s growing collections, programs and staff. The Currier Art Center, home to art activities for all ages, was relocated to the adjacent former Women’s Aid Home in 1998.
In September, 2002, the Gallery changed its name to the Currier Museum of Art, because, in the words of its then-director, it "recognizes the Currier’s true mission and clarifies our function for those less familiar with us." [1]
[edit] Renovations
On June 30, 2005, as part of the first phase of major renovations, a moving firm moved the historic Kennard House, formerly the location of the museums offices, from Beech Street to Pearl Street. The house was built in 1867 in the Second Empire style, and was home to several of the city's wealthy industrialists.
In March, 2006 it was announced [2] that the museum would close on June 27, 2006 for the duration of the $20 million renovation project. The museum will be closed for approximately 18 months.
