Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
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The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), located in Houston, is the largest art museum in Texas, USA, and the largest art museum in the USA east of Los Angeles, south of Chicago, and west of Washington[1] or in other words, the Southern United States. The permanent collection of the museum spans more than 6,000 years of history with more than 40,000 works from six continents, making the museum the largest in the Southwest and a major educational resource for the region. [1]
The museum benefits the Houston community through programs, publications and media presentations. Each year, 1.25 million people benefit from museum's programs, workshops and resource centers. Of that total, more than 500,000 people participate in the community outreach programs. [2]
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[edit] Facilities
The museum's collections are presented in six facilities that provide a total of 300,000 square feet of space.
- Caroline Wiess Law Building, designed by Mies van der Rohe
- Audrey Jones Beck Building, designed by Rafael Moneo and opened to the public in 2000 doubled the museum's exhibition space with 158,150 sq. ft.
- Glassell School of Art for Children
- Glassell School of Art for Adults
- Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens features one of the nation's best collections of American decorative art and furniture, and Rienzi, a collection of European decorative arts begun in 1999.
- Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden, created by Isamu Noguchi
[edit] History
The original museum building, designed by William Ward Watkin, was opened in 1924. It was the first art museum building in Texas and the third in the South. [3]
Cullinan Hall, designed by Mies van der Rohe, was opened in 1958.
The museum received one of the largest and most important gifts in its history in 1957, when Ima Hogg donated her home, Bayou Bend, and her collection of American paintings and decorative arts. Bayou Bend, located on Buffalo Bayou five miles from the museum, was opened to the public in 1966. [4]
