Courtesy Indianpolis Museum of Art
Indianapolis Museum of Art
Art aficionados will have little trouble filling an afternoon at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Known as an encyclopedic museum, it holds more than 54,000 works spanning 5,000 years.
Significant collections include African, American, Asian and European art and a growing collection of design arts, and it boasts ambitious programs for contemporary art and design.
Highlights include the nation’s most comprehensive group of neo-impressionist paintings featuring the work of Georges Seurat and his followers, outstanding collections of Japanese Edo-period paintings and Chinese ceramics, and one of the best North American collections of Pont-Aven paintings by Paul Gauguin and his followers.
Opened last summer, 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park offers trails and picnic spots. Commissioned, site-specific works are set in the 40-acre lake, with other pieces placed around the water.
“One thing that makes our museum very unique is our 152-acre campus,” said Candace Gwaltney, public relations manager. “It’s perfect for large groups.”
Also on the grounds and surrounded by lovely gardens, the Oldfields-Lilly House, a 22-room mansion once owned by Indianapolis businessman and collector J.K. Lilly, features eight rooms furnished with 1930s period furniture and decorative arts. Most belonged to the family and were used in the home.
Today, the 26-acre American Country Place estate offers an in-depth look at early-20th-century estate life.
Grand Rapids Art Museum
Friendly to both art and the earth, the Grand Rapids Art Museum opened its first purpose-built facility in 2007, almost 100 years after its founding. The building was the first art museum in the world to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold certification. Tours highlight architectural features that contribute to that status. Nature melds with architecture, and in most corridors and main walkways, visitors can see outside.
“Green features of the building can be added to any tour.” said Julie Burgess, group and public programs coordinator at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. “Docents point out highlights of the unique architecture, and a popular ‘Green Features’ brochure is available to take home.”
The permanent collection ranges from the 1500s to the present, with particular strengths in 19th- and 20th-century European and American paintings and sculpture. The unusual Works on Paper Study contains 3,500 prints, drawings and photographs.
“In that collection, Rembrandt’s print “The Three Crosses” is regarded as his most profound religious work and [is] noted for being among the finest in the world,” said Kerri VanderHoff, marketing and public relations director at the Grand Rapids Art Museum.
Friday nights year-round, galleries stay open late, and visitors can partake in art conversations, piano music and a cash bar. In summer months, festivities move outside during GRAM on the Green. In addition to the aforementioned activities, there’s chess, free sketching, garden-size games of Jenga and dancing on the museum’s front plaza overlooking the city park.
