Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland Museum of Art

Major museums of art in the Midwest are created with generous endowments from leading corporations and well established supporters in each region. The Cleveland Museum of Art is just one of those spectacular city art museums that show the sophistication and cultured lifestyle that makes Cleveland so wonderful to visit. With an over 750 million dollar endowment, the museum is generous enough to offer free admission to the public and rotating world class exhibits. This all adds to the prestige and world class presence of the Cleveland Museum in the International art scene. With over 598,000 visiting annually (2014),  attendance to the museum and support to all the fantastic programs and events sponsored by the Cleveland Museum of Art is at an all time high.

 

Lets take a tour of the museum and galleries below shall we?

 

 

 

 

 

Beaux Arts garden and entry to the Cleveland Museum of Art

 

 

 

Not only does the museum have a large endowment, they also have an extensive art collection of over 30,000 artifacts, art and various mix media collections from around the world. This museum combines all my interest in architecture, design, art and historic treasures in a way that makes it fun and a wonderful experience to explore all the galleries in the museum. It is very well laid out with nicely lit and soothing wall colors in the galleries with the art work spaced out in a relaxed and easy format giving you plenty of options on getting to your specific area or interest or just wandering around the gallery spaces. The exterior spaces and entry are very well laid out with stunning landscapes that were created by master landscape architects of that time frame, Frederick Olmstead (the designer of the Central park) with formal gardens, statuary and a fountain overlooking a serene lake at Wade park.

 

 

 

 

The art collections of the Cleveland Museum of art is vast, covering a gamut of different periods and styles from ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman periods, European painting and sculpture, Indian and Southeast Asian Art, Art of the Americas, Decorative art and design to more modern timeframes including Contemporary art, Modern European painting and sculpture. It is an impressive collection with important art work and artifacts from each collective timeframe or art period.  I love that there is something for everyone here to enjoy and all the galleries are easily laid out so that you can enter or exit an area that does not interest you. The entry from one gallery to another are smooth and soft in transitions from one period to another.  Each gallery is well designed and well thought out with the coloration, spacing,  signage and complete design of the collections in each gallery. While exploring the museum galleries, I found that it was easy to choose and locate the collections that inspired me. It was nice to spend some time exploring other collections that the museum has a wider selection of a certain genre.

 

Here are a few galleries and collections that I was able to explore at the museum:

 

 

A modern wing of art and sculpture

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tiffany collections at the Cleveland Museum of Art

 

 

Architecture and design updates

After having gone through an extensive and expensive remodeling process ( 350 million dollars), the new museum has turned into a stunning showpiece and venerable institution for the Cleveland metro area. The museum’s architecture melds into a fusion of styles  spanning the Beaux Arts period, then to the 70s with the North entrance and wing created my modernist Marcel Breuer. Recently, a design competition rewarded Rafael Vinoly a huge new expansion that was just completed in 2014.

 

 

This includes a grand atrium and new galleries made completely in glass, steel and alternating marble (below) for the new interior and exteriors areas of the museum. Visitors will be in awe of the new exterior facades and the huge central courtyard that blends in the outdoors to the interior atrium and galleries. The Open air Atrium court in the center of the museum with its garden and café area is used effectively for a variety of events, fundraisers and new activities to target a new demographic of supporters to the museum. After spending enough time exploring the many art collections, it’s nice to retreat to this garden like area for a meal or just to relax from all the stimulating art work to a quiet and contemplative space.

 

 

 A new black and white façade to the modern addition of the museum

 

 

 

Thanks for visiting this post on the Cleveland Museum of Art. If you enjoyed the post, please share it with any of the social media buttons listed around the post, thank you. Also if you want to check out more fascinating places and neighborhoods to explore in Cleveland, please check out my tour of some of Cleveland’s main attractions and cool neighborhoods here.

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