100th Year Celebration Begins!

The Muskegon Museum of Art’s 100th Year has begun with The First 100 Years, a set of new exhibitions on display throughout the museum that highlight masterworks from the extensive museum collections. The First 100 Years will be open through January 29, 2012. The celebration continues with 1934: A New Deal for Artists, a Michigan-exclusive traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian American Art Museum that opens February 16 at the MMA. Special exhibitions and programs continue throughout 2012 with the unveiling of New Art for the New Century, a new collection of art acquired in honor of the Museum’s centennial, a state-wide artist representation for the 84th Regional Exhibition, a major glass invitational exhibition, and more.

The museum’s history began with a gift from lumber baron Charles Hackley, who made his fortune in during the 1980s Michigan lumbering boom. Hackley believed that the growth of Muskegon—the young city he adopted as home—would benefit from progressive new schools, a library and a hospital, and an art museum. Hackley died in 1905 before realizing his dream of an art gallery. However, he left an expendable trust of $150,000, through a bequest in his will, to the Board of Education of Muskegon Public Schools. The fund, now known as the Hackley Picture Fund, was to be used to purchase “pictures of the best kind.” By 1910 some of the most treasured and valuable works of art still in the Museum’s present day collection were purchased and then displayed at Hackley Public Library, and the Board of Education determined that the time had come to build a museum-quality facility to house the growing art collection. The new museum, called the Hackley Art Gallery, was built and, in June 1912, opened its doors to the public. The news was broadcast nationally and internationally. The young museum, eventually renamed The Muskegon Museum of Art, was and is still regarded as one of the finest regional art museums in the United States.

100th Year Schedule

The First 100 Years, a set of four exhibitions throughout the museum that highlight masterworks from the extensive museum collections. The exhibitions include Pictures of the Best Kind, Portfolios, Series, and Collections; Contemporary Works; and Tiny Treasures. The First 100 Years opened to the public December 11, 2011 and runs through January 29, 2011.

1934: A New Deal for Artists, a Michigan-exclusive showing of the nationally touring exhibition from the Smithsonian American Art Museum that will open at the MMA on February 16, 2012.

Pictures of the Best Kind: The First One Hundred Years, an illustrated book of the Museum’s history by Marilyn Andersen, will be released in May.

New Art for the New Century. In May, the MMA will unveil a remarkable and not-yet-seen collection of art newly acquired for in honor of its centennial year in this exhibition. The exhibition will open to the public May 4, 2012.

84th Regional Exhibition. This annual juried show will be open to artists throughout the state of Michigan and will be on display throughout the summer, starting May 31.

The MMA 100th Anniversary Gala will be held June 9. An elegant and special evening is planned for the black-tie event that will include a cocktail party, dinner, music, and silent and live auctions.

50 X 50: A Glass Invitational is a major exhibition of contemporary studio glass opening August 23, just in time to mark the 50th anniversary of the studio glass movement, will feature 50 glass artists working in the field today.

Songs in Steel and Other Dreams opens September 6, 2012. This exhibition features work by Caroline Lee, a sculptor renowned for her monumental work in Paris, who is returning to the U.S. for this exhibition.

Festival of Trees, a popular community event, will help to celebrate the 100th Year. It will be open November 23 through December 2, 2012.

The 100th Year will then close out with an exhibition organized by the Muskegon Museum of Art featuring some of the very best fiber and textile artists from around the country, called Innovators and Legends: Generations in Textiles. The opening reception is set for December 13, 2012.

Museum programs include films, tours, lectures, concerts, and family activities.

The Museum Gift Store offers a wide variety of MMA logo products, commissioned artist-crafted goods and other unique items. A 2012 Souvenir Wall Calendar is now available. The large, full-color calendar features beautiful images of 12 well-loved works of art from the MMA collection.