Downtown Pensacola’s art museum is kicking things into a new gear to start the summer.
The Pensacola Museum of Art is celebrating its 70-year anniversary by unveiling a new exhibit on Friday, June 7, which highlights its permanent art collection that’s been cultivated over the decades.
“Each artwork serves as a link in the chain of the museum’s history,” said Nicholas Croghan, director of the Pensacola Museum of Art.
The Celebrate 70: A History of Collecting exhibit will feature works from over 100 regionally, nationally and internationally acclaimed artists such as Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol and will remain in the museum until January.
The museum has been a part of the UWF Historic Trust since 2016, but it has been collecting modern and contemporary art – some dating back as far as the 19th century – since its inception in 1954.
Museum staff will act as stewards for the new exhibit which will be featured across both of its floors.
The exhibit doesn’t have any specific theme, according to curatorial assistant Dylan Bass, but it represents the museum’s history of partnership and collaboration with the local community as well as the trust that the artwork's former owners had in the museum's ability to preserve them for future generations.
The Pensacola Museum of Art started as a vision for a community-focused space where both children and adults could learn. In the years since, the museum has been just that for residents and visitors alike.
They host classes for kids to learn and explore their creativity, which are quite popular during the summer.
“When the kids sign out they’ll talk about what they learned for the day… Even when they’ve gotten more interests in middle and high school, art will still be a part of them,” Bass said. “We’re a nonprofit because we’re part of the Historic Trust, so what we do here is for the public.”
Here's what we know about the new Celebrate 70: A History of Collecting exhibit at the Pensacola Museum of Art:
Late UWF professor heads to space:Late UWF professor joins U.S. presidents, Star Trek cast on endless journey through space
What can I see at the exhibit?
More than 70 artists are included in the exhibition and their works include cubism, realism, pop art, non-objective art, folk art and illustration.
Some of the artists whose works are featured in the collection include Francisco Goya, Milton Avery, John James Audubon, Henri de Touluse-Lautrec, Thomas Hart Benton, Alexander Calder, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali, Henri Matisse, Philip Guston, Clementine Hunter, Alfred Stieglitz, Walker Evans, Alex Katz, Käthe Kollwitz,Erté, Louise Nevelson, Philip Pearlstein, Pablo Picasso,Andy Warhol,Fairfield Porter, Linda Benglis, Norman Rockwell and Miriam Schapiro.
Where can I see the new exhibit?
The Pensacola Museum of Art is located at 407 S. Jefferson St. in downtown Pensacola and is a part of the UWF Historic Trust.
The Celebrate 70: A History of Collecting exhibit will be featured across both of the museum’s floors and will be displayed until Jan. 5.
The Pensacola Museum of Art is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. It can also be visited on Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. but it’s closed on Mondays.
How much are tickets for the Pensacola Museum of Art?
If you’d like to visit the museum and see the new exhibit you’ll have to purchase tickets, which can be bought online or at the museum’s front desk.
You can also purchase tickets at select service desks around the Historic Trust, such as the Pensacola Museum of History and the Tivoli High House.
A standard adult ticket for the Historic Trust will cost $12, while a child's ticket will cost $7.
Discounted tickets are available for $11 for servicemembers and their dependents, seniors 65 years or older, AAA members and UWF alumni. Discounted ticket purchases will require supporting documents during check-in at the Historic Trust’s service desks.
UWF students, SNAP/EBT card holders, Historic Trust members and children under 3-years old can get tickets to the Historic Trust for free.
Purchasing tickets will also get you access to the rest of the UWF Historic Trust site for seven days once your ticket is presented at one of their service desks.
What is the Pensacola Museum of Art?
The Pensacola Museum of Art initially started as the Pensacola Arts Association, which was created in 1954 by the local chapter of the American Association of University Women after they leased the former building of the historic city of Pensacola jail.
The local group sought to create a venue where art classes, a community space and traveling art exhibitions could all be provided in one place.
The Pensacola Arts Association became the Pensacola Museum of Art in 1982 and its building was purchased from the city of Pensacola in 1988.
The museum entered into a gift agreement with the University of West Florida in 2016 to transfer its ownership to the university.
