Bakersfield Museum of Art
The Bakersfield Museum of Art (BMoA) is a popular art museum located in Bakersfield, California. It's at the junction of 19th and R Streets in Central Park. It features four galleries with a permanent collection of mostly regional artists as well as space for touring art shows. The American Alliance of Museums accredited it in 1991.
The Bakersfield Museum of Art has an area of 17,400 square feet (1,620 m2). It has two big galleries as well as two smaller galleries. There are also two classrooms and a banquet hall. Outside, the museum features multiple gardens with sculptures and other types of art on show. The museum's permanent collection is mostly comprised of works by area artists.
The Walter Osborn family created the museum in 1956. The Cunningham Art Gallery was named after their daughter, Marion Osborn Cunningham (1911–1948). Their contribution, along with others, enabled the museum to be built in Central Park on the southeast side of downtown.
Bakersfield Museum of Art aspires to improve the quality of life for Bakersfield and Kern County citizens and tourists by providing art appreciation and access to higher education in the visual arts. For more than 60 years, the Bakersfield Museum of Art has delivered great exhibits and innovative educational opportunities in the visual arts to Bakersfield and its neighboring towns.
The objective of the Bakersfield Museum of Art is to inspire and engage various audiences by offering a diversified range of creative visual arts experiences via the display and preservation of great art, community outreach, educational programming, and special events.
When the museum was completed, it was given over to the city for upkeep. The place was run by volunteers from the Bakersfield Art Association and the city's Art Commission. The museum would mostly display the work of local artists, with the odd traveling art show. It would also be surrounded by gardens displaying sculptures and other types of art.
The museum was handed over from the city to the Bakersfield Art Foundation, an independent governing body, in 1990. The latter was renamed the Bakersfield Museum of Art at the time. The museum has changed dramatically since then. It was certified by the American Alliance of Museums one year following its relocation, in 1991.
BMoA began an expansion effort in 1997, with large gifts from the Patricia Crail Brown Foundation and the late Dr. George and Millie Ablin. The foundation bought the museum's grounds from the city in June of the same year. The facility's expansion then began.