The Mount Holyoke College Art Museum is one of the oldest collegiate art museums in the United States, established in 1876. It was originally located on the top floor of Lyman Williston Hall, which is no longer existent, and then from 1902 to 1970, it was housed in the Dwight Memorial Art Building. Since moving to its present home in 1970, the collections and activities of the art museum have grown significantly. The collection currently consists of approximately 13,000 objects that range from pre-dynastic Egyptian artifacts to contemporary paintings, sculpture, and works of art on paper. Primary strengths include Asian art, nineteenth-and twentieth-century European and American paintings and sculpture, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman art, Medieval sculpture, early Italian Renaissance paintings, and an extensive collection of prints, drawings, and photographs.
In addition to its noteworthy permanent collection, the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum maintains an active program of special exhibitions. The museum is open to the general public and sponsors lectures, concerts, film series, gallery talks, and bus trips. For information about current events, check the College Street Journal or visit the MHC Art Museum online.
Admission to the museum is free.
The museum is open year round but closed for vacations during the academic year. The museum is accessible to the handicapped.
Skinner Museum
The Joseph Allen Skinner Museum on Woodbridge Street includes a small Congregational church built in 1846, which houses a collection of early American furnishings, minerals, and Indian relics. Next to the church are a New England cottage and a one-room schoolhouse. The museum is open to the public without charge on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons from May through October.
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