Memphis Brooks Museum Of Art

The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art is the oldest fine arts museum in the state of Tennessee and houses an outstanding collection of art dating from antiquity to the present. The Brooks provides visitors the opportunity to learn about the visual arts through diverse traveling exhibitions and thought-provoking in-house exhibitions. Public programs for children and adults fill the calendar throughout the year, and include an independent film series, visiting lecturers, dance performances, and free family events. Located at the heart of Memphis in historic Overton Park, the Brooks is a vibrant cultural complex that comprises twenty-nine galleries, two art classrooms, a print study room, a research library, and a professional auditorium with state-of-the-art audio visual equipment. In addition, the facility offers both public and private meeting spaces. Established in 1916. In 1913, Bessie Vance Brooks donated $100,000 to the City of Memphis for the construction of a museum in honor of her late husband, Samuel Hamilton Brooks. The Brooks Memorial Art Gallery opened to the public in 1916. The Beaux Arts style building, inspired by the Morgan Library in New York City, was designed by James Gamble Rogers and constructed of Georgian marble. The museum was enlarged in 1955 to secure a gift of 32 objects from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, which was dependent upon sufficient gallery space to exhibit the artworks. To accommodate the continuing growth of the permanent collection, a further expansion was completed in 1973. In 1983, the institution's name was changed to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, and in 1989 the Brooks separated from the city becoming fully private, although the city retains ownership of the building and the bulk of the collection acquired up to that time. The final, award-winning addition, which replaced the 1955 wing, opened in 1989.