David Owsley Museum of Art

The David Owsley Museum of Art is an art museum located in the Fine Arts building on the campus of Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, USA. The museum's name was changed on October 6, 2011 from the Ball State Museum of Art to the David Owsley Museum of Art in honor of David Owsley, grandson of Frank C. Ball (one of the four Ball Brothers), to recognize his donations of $5 million and over 2,300 art pieces. Since departments within the Fine Arts Building relocated to other areas on Ball State's campus, the museum is using the contribution to renovate the empty classrooms and expand their galleries, beginning in early-mid 2012 and finishing in 2013.

The museum is home to some 11,000 works (mostly paintings, photographs, and sculptures) valued at more than $40 million. It is one of only four Indiana art museums with a notable, well-rounded collection.

History

In 1892, a group of women formed the Art Students' League, hoping to raise interest in art in the growing community of Muncie. The Art Students' League held many successful art exhibits and then formed the Muncie Art Association in 1905, which in turn set goals to host an annual art show and to annually purchase a work of art to help establish a permanent collection. The permanent collection of the Muncie Art Association were located in the hallways of many Muncie schools until the founding of the Indiana State Normal School by the Ball Brothers. The works of art owned by the art association were then moved to the Indiana State Normal School. It was not until 1931 that plans were made to erect a building to permanently house the works of art.

Fine Arts Building and Museum of Art

Just before the Great Depression, there was a need for an Art Center for an ever growing demand for art and music classrooms and space for an art gallery on campus. Architect George F. Schreiber was hired to design the collegiate gothic style building, but was put on hold because the state of Indiana issued a state moratorium on spending in 1932. It was not until 1935 that enough money was raised to begin construction on the building. In 1936, the Fine Arts Building and Museum of Art was opened under President L.A. Pittenger.

The Fine Arts Building also housed the foreign language, English and social science departments, a recital hall, and a Renaissance style auditorium.

Fine Arts Terrace

Undergraduate commencement ceremonies for the University are hosted annually in May on the Fine Arts Terrace, a grassy stretch of open land between the Museum of Art and Beneficence.

Collections

• Ball Family Collection
• Indiana Painters, including the Hoosier Group
• Contains collections with ancient, medieval, Renaissance, 17th century, 18th century, 19th and 20th century, Modern and Contemporary, Asian, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, European and American Decorative Arts and Furniture, and European and American Works on Paper and Photography.
• Search the collection through the DIDO (Digital Images Delivered Online) Database.

Notable Pieces of Art

• Print of The Great Wave off Kanagawa, Hokusai
• The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence, Massimo Stanzione
• Storm King of the Hudson, Thomas Cole
• The Concord Minute Man of 1775, Daniel Chester French
• Under The Trees I, Andre Lhote

External links

• David Owsley Museum of Art website
• Facebook Page