Philadelphia Museum Essay

The Philadelphia museum of art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located along the west side of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The museum was established in 1876 and stocks more than 227,000 objects. There are over 200 galleries that span over 2000 years. Each year the Museum puts on 25 or more exhibitions, an example being Salvador Dali. The main building of the museum is visited by more than 800,000 people annually.
This museum was not always an art museum. It began as a legacy from the great Centennial Exhibition of 1876. After the celebrations, the art gallery remained open, but it included a school for art students to attend. It was known as the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art. This was when
According to A People & a Nation, “By the early 1930’s, as the depression continued to deepen, tens of millions of Americans were desperately poor” (745). Many people could not afford to attend the museum. During this time at the museum, construction work on the main building was suspended and temporarily galleries were made so that artwork could still be on display. “From 1931–1933, the city of Philadelphia reduced appropriations of the Museum over 70%” (1930 – 1940). This led to the Memorial Hall having to close and the Robin Museum, was only open once a week. Museum staff did all they could to build onto the collections and share them with the public. President of the Museum, J. Stogdell Strokes, raised necessary funds to build new rooms and galleries inside the Philadelphia Art Museum. “He announced a ten-year, $15,500,000 program to strengthen the endowment of both the Museum and its Schools and to finish work on galleries to house ‘the pageant of the evolution of world art, and many rooms which, besides offering suitable atmosphere for their contents, are in themselves works of art.” Friends of the Pennsylvania of Art was formed. There primary purpose was the enable the museum to give greater service to its community, to keep eye on the finances, and to provide funds (1930 – 1940). This type of service can be compared to the American Field Service that we discussed during our lecture. Even though they both are doing different actions, both of their many goals is to help the community. The museum was able to get past the depression due to help from the