The Greenville County Museum of Art (GCMA) is an art museum located in Greenville, South Carolina. Its collections focus mainly on American art, and its holdings include works by Andrew Wyeth, Josef Albers, Jasper Johns (from South Carolina), Andy Warhol, Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, Ronnie Landfield, Helen Turner, Mary Tannahill, Eric Fischl, Marylyn Dintenfass, and Leon Golub. Southern American and South Carolina-based artists, such as Henrietta Johnston, are also represented.
In 1963, the South Carolina General Assembly established the Greenville County Museum Commission. The art association acquired its first permanent home with the purchase of the Gassaway Mansion in 1958. In 1974 GCMA moved into its modernist building. The new building is almost 90,000 square feet for spacious exhibition galleries, a museum shop, art storage, a 190-seat auditorium, and classrooms for studio instruction. In 1973 the American Association of Museums accredited GCMA and renewed accreditation in 1986 and 1998. In 1985, the Museum refined its collections policy to focus on creating a comprehensive survey of American art using southern related examples. In 1995 the GCMA published a book, The Southern Collection, which includes 126 essays about 146 different works in the collection. The Greenville County Museum of Art is one of 55 museums in South Carolina fully accredited by the Alliance of American Museums, a rigorous benchmark. The American Alliance of Museums awarded accreditation to the Museum first in 1973 and subsequently renewed accreditation in 1986, 1998, and 2009.
The museum is nationally known for three collections: the Southern Collection, a survey of American art using southern-related examples; Andrew Wyeth: The Greenville Collection; and a collection of contemporary art unrivaled in the state.
The museum’s “Southern Collection” explores the breadth of American art and history through the Southern experience from the colonial era to the present. Among the highlights are a group of pre-Civil War vessels created by African-American potter and poet David Drake, a collection of American Impressionism, and an array of works by 20th-century masters like Georgia O’Keeffe, Romare Bearden, and Andy Warhol. The GCMA is home to an important collection of modernist works by South Carolina native African-American artist William H. Johnson. The museum boasts individual works by such twentieth-century masters as George Bellows, Georgia O’Keeffe, Josef Albers, and Philip Guston. The collection includes 40 works by Jasper Johns, 68 by Stephen Scott Young, and twenty-six by Andrew Wyeth. The GCMA is home to the largest and most complete collection of Wyeth watercolors owned by any public museum in the world.
Andrew Wyeth himself wrote in a letter dated March 6, 1998, “The Greenville County Museum now has what I consider the very best collection of my watercolors in any public museum in this country”. By virtue of a tax millage, GCMA operations are supported by Greenville County, while program support comes from private sources.
The GCMA’s weekly “Sundays at 2” program presents a wide range of fun and enriching activities, including “Music in the Galleries,” “Family Art Adventures,” and “Artists in Action.” Summer camps for children and workshops with some of the nation’s top artists round out the offerings.
Thanks to Greenville County taxpayers, the GCMA has never charged admission, allowing them to welcome visitors from all over the world and to offer enriching, educational opportunities to underserved populations in their community. Although Greenville County taxpayers support the museum’s operations and building maintenance, no public funds are provided for art purchases. It is solely through the generosity of both private citizens and corporate donors in our community that more than $62 million of art has been added to Greenville’s collection.
The Greenville County Museum of Art is open Wednesday through Saturday 10am-5pm, and Sunday 1pm-5pm. The museum is ADA Compliant, 100% smoke free, and features parking for buses and free WiFi. It is 20 minutes from the GSP Airport, 5 minutes from Downtown Greenville, and 10 minutes from the Greenville Convention Center.
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