Art Museum of Southwest Texas - Beaumont, TX - An art museum in Beaumont, Texas offering something for everyone

The Art Museum of Southwest Texas otherwise known as AMSET is located at 500 Main Street in Beaumont, Texas. There is no charge for admission into the museum which closes for all major holidays. The Art Museum of Southwest Texas is open from 9am until 5pm Monday through Friday, from 10am to 5pm on Saturday and from noon until 5pm on Sunday. The cafy in the museum is open during the week from 11am until 2pm and closed on weekends.

The Art Museum of Southeast Texas was originally known as the Beaumont Art Museum and incorporated on the 14th of September during 1950. A two story home was rented at the edge of downtown's business district and the museum opened on the first floor. The museum was given the responsibility of contributing to aesthetic enjoyment and cultural enrichment of the areas as well as to education.

The family of S. Ferry Brown provided funds for constructing a building to house the museum that would include a large classroom, space for exhibits, storage and office space on the Southeast Texas State Fairgrounds during September of 1956. The Beaumont Art League is now in the original building. In 1970 the museum opened on five acres that the family of J. Crook Wilson donated in Beaumont's Old Town district. It was in 1987 that the museum was moved to its present location on Main Street after a massive fund raiser.

There are an estimated one thousand pieces of art, including folk art, decorative art, prints, painting and sculptures dating back to the nineteen century through the twenty-first century. The emphasis of the museum's collection is on American art and an increasing amount of folk art from the region. There are from eight to ten exhibits hosted by the main gallery of the museum each year. There are displays that while organized at AMSET that will be taken to over venues for showing.

Local artists are showcased at the Cafy' Arts gallery while new acquisitions of the museum are featured in the West Hall Gallery. There are also a number of educational programs offered by the museum that affect thousands of children in Southeast Texas. There are a total of twelve educational programs in the local schools and in the community that are continually offered by the Art Museum of Southwest Texas.

There are hands-on activities and exercises that are self directed in art appreciation and observation offered to children in the Conn Take Part Gallery. All during the year there are performances, music events, symposia and lectures offered to both children and adults through the Art Museum of Southwest Texas with assistance from other organizations. There are as many as six thousand adults and children exposed to patronizing museums and making artwork during the Quarterly Free Family Arts Days.

The galleries and all other public areas of the museum are accessible to the handicapped. There are special facilities provided in the restrooms. The galleries all allow the use of strollers. The Art Museum of Southeast Texas is somewhere you have to visit if you are ever in the Beaumont, Texas area.