City: Springfield, MO

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (417) 837-5700

Address: 1111 East Brookside Dr.

Description: Sculptures in this park setting immediately attract the eye. The lawn sculptures are by Jim Sterrit, Ernest Trova, and John Henry. Located on the edge of Phelps Grove Park, the original structure of the Springfield Art Museum opened in 1958, but the newer Jeannette L. Musgrave Wing dates from 1994. It was built to house works from the museum’s permanent collection of drawings, etchings, prints, and paintings, some 8,895 art objects representing thousands of years of culture. Special collections include 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century American paintings, watercolor, sculpture, and prints. Thomas Hart Benton, George Burchfield, and Red Grooms are just a few of the artists represented, but there are also works by Dürer, Rembrandt, and other masters. The museum is home of the Gertrude Vanderveer Spratlen Collection, an eclectic assortment of more than 450 paintings. It has more than 20,000 square feet of exhibit space, a museum shop, a 400-seat auditorium, classrooms, and studio space. In 2008, a new wing with an entry hall, galleries, gift shop, and a new library was completed. Educational activities include preschool to adult groups studio classes. Each summer the museum is home to Watercolor U.S.A., a nationally known juried show of watercolors. The show was started in 1961 and has grown to become one of the major watercolor shows in the nation. Recently the show drew more than 1,545 entries by 815 artists.Artists from nearly every state in the Union were represented. The show usually consists of 100 to 115 pieces and is a summer highlight. Every two years the museum features the Moak (for Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kansas) Exhibition, an open, competitive, and juried all-media show.