Susquehanna Art Museum
Encyclopedia
The Susquehanna Art Museum is a public
art museum in United States
. It is located in historic downtown Harrisburg
, Pennsylvania
, the state's capital.
museum in Harrisburg. Up until that point, Harrisburg remained one of the only state capital cities in the nation without an art museum.
.
The museum is currently in the process of moving to a new location in the Midtown district of Harrisburg, in the former Keystone Trust Building, scheduled to open some time in 2012.
Highlights of the Susquehanna Art Museum include the Doshi Gallery for Contemporary Art, which promotes the work of current artists, and the "VanGo!" exhibit, a literal museum on wheels. Today, the complex includes everything from classroom areas to exhibits by such noted artists as Elizabeth Olbert, Sam Reveles, and Kim MacConnel
.
The Doshi Center for Contemporary Arts was founded in 1972 by a group of community volunteers. "Doshi
" is a Japanese
word meaning "brotherhood." Still run by a group of local artists serving in a volunteer capacity, the Doshi maintains its original mission - to highlight new and inventive work by emerging and established artists. In 1997, the Doshi was incorporated into the Susquehanna Art Museum as the Doshi Gallery for Contemporary Art.
Public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individuals, and the public is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the Öffentlichkeit or public sphere. The concept of a public has also been defined in political science,...
art museum in United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is located in historic downtown Harrisburg
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, the state's capital.
Museum history
The museum was founded in 1989 by local educators, artists, and several non-profit organizations with the goal of establishing a contemporary artContemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
museum in Harrisburg. Up until that point, Harrisburg remained one of the only state capital cities in the nation without an art museum.
Structure and contents
The museum was, until recently, located in the heart of Harrisburg's central business district, where it occupied several floors of the Kunkel Building, also known as the Feller Building, at 301 Market Street. The structure was originally constructed as a bank in 1913, later converted to a department store, and now houses the art museum with arts organization offices above. The building's accents include a White glazed terracotta exterior which creates architectural diversity. In 1925 the building was expanded to the rear in the same style as the original 1913 front portion. The Kunkel Building is listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
The museum is currently in the process of moving to a new location in the Midtown district of Harrisburg, in the former Keystone Trust Building, scheduled to open some time in 2012.
Highlights of the Susquehanna Art Museum include the Doshi Gallery for Contemporary Art, which promotes the work of current artists, and the "VanGo!" exhibit, a literal museum on wheels. Today, the complex includes everything from classroom areas to exhibits by such noted artists as Elizabeth Olbert, Sam Reveles, and Kim MacConnel
Kim MacConnel
Kim MacConnel is an American artist who works with painting, sculpture, and mixed media-collage/fabric. MacConnel is a seminal figure in the Pattern and Decoration movement of the seventies, but overall MacConnel’s oeuvre has surpassed being categorized...
.
The Doshi Center for Contemporary Arts was founded in 1972 by a group of community volunteers. "Doshi
Doshi
Doshi is a fairly common surname in India. While the roots can be traced back a few hundred years, the origin of the name is still a matter of much dispute. There were two different stories- one is from the History Of Oswals basically from Rajastan.1...
" is a Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
word meaning "brotherhood." Still run by a group of local artists serving in a volunteer capacity, the Doshi maintains its original mission - to highlight new and inventive work by emerging and established artists. In 1997, the Doshi was incorporated into the Susquehanna Art Museum as the Doshi Gallery for Contemporary Art.