Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art and Science

infobox Museum
name= Fresno Metropolitan Museum


established= April 8, 1984
location= Fresno, California
director= Dana Thorpe
website= [http://www.fresnomet.org] The Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art and Science is a Smithsonian Institution Affiliate and American Association of Museums accredited museum located in downtown Fresno, California. The Museum was established in 1984 and is now the largest museum between San Francisco and Los Angeles. “The Met” is housed in the historic 1922 Fresno Bee Building, and is currently undergoing its first major interior renovation in more than 25 years.

In August 2005, the museum began an extensive interior renovation; the first of its kind since the Museum's opening. The renovation, slated for completion with a building reopening on November 13, 2008, has closed the doors of the historic Fresno Bee Building, and the museum has shifted its focus in the meantime toward new outreach programs, off-site exhibitions, and the temporary relocation of the Reeves ASK Science Center.

History

In 1978, a group of Fresno civic leaders began to explore the possibility of creating a regional museum for the San Joaquin Valley. From 1981-1985, these members of the community raised more than $5.5 million to open the Met in the historic downtown site of the Fresno Bee building. The Museum opened its doors to the community on April 8, 1984.

Since that time, the Museum has attracted more than 2 million people with its programs in art and science with diverse exhibitions including "A T. rex Named Sue, Masterworks from the Albertina, Georgia O'Keeffe: Visions of the Sublime, Variations on a Theme: American Prints from Pop Art to Minimalism -- A Selection from the Anderson Graphic Arts Collection "and" Grossology: The (Impolite) Science of the Human Body.' '

In 1995, the Museum became the first organization outside the Bay Area to win Northern California's "Award for Excellence" in non-profit management from Chevron and The Management Center of San Francisco. In 1995, the Met also received a Central California Excellence in Business Award in the non-profit category as presented by The Fresno Bee. The Museum has also been named the Best Museum each year since 1999 by the readers of The Fresno Bee. The Museum was granted American Association of Museums accreditation status in July 2007.

Renovation

thumb|200px|left| The Fresno Metropolitan Museum under renovation, May 2007The museum’s $20 million renovation project will bring the historic 1922 Fresno Bee Building into the 21st century, with more accessible gallery space, new restroom facilities and elevators, and remodeled fourth and fifth floors, which previously had not been opened as gallery space. The building is slated to reopen November 13, 2008.

The museum's fourth floor will serve as gallery space as well as a forum for educational purposes. The fifth floor is slated to become the home for the museum's administrative offices and will also house a conference room and research library.

Temporary space/Reeves ASK Science Center

During the museum’s renovation, programming and exhibitions are being held in a temporary location. The museum’s Reeves ASK Science Center moved into donated space in the fall of 2005 and will remain there through the renovation’s completion.

The Reeves ASK Science Center is a hands-on science education space that features rotating exhibits provided through a partnership with San Francisco's Exploratorium. The Fresno Metropolitan Museum's multi-year partnership with the Exploratorium allows for new sets of exhibits to be installed on an annual basis. An earth science exhibition entitled "Earth, Wind, Inspire!" was on view at the Reeves ASK Science Center through September 2007, and the center currently houses "Crossroads: The Meeting of Art and Science", an exhibition examining the intersect between art and science developed by the museum itself, on view through July 6, 2008.

Educational & Community Outreach

The museum's outreach efforts include:

The Mobile Met Science Outreach program, which visits schools, YMCA groups, day care facilities and summer school programs from Los Baños to Visalia and provides free hands-on science lessons inspired by the California Science Standards for children in kindergarten though sixth grade.

The Docent Outreach Project, which allows teachers in grades 1 through 3 to take advantage of the Met’s programming without traveling to the museum. The program's lessons are one hour long and feature hands-on art instruction.

Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), which uses art to teach critical thinking, communication skills and visual literacy. These lessons are provided in English, Spanish and Hmong, free of charge to schools.

External links

* [http://www.fresnomet.org Fresno Metropolitan Museum website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/fresnomet Fresno Metropolitan Museum on MySpace]