Long Description:"The Brevard Art Museum, located in the Eau Gallie Arts District... the Museum is a gathering place, a visitor attraction, a landmark, an anchor, a catalyst for change; we exist to educate and to deliver a message that will encourage people to think differently about their relationship to others and the world; a center of creativity, the Museum collects, displays and interprets all aspects of the visual arts, particularly women artists, in ways that relate to the past, to the present, and to the future. The Brevard Art Museum is a community cultural bridge."
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ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY
The Brevard Art Museum was established March 8, 1978 as the Brevard Art Center and Museum, Inc. The first building was acquired during the summer of 1978, and was modified to meet the needs of a visual arts museum. The Museum was then a 4,500-square-foot exhibition space consisting of three galleries.
In June of 1980, a major gift from Cocoa Beach philanthropist Samuel J. Foosaner made possible the purchase of a 6,000-sq. ft. building adjoining the existing museum. The building was subsequently remodeled to accommodate an extensive program of studio classes. Children and adults now enjoy the opportunity to study and create art at the Museum School of the Renee Foosaner Education Center.
In February of 1986, the Museum moved to a new five-gallery facility across the street from the original site. The renovated space has tripled the exhibition area and provides greater office, technical support, and storage areas. Culturally significant collections can now be exhibited at the Museum. The permanent collection has grown to over 3,000 objects with the addition of several recently gifted artworks.
Following the demise of the community’s local science museum in 1994, the Board of Trustees voted to undergo expansion and develop a children’s science education facility adjacent to the Museum’s educational wing, adding approximately 5,000 square feet of science exhibition space. The newly refurbished science center opened in the fall of 1995.
In February 1995, the organization name was officially changed to Brevard Museum of Art and Science. In 1999 the science center was renamed the Ruth Cote Clemente Children’s Science Center, in honor of a major donor.
In 2000, the Children’s Gallery was designated (in Gallery IV of the art galleries) for hands-on art activities germane to the changing visual art exhibitions.
Educational programming is at the core of the Brevard Art Museum’s mission. Our extensive range of programs designed to appeal to the community. As the only visual arts museum in Brevard County, the Museum plays a sought after and invaluable role in the County for both residents and visitors.
Today, almost 30 years later, the Brevard Art Museum has tripled the exhibition area and provides modern technical conservation methods and storage areas as our collection increases in size. Significant loan collections can be brought to the Museum. In addition, children and adults now enjoy the opportunity to study and create art in the Museum School at the Renee Foosaner Education Center which housed a portion of the original Museum.
In June 2007, the Board of Trustees announced the Museum’s name change from the Brevard Museum of Art and Science to the Brevard Art Museum. The former Science Center space is currently being redesigned to enlarge painting and ceramic studios. And the Museum began a definitive program to give back to the community through outreach projects:working with domestic violence shelters to provide Mommy and Me art classes and with the Brevard School district to provide traveling art exhibitions for ESE programming.
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