Gulf Coast Museum of Art - Largo, FL - Art Museums on Waymarking.com

The Gulf Coast Museum of Art was founded in 1936 in Clearwater, Florida. It operated in Belleair, FL from 1947-1998. The museum moved into its current location on September 18, 1999.

Taken from the museum's website...
The Gulf Coast Museum features six permanent collection galleries, open year round, displaying a diverse representation of art by contemporary Florida artists and makers of fine crafts from across the southeast. From realism to abstraction, focused permanent collection exhibitions explore a range of thematic issues artists are addressing in their work today, such as approaches to the landscape or to figural representation, and the use of visual metaphor for social, political, or personal expression. Beyond the permanent collection, exhibitions organized by the Gulf Coast Museum featuring prominent local artists, craftsmen, and private collections are regularly on view.

UPDATE: (taken from their website)
Dear Members and Patrons,
As you are aware, on August 19, 2008, the Board of Trustees made the decision to cease operations at its current Largo location effective January 30, 2009 due to the increase costs of operating expenses, decrease in public support and lack of visibility. Over the past six months Museum leadership, staff and volunteers have worked tirelessly to seek out a new home in downtown Clearwater, secure financial support from major donors and the City of Clearwater and finalize a sale of the current property with the assistance of the Pinellas County Commissioners and staff.

We were successful in our quest to negotiate a higher visibility location and completed the necessary safety inspections, construction bids and architectural plans for the AmSouth property located on the corner of Osceola and Cleveland Avenue. In addition, we received a verbal commitment from the City of Clearwater Council members for financial assistance to bring the Gulf Coast Museum of Art to Clearwater to become a major cornerstone in the re-development of the downtown arts district.

However after months of discussions with Pinellas County Commissioners and staff, we were notified on January 8, 2009 that they were unwilling to purchase the current property or allow the Museum the flexibility to amend our current lease so that the Museum could sub-lease or sell the property to another entity. Without this income, the Museum cannot relocate or continue operations. Therefore, on January 13, 2009, the Board of Trustees made the difficult decision to dissolve the Museum in order to minimize any adverse impact by properly closing the organization and de-accessioning the permanent collection. Please be assured that every effort will be made to insure that the collection will be donated to an accredited museum in an effort to maintain public trust and that the artworks can be shared in perpetuity. On behalf of the Board of Trustees and staff, we would like to take the opportunity to say thank you for your support over the past 73 years.

Name: Gulf Coast Museum of Art Location: 12211 Walsingham Road Largo, FL 33778 Phone Number: (727) 518-6833 Web Site: [Web Link] Agency/Ownership: Public Hours of operation: Last day of operation was January 30, 2009 Admission Fee: CLOSED Gift Shop: yes Cafe/Restaurant: yes

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Date Logged Log User Rating   02/09/2009 yorelken visited it 12/02/2008 ChapterhouseInc visited it 11/22/2008 debbado visited it 08/05/2007 ChapterhouseInc wrote comment for it 11/21/2001 visioncity visited it

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