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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 17, 2007
Harn Museum of Art: Evolution of North Central Florida’s Largest Art Museum
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art is named in honor of native-Floridian and Gainesville civic leader Samuel Peebles Harn (1893-1957), whose family made the founding gift to the University of Florida. The Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art opened in 1990. It is accredited by the American Association of Museums.
Samuel Harn graduated from the University of Florida in 1915 and then served as Navy ensign during World War I. He married Florida native Gladys Gracy in 1921 and they settled in Gainesville, where Samuel Harn is best known for his many years as manager of the Gainesville Chamber of Commerce. He also helped found the Men’s Garden Club and was an active member of Kiwanis. He served as National Secretary of the American Camellia Society until 1952, when he was stricken with Lou Gehrig’s disease.
In 2000 the David A. Cofrin family made a gift to fund an 18,000-square-foot addition. Harn Museum Director Rebecca Martin Nagy was appointed in 2002 and led the Museum through the construction of the Mary Ann Harn Cofrin Pavilion, named for the daughter of the late Samuel P. Harn. The addition opened in October 2005, making the 86,800-square-foot Harn Museum of Art one of the largest university art museums in the southeastern United States. Under Nagy’s direction, attendance to the Harn Museum has grown from 78,668 in 2002 to 93,857 in 2006.
The Cofrin Pavilion, an LEED-certified building, features 6,500 feet of exhibition space for international contemporary art, the Camellia Court Café, an outdoor landscaped plaza with water features and the Goforth Learning Center used for meetings, workshops and educational activities. The Camellia Court Café is the first-ever dining location for UF Cultural Plaza visitors and also adds additional space for special events.
The Harn Museum renovated its original building in summer 2006, including recarpeting, repainting and refinishing the wood floors in the original galleries, administrative areas and other public areas. Galleries dedicated to the African, Asian, modern adn photography collections re-opened to the public in September 2006.Current major projects include a renovation of storage facilities, made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Work on the project is slated to be completed by July 2008.
Mission
The Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art promotes the power of the arts to inspire and educate people and enrich their lives. To this purpose the museum builds and maintains exemplary art collections and produces a wide variety of challenging, innovative exhibitions and stimulating educational programs. As an integral part of the University of Florida, the museum advances teaching and research, and serves as a catalyst for creative engagement between the university and diverse local, state, national and international audiences.
Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art
The Harn Museum, at SW 34 th St. and Hull Rd., Gainesville, Fla., is one of the southeast’s largest university art museums with more than 6,200 works in its collection and an array of temporary exhibitions. Admission is free. The museum enhances the activities of the University and serves a culturally diverse audience through educational programming. The Harn expanded by more than 18,000 square feet in Oct. 2005 with the opening of the Mary Ann Harn Cofrin Pavilion, which includes new educational and meeting areas and the Camellia Court Cafe, the first eatery for visitors of the University of Florida Cultural Plaza. Museum Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. The Camellia Court Café is open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. For more information call 352.392.9826 or visit www.harn.ufl.edu.
Media
contact :
Tami Wroath, Director of Marketing and Public Relations
Harn Museum of Art
352.392.9826 x116
twroath@harn.ufl.edu
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