Speed Art Museum offers a lot for a tiny price
The J.B. Speed Art Museum's Rembrandt oil painting, Portrait of a Forty-Year-Old Woman, may be worth millions, but visitors can view the museum's permanent collections for free six days a week.
Kentucky's oldest and largest art museum, the Speed Art Museum boasts more than 13,000 pieces in its permanent collections, ranging from a 6,000-year-old earthenware jar from Upper Egypt to up-to-date post-modern canvases.
The holdings range from a 17th century bronze altar from Benin (now Nigeria) to an ancient Roman epitaph, an Andy Warhol screenprint, Birmingham Race Riot, 1964, and a portrait of a French princess, a daughter of King Louis XV. The museum even houses an actual room from an early 17th century English stately home in Devonshire called the Grange, once owned by an advisor to Queen Elizabeth I.
Located on the University of Louisville's Belknap campus, the Speed Art Museum also has assorted special exhibitions. Click here to learn about the current temporary exhibitions. As befits the Bluegrass State's premier art museum, the Speed showcases works by Kentucky artists, particularly from the 19th century. Among them is a sculpture of President Abraham Lincoln by Albert P. Henry (born in Versailes, Ky.) — one of the few times in which the 16th president actually posed.
Young Picassos aren't left out, either. The museum's Art Sparks Interactive Gallery features 30 activities, multi-media presentations and works of art. Kids can create their very own masterpiece, explore a 17th century Dutch ship and kitchen, learn about texture and pattern in African art and more.
Admission to Art Sparks is $5, except for those with family memberships to the museum, who get in free. (For more information on annual memberships, which start at $50, click here.)
Athough admission to the permanent collections is free, the Speed suggests a $4 donation. Special programs and exhibits usually require tickets. Sizable discounts are available to groups for these special programs; call (502) 634-2960 or e-mail the Group Sales Office at groupsales@speedmuseum.org.
Due to its educational mission, the Speed provides school tours of four different types. They can be scheduled Tuesday through Friday, as well as weekends. For more information about school tours, call (502) 634-2700 or e-mail tours@speedmuseum.org. In addition, the Speed Art Museum offers professional development sessions for teachers, free curriculum consultations, free lesson plans and free classroom writing prompts.
The Speed Art Museum provides free Best of the Collection Tours for visitors at 7 p.m. Thursdays and 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. These public tours begin at the Front Desk.
The Café at the Speed Art Museum, located just off the Sculpture Court, is open for lunch Tuesday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Museum members receive a discount at the gift shop.
- by Ivonne Rovira, Louisville Reporter for HelloMetro
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Ivonne RoviraA graduate of the prestigious Columbia University School of Journalism in New York City, Ivonne Rovira worked as a reporter for the Miami News, The Miami Herald and The Associated Press. She has written articles for The National Catholic Reporter and The Courier-Journal. For more than 15 years, Ivonne wrote and edited articles aimed at middle-school children.
