Delaware boasts several museums of fine art in its larger cities, plus a cornucopia of art galleries and studios scattered throughout the state, making up an impressive arts community for a state so small. The First State's museums provide an eyeful of fabulous art works ranging in media and time periods, showcased in world-class exhibit spaces. Adding another dimension to the state's artistic offerings are a plentiful selection of art galleries, where you'll find an impressive roster of local artists, as well as artists from other places.
Museums
Each of Delaware's major cities has its own museum of fine art. The capital city of Dover, for instance, is home to the Biggs Museum of American Art, which houses a permanent collection of American paintings that includes works by the Peale family, Albert Bierstadt, Gilbert Stuart, and Childe Hassam. Throughout the year, the museum changes its exhibitions, featuring both historic and contemporary art pieces. Galleries at the Biggs Museum allow for a truly up-close and personal experience with art, due to its intimate exhibit spaces. Some past exhibits at the museum include Greetings from Delaware and Other Artist Communities, which displayed more than 250 hand-made greeting cards designed by both regional and national artists; and From Four Studios: First State Modernism, a showing of early 20th century art by four modernist artists native to Delaware.
Newark's University Museums at the University of Delaware are comprised of three organizations of fine art: the University Gallery Collection, the Paul R. Jones Collection, and the Mineralogical Museum. In the city's downtown area, the University Gallery Collection is housed in the Old College building (listed on the National Register of Historic Places), displayed in two different galleries. The Paul R. Jones Gallery is named for an art collector, who donated a great portion of his collection of African-American works to the university. Works featured in this collection include pieces by Robert and Joanne Mitchell, Donald Polk and the Polk Family, and James Van der Zee. In 2007, the Jones Gallery featured an exhibit called On the Path of the Masters, containing works by Edward L. Loper, Sr., one of Delaware's most renowned living artists. The Jones Collection also presented Printed Proof, with selections from the Brandywine Workshop. Among other pieces, the Mineralogical Museum boasts an assemblage of minerals collected by George Kunz, which Tiffany & Co. had on display in their Fifth Avenue showrooms in New York City.
Wilmington Area
Wilmington features two places for fine art, the Delaware Art Museum and the Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts. The Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts has the largest collection of contemporary art in the region, with seven galleries (the Carole Bieber/ Marc Ham, plus DuPont I & II are the three main galleries), 26 artist's studios, and more than 30 exhibitions annually. The DCCA exhibits works by both nationally- and internationally- acclaimed contemporary artists, such as Gail Leboff. The center's studios provide work space to local artists, like Andrew Wapinski, Scott McClurg, Renee Benson, and Seonglan Boyce, who also exhibit at DCCA.
The Delaware Art Museum has been bringing visual arts to the city since 1912, when the museum got its start as the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts. In 1935, the family of successful textile manufacturer Samuel Bancroft, Jr. donated his extensive collection of British Pre-Raphaelite art and manuscript materials, along with 11 acres of land, to the fine arts society. The society used the acreage by spending $350,000 on the construction of a museum to house Bancroft's collection. Over the years, the number of works at the museum grew substantially, with more pieces added to the Pre-Raphaelite and Illustration Collections, as well as works that focused on 19th and 20th century American artists. Some of the artists featured in the collection included Frederic Edwin Church, Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth, and Paul Cadmus.
In its lifetime, the Delaware Art Museum has undergone a number of physical changes. Bigger gallery spaces and an auditorium are a few additions made to the building. Now, the museum's permanent collection emphasizes four main areas: Howard Pyle & American Illustration, British Pre-Raphaelite Art, the works of John Sloan, and American art from 1757 to the present. The museum also hosts various changing exhibits, which in the past have included Frida Kahlo: Through the Lens of Nickolas Muray, The Baroque World of Fernando Botero, and Art in Bloom, to name a few.
A beautifully unique work of art housed at the Delaware Art Museum is Illumination, by James Turrell. This light sculpture uses both analog and digital technology to create gradually changing, shimmering, colored fields of light in the museum's three-arched south entrance, the windows of the original 1938 building, and in the clerestories of the museum's East Wing. Another special piece, the Persian Window by Dale Chihuly, is a massive blown glass window built into the museum. It's made up of vibrantly colored decorative forms that are basically abstract, fluid shapes of various patterns.
As well, the Delaware Art Museum is home to the region's first sculpture garden. In fact, the Copeland Sculpture Garden is a main focal point at the museum. It features nine pieces from the museum's permanent collection, including the Crying Giant, a 13-foot tall bronze construction; the sound sculpture Orifice II by area artist Joe Moss, which was designed to change the sound of voices of those nearby; and George Rickey's Three Rectangles Horizontal Joined Gyratory II, which is on loan from the artist's estate.
Near Wilmington, Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library is located on an American country estate that belonged to Henry Francis du Pont during the early 20th century. The Winterthur mansion has been turned into a museum, which displays mostly antiques, Americana, and furnishings that reflect the period. However, a number of visual arts pieces, including paintings, are housed here as well.
Galleries and More
While perusing the First State for fine art, you may want to check out art galleries in addition to museums. Galleries generally feature the works of a particular artist or artists. Most of Delaware's galleries can be found in the cities of Wilmington, Lewes, and Rehoboth Beach, with a few others spread around the state.
Wilmington's Carspecken-Scott Gallery offers artwork by contemporary Eastern and Mid-Atlantic artists. Schoonover Studios Ltd and the Rodney Street Gallery feature illustrations and paintings by Frank E. Schoonover and many other students of Howard Pyle, as well as noted American illustrators.
In Lewes, the Peninsula Gallery exhibits pieces in a range of media by various artists like Howard Eberle, Paul Banning, and Carol Gray. Also in Lewes are Josephine Keir, Ltd., and the Packard Reath Gallery, where you'll find fine art photography.
Rehoboth features galleries like the Coastal Frameshop and Gallery, the Legends and Lore Gallery, and the Tideline Gallery. As well, the Rehoboth Art League has been a part of the area's visual arts community for more than 70 years, offering art classes and putting on a number of exhibits of works by its member artists each year.
Other cities in which you'll find art galleries include Dover (the Raubacher Gallery), Ocean View (Blue Room Gallery and Gift Shop, and the Ellen Rice Gallery), and Laurel (Watson's Art Gallery).
While sifting through local art galleries, you may come across the works of local artists, as Delaware boasts quite a few native artisans. Be on the look out for names like Abraxas, James R. Huntsberger, and Richard Clifton, who are just a few of the First State's popular living artists. If you're in the right place at the right time, you may be able to view works put together by the Ladybug Public Art Project. The project is a collaboration between Downtown Milford, Inc. and The Mispillion Art League in which local artists use blank ladybug forms that are two inches in diameter as a canvas to create a work of art. The ladybugs change location periodically, so be on the lookout for these unique works of art around the city of Milford.
It's easy to enjoy all the art Delaware has to offer. Because the state is so small, you'll easily be able to traverse the different cities, discovering their treasure troves of museums and galleries.
