Museum of Florida Art

Founded in a small DeLand house in 1951 with $13 seed money, the DeLand Museum of Art was established by the American Association of University Women “... to provide a creative awakening for a diverse audience through quality art and educational experiences.”

Renamed The Museum of Florida Art in 2007, the museum now boasts more than 6,000 square feet of gallery space as part of the DeLand Cultural Arts Center, which sits at the corner of North Woodland Boulevard and University Avenue at the edge of the Stetson University campus.

Notable exhibits at the DeLand museum have included the works of Ansel Adams and William Wegman, portraits by Yousuf Karsh, the Audubon Treasures exhibit, and shows by numerous emerging Florida artists.

The museum also fosters art appreciation outside its own walls, sponsoring, for example, a permanent exhibit of Jackson Walker paintings, depicting scenes in Florida history, that graces the rotunda of the Volusia County Historic Courthouse in Downtown DeLand. The museum also is a sponsor of the renovation of Stetson Mansion on DeLand’s west side, planned as a showcase of techniques and materials for historic-renovation projects, as well as a public meeting place.

Back at the museum, exhibits, films, lectures and workshops for all ages, as well as a summer-camp program for children, make 600 N. Woodland Blvd. a busy place. Exhibits usually open with a Friday-evening reception that offers the community a chance to meet and talk with the artists while enjoying free refreshments.

— deb@beacononlinenews.com

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