The Mennello Museum of American Art is an art museum located in the Howard Phillips' house in Loch Haven Park next to Lake Formosa in Orlando, Florida. The museum displays paintings and sculptures and contains at its core a permanent collection of paintings by Earl Cunningham. The Cunningham collection was donated by Marilyn and Michael Mennello of Winter Park, Florida. Other exhibitions show works of traditional and contemporary American artists. The museum opened November 22, 1998, and is owned and operated by the city of Orlando.
Location
The Mennello Museum of American art is located in a museum and education focused district of Orlando, named Loch Haven Cultural Park. It is right across the street from the Orlando Science Center, the Orlando Repertory Theater, and the Orlando Museum of Art. Once a private home, the museum was donated to the city of Orlando. It is on Lake Formosa, and its grounds contain a sculpture garden which features abstract sculptures by artist Alice Aycock. The museum is adjacent to the three-mile Orlando Urban Trail, and bikers and hikers traveling along it will pass through the lakeside sculpture garden. The museum is also conveniently near the SunRail commuter train station, and offers free parking to those who arrive by car.
Smithsonian Accreditation
The Mennello Museum is a Smithsonian American Art Museum Affiliate and has presented outstanding and resonant exhibitions organized by The Smithsonian: Pop Art Prints ; George Catlin’s American Buffalo ; African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond, ; and 1934: A New Deal for Artists. Each of these exhibitions present important considerations into art and cultural at distinct moments in American history and reflect a range of artistic expression within both thematic group exhibitions alongside a singular vision in a solo presentation. The Mennello Museum of American Art is proud of its strong Affiliation with The Smithsonian and for the opportunity to share such diverse exhibitions and scholarship with our community
Publications
-Shifting Gaze -Immersion Into Compounded Time -Mira Lehr High Water Mark
Guided Tours
The museum offers docent guided tours, as well as a special tour led by either the Mennello Museum’s Executive Director, the museum’s Curator of Education, or a special guest. These tours provide background information and commentary, and are designed to challenge museum attendees to see art in a new light. The museum also offers tours in American Sign Language, as well as expressive tours for the blind, in which art will be described to vision-impaired visitors in vivid details.
Partnerships
The Mennello Museum of American Art partners with Women in the Arts Inc to present Community School of the Arts. This program is offered to students in order to expand their understanding of museum art world while having opportunities to exercise their own creativity. Another partner is Full Circle Yoga, which hosts and teaches outdoor Yoga classes in the sculpture garden on the last Sunday morning of each month.The classes welcome beginners and moderate level students. Mennello is a member of Blue Star Museums, which provides free admission to active duty military personnel and their families. Funding for the museum is the result of sponsorships from companies including Passport Winter Park, Karst Media, and Central Florida Lifestyle Magazine, as well as from guest membership, pet membership Pig Floyd’s Urban Barbakoa and MidFlorida Credit Union tributes, and the Frank Holt Memorial Fund.
