Currier Museum of Art: Manchester's Fine Arts Home

For the past 81 years, the Currier Museum of Art has delighted visitors with the art of Pablo Picasso, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Claude Monet among other European and American masterworks. Beyond the great photographic, artistic and craftworks of the past the Currier Museum also offers tours of the Zimmerman House, the only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in New England that’s open to public viewing.

It took 14 years for the Currier Museum to open, from the time Hannah Currier died in 1915 and left her home to establish the Currier Gallery of Art in accordance with the wishes of her late husband Moody Currier (a former governor of New Hampshire). The museum opened in 1929 after years of deliberation over the design of the building and gathering the beginnings of the collection.

The Currier Museum presents new special exhibits every three months throughout the year, including the New Hampshire Art Association’s juried exhibition that showcases the talents of established and emerging artists working throughout New Hampshire in sculpture, painting, drawing and photography. The museum also hosts particular artists and displays an entire swath of their work. From late September 2008 to early January 2009, for example, the museum hosted a special exhibit of Andy Warhol’s prints. There are always special shows at the museum, so check early and often before you visit in order to take the most advantage.

It’s not only the art that makes the Currier Museum a destination. It also holds classes for students of all ages and ability levels; the lessons include all artistic media -- from drawing to painting to sculpture -- throughout the year. A class brochure is available on the website for interested students.

Beyond classes and art displays, the Currier Museum boasts an non-circulating research library chock-full of books, auction catalogs and periodicals supporting the museum’s focus on European and American art. The library is currently closed to the public, but the archive remains searchable at the Currier Museum’s website. The library will be re-opened in 2011. For those of a consumer mindset, the museum shop offers a wide array of books, crafts and other items to decorate your home or office with representations of the fine art throughout the museum.

Public tours that last about an hour are available every day the museum is open, and there are also Focus Tours that delve deeper into the aspects of the collection available on select days. A “Welcome to the Currier” tour that gives visitors the highlights of the permanent collection is available Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 12:30 p.m., as well as Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. and Sundays at 1 p.m.  The museum underwent significant expansion in 2008, so those who might have visited before then might be surprised at the new space the Currier Museum now occupies.

HelloManchester Tip: In October 2011, the museum will host an exhibition called "Backstage Pass: Rock and Roll Photography" through January 2012. Make sure you stop in to see what went on behind the scenes.
 

Currier Museum Art Manchester Frank Lloyd Wright