Visitor Information
Founded in 1952 by a group of spirited local citizens, the Hunterdon Art Museum has evolved into the region's premier showcase of contemporary art and design as well as the region's home for art education programs. Learn more about the museum.
Gallery Hours
Tuesday-Sunday, 11:00AM-5:00PM
Suggested Admission: $5 per person
Office Hours
Tuesday-Friday, 9:00AM-5:00PM
Address
Hunterdon Art Museum
7 Lower Center Street
Clinton, New Jersey 08809-1303
Tel. 908-735-8415
Directions:
From Route 78 (East or West)
Take exit 15, and bear right onto Route 173 East. Turn left at the Exxon Station and Clinton House and go over the yellow bridge. The museum is the stone mill immediately on the left. If the museum's parking lot is full, proceed on Lower Center Street to a municipal parking lot.
The Hunterdon Art Museum is a wheelchair accessible space. Publications are available in large print. Patrons who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired may contact the Museum through the New Jersey Relay Service at (TTY)1.800.852.7899
About the Museum
Founded in 1952 by a group of spirited local citizens, the Hunterdon Art Museum has evolved into the region's premier showcase of contemporary art and design. The museum's changing exhibitions feature the work of emerging and established artists, and showcase the museum's collection of works on paper. A vibrant education program includes studio classes, workshops, summer art camps, lectures, docent-led exhibition tours and other interpretive and outreach experiences.
50 Years: The History of the Hunterdon Art Museum
The Stone Mill, home to the Hunterdon Art Museum, was re-built after a fire in 1836 on the site of a flour mill that is said to have ground wheat for General Washington's revolutionary army during its encampment at Morristown, NJ. From 1836 until 1952, the grist mill was in nearly continuous operation. In 1952, it was put up for sale by the owner and miller, Joseph Kreidel, for $10,000. Even before the mill went on sale, James R. Marsh of Pittstown had conceived a plan to create an art center and national school for craftsmen in the old mill.
Throughout its early years, the Art Center (as it was then known) strove to maintain the building's architectural integrity while making it a suitable space for the enjoyment of the visual and performing arts. On March 5, 1953, almost immediately after taking possession of the building, the first stage of renovations began: chutes and machinery were cleared from the first and second floors, cement floors were laid on the first floor and plans were made for more substantial repairs. Architect William M. Hunt of Lambertville worked closely with the trustees to save as much of the mill's historic character as possible. He drew up plans for the renovated spaces in 1953 including areas for a stage, kitchen, stairway, and public amenities.
Under the presidency of Otto Siegmund, who assumed leadership of the trustees after James R. Marsh's death in 1966, important changes were instituted at the Art Center. A grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts made it possible for the center to hire its first executive director, Ann Douglass, in 1970. A new board committee for Special Exhibitions was organized and included ceramic artist Toshiko Takaezu, illustrator Gertrude Espencheid , and artist Katharine Trubek. The Special Exhibitions Committee organized at least two shows a year. Among the exhibitions were solo shows of the works of Lenore Tawney (1970), Tetsuro Sawada (1971), Sergio Campos Mello (1971), Hedda Sterne (1973), and John Vickrey (1974).
There were also intriguing group exhibitions-- among them an Invitational Sculpture exhibition that included Harry Bertoia, Jeanne Miles, Isamu Noguchi, and James Seawright. In 1972 Samuel Dorsky, an important dealer and philanthropist, donated a selection of twentieth century prints to the Art Center. These prints by such well-known artists as Salvador Dali, Red Grooms, Philip Guston, Louise Nevelson, Ad Reinhardt, and George Sugarman greatly enhanced the center's collection.
The 1980's saw expansion in the Art Center's programming and sustained financial support. For the first time, a full-time director oversaw all the activities of the center. More classes were offered and educational outreach to the schools became a priority.
Serious exhibitions, extensive press coverage, and a campaign to restore, renovate, and improve the building dominated the decade. The biggest fundraising campaign of the Art Center's history was launched in 1984. The Critical Challenge Campaign raised over $650,000 to pay for much needed repairs to the building and retaining wall. The state of New Jersey demonstrated its support for this campaign by awarding a $100,000 appropriation to the Art Center. Beyond the extensive waterproofing and repair to the building's foundation, plans were drawn for the redesign of the interior to allow for an elevator to make the building accessible to handicapped visitors, secure gallery spaces with improved climate control and security systems, three new studios on the fourth floor designated for adult and children's classes, and storage space for the ever-growing permanent collection. The Children's Art Festival, which was inaugurated in 1989 with the sponsorship of Johanna Farms, brought art to the streets of Clinton.
The newly refurbished Hunterdon Art Center entered the 1990s with an established reputation for excellence in education and exhibitions. The additional exhibition space on the third floor was devoted for much of the year to another new program; the Young Artist's Showcase. This program, supported by Johanna Farms in its first years, and now sponsored by Embarq, gave area students an opportunity to exhibit their talents. With new studios on the fourth floor, the education program flourished and children and adults came to attend a wide variety of classes. In 1997, the center was re-named the "Hunterdon Museum of Art." Between 1988 and 1989 when the renovations were complete, art education classes expanded from 9 to 27. Nationally known local artists were featured in exhibitions, among them Clarence Carter, Adolf Konrad, Carol Rosen, and in 1998 Toshiko Takaezo. Toshiko Takaezu: At Home was installed throughout three floors of the museum and also included one of her beautiful bronze bells on the patio outside. It was both a tribute to her accomplishments as an artist and an appreciation of her many years of involvement in the community and at the museum.
In the same spirit of connecting the local community with art, an unprecedented exhibition about the artistic heritage of Hunterdon County opened on February 14, 1999. Curated for the museum by Anne and John Goodyear, DADA Country unearthed a fascinating history of the county that included Max Ernst, Dorothea Tanning, Marcel Duchamp and Alexina Matisse. The exhibition included the work of these artists (Alexina Matisse was not an artist, but an art historian) as well as works of many younger artists who had been inspired by Dada art. Performances at the museum gave visitors a first hand experience of the free-wheeling, creative, and iconoclastic spirit of Dada. In the fall of 2000, an important exhibition of Larry Fink's photographs of the fashion industry opened at the art museum; in September of 2001 Hildreth York and Ingrid Renard organized Compelled, a group exhibition of work by artists who created mostly abstract art through laborious and painstakingly slow processes. Compelled earned the Newark Star Ledger's praise as one of the 10 best exhibitions of the year.
The Hunterdon Art Museum faces the twenty-first century determined to continue to produce programs of excellence, to expand its educational mission, and to bring nationally and locally significant artists to the attention of our patrons and visitors. Renovations to the beautiful stone mill continue; in 2000 the museum renovated the lobby, moved the entrance back to the Center Street door, and created a new museum shop to sell high quality crafts and design products for adults and children. The staff has grown to include a full-time director of education, greatly invigorating the educational mission of the museum, and a development office dedicated to raising funds for programming and operating expenses.
Since 1997, the state of New Jersey has renewed its financial support and encouragement and honored the museum three times with the Annual Governor's Invitational Tennis Tournament Award. This recognition of excellence is given to institutions in the state that provide "outstanding work in the community and the state of New Jersey." Recently the generous bequest of Helen Tomson created an endowment that will continue to grow in future years. We look ahead to a future of exhibitions that draw from local and national talent, exciting classes in a wide variety of media, greater educational outreach to area schools, and increased participation between the art museum and the community.
