National Museum of African Art – The story of African art heritage and history
Founded in 1964 and formerly located in Frederick Douglass's Washington, D.C. house, the National Museum of African Art is one of the Smithsonian Institution’s newest museums in the physical setting along the National Mall just west of the U.S. Capitol building.
The museum, which joined with the Smithsonian Institution in 1979, moved on to the Mall in 1986. Exhibits at the National Museum of African Art include African sculpture, headgear, household objects from daily life in Africa and ceramics from various regions.
The museum's main entrance is situated off the gardens in front of the Smithsonian Castle on Independence Avenue Southwest. Like the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the National Museum of African Art is an underground museum. It connects directly to the Sackler Gallery via a subterranean passageway.
The origins of the museum date back to a chance purchase of a $15 carving of the Yoruba people by Warren M. Robbins in Hamburg, Germany in the early 1960s. Robbins acquired another 32 pieces of African art one year later, bringing his collection upon returning to the United States, putting them on display at his home in Washington. A media report began bringing interested visitors to his home.
In 1963, Robbins purchased half of a home at 316-18 A Street Northeast that had been the residence of abolitionist Frederick Douglass from 1871 to 1877. When it opened in May 1964, it was the first museum in the United States dedicated to African art exclusively. In succeeding years, Robbins raised money to acquire the remaining half of the Douglass house, naming it the Museum of African Art.
In 1979, Congress agreed to have the Smithsonian Institution assume management of the collection. The museum was relocated from its Capitol Hill townhouse to the National Mall in 1987 and renamed the National Museum of African Art.
Visitors and groups of no more than 15 may request an unscheduled tour at the information desk in the museum's pavilion, subject to docent availability. Docent tours are offered Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 10:30 AM and 11:45 AM and on Saturdays and Sundays at 11 AM, 1 PM, and 3 PM.
Visit the museum's extremely comprehensive web site for current exhibition details.
Posted by Jim Brown
