Last updated: 5/31/2011
Manchester, New Hampshire
Address
150 Ash StreetManchester, NH 03104
phone: 603-669-6144
fax: 603-669-7194
e-mail: visitor@currier.org
web: www.currier.org

Hours

Sunday, Monday, Wednesday-Friday: 11am-5pm
Saturday:10am-5pm (free admission 10am-12pm)
Open the first Thursday of each month: 11am-8pm
CLOSED Tuesdays

Closed Major Holidays - The Currier Museum of Art is closed on:
Christmas Day
New Year's Day
Easter Sunday
Independence Day
Thanksgiving

Admissions

Museum Admission: Adults $10, Senior $9, Student $8, Children 17 and under are free.

Zimmerman House Tour Admission: Adults $19, Senior $19, Student $16, Children 7-17 $8.

Museum Type(s)

Art

Staff

Vicky Jaffe
phone:
Neva Cole
phone: 603-669-6144
Description

Stroll through the different galleries to see American and European art ranging from the Renaissance to current day. Learn about the museum’s origins in the Currier History Gallery and enjoy the Currier’s extensive collections of paintings, sculpture, furniture, glass, and ceramics throughout the museum.

Mission

The Currier Museum of Art is committed to providing stimulating, diverse, and enjoyable encounters with original works of art and, in doing so, hopes to inspire the hearts, minds and imagination of its members and visitors. The museum provides the public with opportunities to learn about the past, appreciate and evaluate the present, and contemplate the future.

History

Moody Currier (1806-1898) created an extraordinary legacy. His will provided for the establishment of an art museum in Manchester, New Hampshire, “for the benefit and advancement of humanity.” After his own death and that of his third wife, Hannah, in 1915, a board of trustees was appointed to carry out the Curriers’ wishes.

Although Moody Currier was a generous patron of art and literature, he was not an art collector. His bequest to the museum, however, included a generous endowment for purchasing art. This purchase fund is the chief reason for the high quality of the Currier’s collection. Because of it, the museum has been able to buy choice pieces as they appeared on the market, and these, in turn, have attracted generous donations from private collectors.

The building did not rise without controversy. After rejecting two Boston architecture firms, the trustees chose the New York firm of Tilton and Githens, who had recently completed the Manchester Public Library. Their design, an elegant and welcoming Italian palazzo faced with Kentucky limestone, was greeted with enthusiasm, and ground was broken in 1927. The museum was built on the former site of the Curriers’ large Victorian home. The Currier Gallery of Art opened to the public in October 1929.

Since 1929, the Currier’s collections have grown to include European and American art from the Renaissance to the present, including painting, sculpture, furniture, silver, glass, and textiles. New pavilions, designed by the New York firm Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer, were completed in 1982 to accommodate the museum’s growing collections, programs and staff. The Currier Art Center, home to art activities for all ages, was relocated to the adjacent former Women’s Aid Home in 1998. As the museum has grown over the years, its mission has remained true to the Curriers’ vision. Exhibitions and programs are designed, as Moody Currier specified, “to elevate the quality of life in New Hampshire.” The Currier Museum of Art continues this commitment to art and education, offering a wide range of programs for audiences of all ages.

Library
Access: General Public
Appointment required: No
Services
Gift Shop
Special Event Rental
Restaurant
ADA
Wheelchair Accessible
Exhibitions
Museum Events
DISCLAIMER
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MUSEUM CONFERENCES

Museum Trustee Association Spring Forum 2024

April 10 - 14, 2024

Atlanta, Georgia

Texas Association of Museums 2024 Lubock Annual Conference

April 14 - 17, 2024

Lubbock, Texas

2024 Colorado-Wyoming ANNUAL MEETING

May 1 - 4, 2024

Worland, Wyoming

West Virginia Association of Museums 2024 Conference

June 6 - 8, 2024

Shepherdstown, West Virginia

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