The Ball State University Museum of Art is an art museum located in the Fine Arts building on the campus of Ball State University

Ball State University

Ball State University is a state-run research university located in Muncie, Indiana. It is also known as Ball State or simply BSU.Located on the northwest side of the city, Ball State's campus spans and includes 106 buildings...

, Muncie, Indiana

Muncie, Indiana

Muncie is a city in Center Township, Delaware County in east central Indiana, best known as the home of Ball State University and the birthplace of the Ball Corporation. It is the principal city of the Muncie, Indiana, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 118,769...

, USA.

The museum is home to some 11,000 works (mostly paintings, photographs, and sculptures) valued at more than $40 million. It is one of only four Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

 art museums with a notable, well-rounded collection.

History

In 1892, a group of women formed the Art Students' League, hoping to raise interest in art in the growing community of Muncie. The Art Students' League held many successful art exhibits and then formed the Muncie Art Association in 1905, which in turn set goals to host an annual art show and to annually purchase a work of art to help establish a permanent collection. The permanent collection of the Muncie Art Association were located in the hallways of many Muncie schools until the founding of the Indiana State Normal School by the Ball Brothers

Ball Brothers

The Ball brothers were the founders of the Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Business which eventually became Ball Corporation. They greatly improved the quality of life of Muncie, Indiana through their philanthropy and business. They were instrumental in the creation of Ball State University, and...

. The works of art owned by the art association were then moved to the Indiana State Normal School. It was not until 1931 that plans were made to erect a building to permanently house the works of art.

Fine Arts Building and Museum of Art

Just before the Great Depression, there was a need for an Art Center for an ever growing demand for art and music classrooms and space for an art gallery on campus. Architect George F. Schreiber was hired to design the collegiate gothic style building, but was put on hold because the state of Indiana issued a state moratorium on spending in 1932. It was not until 1935 that enough money was raised to begin construction on the building. In 1936, the Fine Arts Building and Museum of Art was opened under President L.A. Pittenger

L.A. Pittenger

Lemuel Arthur "L. A." Pittenger is best known as being the 4th president of Ball Teachers College later known as Ball State University, as well as having Ball State University's student center named after him....

.

The Fine Arts Building also housed the foreign language, English and social science departments, a recital hall, and a Renaissance style auditorium.

Fine Arts Terrace

Undergraduate commencement ceremonies for the University are hosted annually in May on the Fine Arts Terrace, a grassy stretch of open land between the Art Museum and Beneficence

Beneficence

Beneficence is a bronze statue on the campus of Ball State University, located in Muncie, Indiana. It is referred to as "Benny" by the students.-History:...

.

Collections

• Ball Family Collection
• Indiana Painters, including the Hoosier Group
  Hoosier Group
  The Hoosier Group was a group of Indiana Impressionist painters working in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They are primarily known for their renditions of the Indiana landscape. Artists considered members of this group include T. C. Steele, Richard Gruelle, William Forsyth, J. Ottis...
  
  
• Contains collections with ancient, medieval, Renaissance, 17th century, 18th century, 19th century, modern
  Modern art
  Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
  
  , Asian, European and American Works on Paper and Photography, European and American Decorative Arts and Furniture, and arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
• Search the collection through the DIDO (Digital Images Delivered Online) Database.

Notable Pieces of Art

• Print of The Great Wave off Kanagawa
  The Great Wave off Kanagawa
  , also known as The Great Wave or simply The Wave, is a woodblock print by the Japanese artist Hokusai. An example of ukiyo-e art, it was published sometime between 1830 and 1833 as the first in Hokusai's series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji , and is his most famous work...
  
  , Hokusai
  Hokusai
  was a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period. He was influenced by such painters as Sesshu, and other styles of Chinese painting...
  
  
• The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence, Massimo Stanzione
  Massimo Stanzione
  Massimo Stanzione was an Italian Baroque painter, mainly active in Naples.Massimo Stanzione was an Italian Baroque painter. Born in Naples in 1586, Massimo was greatly influenced by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, but what earned him the nickname of The Neapolitan Guido Reni was his...
  
  
• Storm King of the Hudson, Thomas Cole
  Thomas Cole
  Thomas Cole was an English-born American artist. He is regarded as the founder of the Hudson River School, an American art movement that flourished in the mid-19th century...
  
  
• The Concord Minute Man of 1775, Daniel Chester French
  Daniel Chester French
  Daniel Chester French was an American sculptor. His best-known work is the sculpture of a seated Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.-Life and career:...
  
  
• Under The Trees I, Andre Lhote
  André Lhote
  André Lhote was a French sculptor and painter of figure subjects, portraits, landscapes and still life. He was also very active and influential as a teacher and writer on art....
  
  

External links

• Museum of Art website
• DIDO Website
• Images of artwork from the Museum of Art from the Ball State University Digital Media Repository.