The Sheldon Swope Art Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana

Terre Haute, Indiana

Terre Haute is a city and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, near the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943. The city is the county seat of Vigo County and...

, was originally funded by a bequest from Michael Sheldon Swope (1843-1929), a Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 veteran and jeweler who lived in Terre Haute much of his adult life. Planning for the art museum began on September 26, 1939, and the museum was officially open to the public in March 1942. According to its mission statement, the museum exists "to collect, preserve, exhibit, and interpret the best of American art, with special emphasis on painting and sculpture of the first half of the twentieth century and on Wabash Valley

Wabash Valley

The Wabash Valley is a region with parts in both Illinois and Indiana. It is named for the Wabash River and spans the middle to the middle-lower portion of the river and is centered at Terre Haute, Indiana...

 artists past and present."

In addition to housing numerous important works, Swope Art Museum offers summer classes for youth, artist lectures and exhibitions. They sponsor an annual student art exhibition, a tradition which began in May 1967.

Collection

The founding collection of the museum, assembled by its first director John Rogers Cox, focuses on American regionalism and consists of works by Grant Wood

Grant Wood

Grant DeVolson Wood was an American painter, born four miles east of Anamosa, Iowa. He is best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest, particularly the painting American Gothic, an iconic image of the 20th century.- Life and career :His family moved to Cedar Rapids after his...

, Thomas Hart Benton

Thomas Hart Benton (painter)

Thomas Hart Benton was an American painter and muralist. Along with Grant Wood and John Steuart Curry, he was at the forefront of the Regionalist art movement. His fluid, almost sculpted paintings showed everyday scenes of life in the United States...

, Edward Hopper

Edward Hopper

Edward Hopper was a prominent American realist painter and printmaker. While most popularly known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching...

, Charles Burchfield and Zoltan Sepeshy. The museum has expanded to include art from the second half of the 20th century, including works by Robert Rauschenberg

Robert Rauschenberg

Robert Rauschenberg was an American artist who came to prominence in the 1950s transition from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art. Rauschenberg is well-known for his "Combines" of the 1950s, in which non-traditional materials and objects were employed in innovative combinations...

, Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol

Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...

, Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder was an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing mobile sculptures. In addition to mobile and stable sculpture, Alexander Calder also created paintings, lithographs, toys, tapestry, jewelry and household objects.-Childhood:Alexander "Sandy" Calder was born in Lawnton,...

, Robert Motherwell

Robert Motherwell

Robert Motherwell American painter, printmaker and editor. He was one of the youngest of the New York School , which also included Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, and Philip Guston....

, Robert Indiana

Robert Indiana

Robert Indiana is an American artist associated with the Pop Art movement.-Life and work:Robert Indiana was born Robert Clark in New Castle, Indiana. His family relocated to Indianapolis, where he graduated from Arsenal Technical High School...

 and Eva Hesse

Eva Hesse

Eva Hesse , was a German-born American sculptor, known for her pioneering work in materials such as latex, fiberglass, and plastics. -Early life:Hesse was born into a family of observant Jews in Hamburg, Germany...

. One gallery is devoted 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...

 and Indiana artists.

Terre Haute artists in the Swope collection include James Farrington Gookins, Janet Scudder

Janet Scudder

Janet Scudder was an American sculptor.-Biography:Born as Netta Deweze Frazee, Scudder's childhood was marred by tragedy. Her father was a hardworking Terre Haute, Indiana confectioner who was active in community affairs. Her mother died, aged 38, on September 6, 1874...

, Amalia Küssner Coudert

Amalia Küssner Coudert

Amalia Küssner Coudert was an American miniaturist known for her portraits of prominent figures of the late 19th century including Caroline Astor, King Edward VII, Czar Nicholas II of Russia and Cecil Rhodes.-Early life:...

, Caroline Peddle Ball, Gilbert Wilson

Gilbert Brown Wilson

Gilbert Brown Wilson was an American painter known for his large-scale murals, including his 1935 murals in Woodrow Wilson Junior High School in Terre Haute, Indiana.Much of his later life was dedicated to depicting Herman Melville's Moby Dick...

 and Leroy Lamis

Leroy Lamis

Leroy Lamis was an American sculptor, digital artist and art educator known for his work with Plexiglas. His works have been exhibited throughout the United States and Europe and are in the permanent collections of numerous institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the...

.

In its many temporary exhibitions, the Swope Art Museum has highlighted work from numerous local artists including Sister Edith Pfau and John Laska.

Recognition

In November 2010, USA Today

USA Today

USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

named the Swope one of ten great places to see art in smaller cities.