As part of the Amarillo’s community college, Amarillo College, the Amarillo Museum of Art is a free and entertaining place to go when you’re looking for fun and affordable activities. Amarillo College, located at 2201 S Washington St, is a two-year, public educational institution that has been providing continuing education courses to the community since 1929. The museum was added onto the college in 1972 after collaboration between the school and the Amarillo Art Center.
Before the establishment was known as the Amarillo Museum of Art, community leaders within the town came together to form a place of artistic enrichment for the city and surrounding areas. The museum’s website states the original mission of the regional art facility in 1967 was to “provide quality visual arts programming to the residents of the Texas Panhandle, eastern New Mexico, and western Oklahoma through collections, temporary exhibitions representing a variety of media and periods, educational programming, preservation, and research.”
After coming together with the college to discuss a partnership in 1970, funds were raised over the next two years to pay for the construction of a visual arts, performing arts, and music studies complex which would also house the museum. Edward Durrell Stone, a renowned architect, was commissioned to design the complex that was opened on the Washington Street campus as part of the Fine Arts Complex and was renamed the Amarillo Museum of Art in 1994. The organization did not maintain or add to a permanent collection of art until 1979 when a policy change led to the establishment of one. Today, the museum has over 1,800 pieces of artwork consisting mainly of modern and contemporary American pieces, but featuring both Asian and Western art.
While the museum does showcase their permanent collections, it primarily features temporary exhibitions as well as educational programs. Visitors can find exhibits ranging in different styles, eras, and types of media depending on when they visit. The museum rotates through about 15 different exhibitions each year, so everyone is sure to find something that catches their eye.
Along with entertaining galleries, the institution regularly hosts educational events such as gallery talks, lectures, and art classes. These are presented by the establishment’s Museum School, and at their events such as 5 in 5 and 22HUNDRED. With so many different things to choose from, the organization’s focus is on community engagement and offers school tours, teacher in-service programming, digital programming, outreach to senior facilities, Family Days, and collaborations with other colleges and local cultural organizations. The efforts by the museum also seek to encourage and recognize artists native to the region through different events.
In 1979, the Amarillo Museum of Art was accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and continues to make a considerable contribution to the Panhandle’s “intellectual and cultural resources…by committing to excellence in maintaining museum standards and best practices.”
If you are interested in checking out what the Amarillo Museum of Art has to offer, it is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Sunday from 1:00 to 5:00 PM. Admission is always free for everyone.
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