Ogunquit Museum of American Art

Ogunquit Museum of American Art

Former name	Museum of Art of Ogunquit
Established	1953
Location	Ogunquit, Maine
Coordinates	43.2338°N 70.5889°W / 43.2338; -70.5889
Type	Art museum
Director	Amanda Lahikainen
Website	ogunquitmuseum.org

The Ogunquit Museum of American Art (OMAA) is a small art museum located on the coast in Ogunquit, Maine. The museum houses over 3,000 pieces in its permanent collection.

The museum collects and exhibits modern and contemporary American art. Its permanent collection includes paintings, sculpture, graphic arts, photography, and new media. OMAA is located in its original building at 543 Shore Road in Ogunquit, Maine, and its sculpture garden overlooks Narrow Cove.

History

Artist and collector Henry Strater purchased land in Ogunquit formerly owned by Charles Herbert Woodbury who is widely credited with founding the art colony in the village.

Initially founded by Strater as The Museum of Art of Ogunquit, the institution was incorporated on September 18, 1951 with a mission for “the broad educational interests of the public.” Architect Charles Worley of Boston designed the museum to realize the full potential of the site on the coast. Strater commissioned architect Charles S. Worley Jr. to design the building it is housed in. The museum opened its doors to the public on July 25, 1953.

The first exhibition included 121 works by modern artists Marsden Hartley, John Marin, Stuart Davis, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Peggy Bacon, Walt Kuhn, Frances Lamont, Hamilton Easter Field, and William von Schlegel, and was supported with the loan of important works from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art and the Downtown Gallery.

In the ensuing decades, the Ogunquit Museum of American Art has organized important exhibitions of modern and contemporary art by Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth, Jamie Wyeth,and Dahlov Ipcar.

• Pages from the initial exhibition catalog at OMAA
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Collection

OMAA houses over 3,000 pieces in its permanent collection. The highlights include:

• Important paintings by Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Walt Kuhn and Marsden Hartley
• A complete set of the graphic works of Jack Levine
• A large assortment of ceramic sculpture by Carl Walters
• Works by Will Barnet, Thomas Hart Benton, Charles Burchfield, William Zorach, Marguerite Zorach, Dahlov Ipcar, Alexander Calder, Edward Hopper, Gaston Lachaise, Roy Lichtenstein, and Reginald Marsh.