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Owensboro Museum of Fine Art expands and enhances the cultural environment of the region through a permanent collection of American, European and Asian fine and decorative arts dating from the 15th century to the present. Major traveling exhibitions; visual and performing arts; interpretive events and educational programs for children and adults occur throughout the year.

A CELEBRATION OF PUBLIC ART

The Museum grounds feature Ryan Sculpture Park, a new community green space adjacent to the museum at 10th and Frederica Streets and the Contemporary Art Park across the street from the museum at 9th and Frederica Street.
Ryan Sculpture Park showcases the first buffalo sculpture in Owensboro's Bronze Buffalo Trace, INTO THE WIND, a one and one-third life size bronze bison by Texas artist T. D. Kelsey.

Kelsey has an international reputation as a wildlife sculptor and is featured in the collection of many major museums, including the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Wyoming; National Museum of Wildlife, Wyoming; C. M. Russell Museum, Montana and was recently the subject of a one-person exhibition at the Thomas Gilcrease Museum, Oklahoma. He is a member of the National Sculpture Society and the Cowboy Artists of America.

LITTLE MO monumental polychromed steel sculpture, 2006 Peter Reginato (b. 1945) New York Collection of Owensboro Museum of Fine Art A Gift of the Alton and Margaret Puckett Private Foundation

The Contemporary Art Park will be the permanent site for a monumental painted steel construction, LITTLE MO, by New York artist Peter Reginato. It is the sixth monumental outdoor sculpture purchased from the Owensboro Public Art Commission's national competition, the Riverbend Sculpture Biennial.

Reginato's signature polychromed metal assemblages are featured in numerous sculpture gardens across the nation and in public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Texas; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina; Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida; Hirschorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and Corcoran Gallery of Art, both Washington D.C.; Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island; Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Massachusetts and Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.

Featured Exhibition

January 24 – March 21, 2010

LINCOLN THEN AND NOW, an exhibition scheduled in celebration of the national Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial, 2008-2010, features important quilts made during the Lincoln era (1809-1965) from the collections of the Kentucky Historical Society, Frankfort, KY; the Kentucky Museum, Bowling Green, KY; the Museum of the American Quilter Society, Paducah, KY; the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art and private collectors across the country.

Contrasting the period quilts are more than a dozen winners from a national competition, ABRAHAM LINCOLN BICENTENNIAL QUILTS, organized by the Museum of the American Quilter Society, Paducah, Kentucky. Contemporary art quilters submitted entries which commemorated the 16th president by incorporating aspects of his life and influence on this country.

The award winning quilts were based upon a variety of themes related to Lincoln from his humble beginnings, the nineteenth century political culture, the Civil War, to Lincoln’s legacy today. The quilts from this competition represent the “now” component of the exhibition, showing not only the materials and techniques quiltmakers have at their disposal today, but the continuing influence of Abraham Lincoln and his presidency.