Ein Museum - Temple of Art, 1928

Temple of Fine Arts Museum in Ivansville, Indiana (USA)

An organization interested in establishing a permanent museum in the City formed in 1926 when The Society of Fine Arts and History was founded.  The purpose of this organization, as stated by Paul H. Schmidt, was “to establish, perpetuate and maintain a Temple of Fine Arts ot he people of ‘Evansville and Vanderburgh County…said Temple ot h used for all such purposes as will foster the aesthetic development and the higher life of said Community.”  The new organization – under the leadership of officers Schmidt, Francis F. Reitz, Mrs. George S. Clifford, Mrs. Moses Gans, Mrs. Paul H. (Samuella) Schmidt, and George Honig – was offered, rent free, the former Y.W.C.A structure at 216 Northwest Second as a temporary home.  This offer was accepted and, after merging with the Vanderburgh County Museum and Historical Society, the collection at Willard Library was moved into this 8900 Square foot structure.  Following repairs ot he building, The Society of Fine Arts and History, whose Museum was known as the Temple of Fine Arts, opened ot he public on March 19, 1928 with an exhibition of 25 paintings on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (...)  When the Temple opened in 1928 in the old YWCA, it was in an 8,895 square foot building that basically consisted of two old houses that were connected.  The Permanent Collection consisted of 2,658 objects.  324 people were Members of the Museum and from late June of 1928 to January of 1929, 3,500 people visited the facility.  Today’s Evansville Museum is a 48,000 square foot facility with 30,000 objects, a Membership of 1,600, and an average annual attendance of 70,000.