art museum
An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. A ...
. It styles itself as the only fine arts museum in southern New Jersey. The museum opened in 1983 in
Galloway Township, New Jersey
Galloway Township is a township in Atlantic County,in the U.S. state of New Jersey. At of total area of land and water, Galloway Township is the largest municipality in the state.Oceanville was closed to the public in 2016. The Oceanville property was eventually sold in 2021. The museum has since moved into four other affiliated sites where its collection is displayed: the Noyes Art Garage in
Atlantic City
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...
Seaview golf club
The Seaview Golf Club is the owner of Liberia's only 18-hole golf course, located opposite the Unity Conference Center and situated on one hundred acres of landscape where the St. Paul River empties into the Atlantic Ocean in Virginia, Montserrad ...
in Galloway.
Since 2017, the museum is fully a part of
Stockton University
Stockton University is a public university in Galloway Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. It is named for Richard Stockton, one of the New Jersey signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence ...
, a partnership which began in 2010 and expanded in 2016.
History
The Noyes Museum of Art was created largely due to the philanthropic efforts of Fred and Ethel Noyes. Fred Noyes helped create and promote the " Historic Towne of Smithville" tourist and activity site, and was the owner of the Smithville Inn restaurant. Noyes was also an avid art collector, and used his own personal collection to start the museum's collection. The Noyes family created their foundation in 1973 and began design of the museum in 1974, using funds from the sale of Historic Smithville. The museum eventually opened in 1983 at its Oceanville, Galloway site on Lily Lake, only 2 miles (3 km) away from Smithville. The museum was built directly next to the
Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge
The Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge located in southern New Jersey along the Atlantic coast north of Atlantic City, in Atlantic and Ocean counties. The refuge was created in 1984 out of two ex ...
.
The Noyes Museum served as a cultural center within
Atlantic County
Atlantic County is a county located along the southern coast of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county had a population of 274,534. Ethel Noyes died in 1979, during the museum's construction, and Fred Noyes died in 1987, but the charitable foundation they built continued on.
The museum began to run into budgetary problems from its heating and air conditioning (
HVAC
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. HV ...
) systems, which became increasingly inefficient with time. Additionally, its electrical systems needed to be upgraded, and the building was not entirely compliant with the ADA (
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ...
, which was passed after the building was created). The museum signed an agreement with the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey (formerly Stockton State College, now
Stockton University
Stockton University is a public university in Galloway Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. It is named for Richard Stockton, one of the New Jersey signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence ...
) in 2010 in which Stockton would gain access to some of the Noyes collection, and the college would agree to invest $500,000 to upgrade the building and bring it into compliance with modern building codes. The university backed out of this agreement in late 2015, though, and both it and the Noyes Foundation decided it was not worth spending more money into the structure. Executive Director Michael Cagno called it "a beautiful location but it was in the middle of nowhere" and that the business case for repairing the structure was not good. As a result, in January 2016, the original Noyes Museum building was closed.
In August 2017, Stockton University took over control of the Noyes Foundation's holdings. In December 2017, Stockton University took control over the final remaining assets of the Noyes Foundation, including ownership of the Oceanville property. The foundation's donated assets were estimated to be worth 2.2 million dollars.
Current status
The main Galloway location was put up for sale after its closure. In 2021, the original Oceanville property was sold to a local church. The Noyes Museum still exists, however, and its collection currently rotates between three sites where it is displayed: the
Seaview golf club
The Seaview Golf Club is the owner of Liberia's only 18-hole golf course, located opposite the Unity Conference Center and situated on one hundred acres of landscape where the St. Paul River empties into the Atlantic Ocean in Virginia, Montserrad ...
in Galloway (albeit a different location within Galloway Township than the original), the Arts Garage in Atlantic City, the Noyes Gallery at The Claridge Hotel in Atlantic City, and at Stockton's Kramer Hall in Hammonton. The largest of the sites is the Noyes Arts Garage, which opened in 2013 as a new spinoff venture of the Noyes Foundation. It is located in downtown Atlantic City near the edge of the
Tanger Outlets The Walk
Tanger Outlets The Walk is a 109-store open-air outlet mall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It is the only outlet mall in Atlantic County. The mall opened in August 2003 and spans 3 city blocks, featuring a unique layout in outlet mall construction. ...
outdoor mall. The building was redeveloped by Atlantic City's
Casino Reinvestment Development Authority
The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority or CRDA is a New Jersey state governmental agency that was founded in 1984 and is responsible for directing the spending of casino reinvestment funds in public and private projects to benefit Atlantic ...
(CRDA) which leases the site to Noyes at no cost. The Arts Garage includes space for independent artists to set up shop and sell their own wares, although the mall section has had trouble attracting enough foot traffic to keep the stores solvent. Kramer Hall in Hammonton is the second largest, and is used for storing much of the collection.
The Noyes collection includes 3,500 pieces of art and sculpture. It includes a set of over 300 duck decoys, a personal interest of Fred Noyes that he began collecting at a young age; the decoys are now in Hammonton's Town Hall.