The Rockwell Museum is a Smithsonian Affiliate museum of

American art Visual art of the United States or American art is visual art made in the United States or by U.S. artists. Before colonization there were many flourishing traditions of Native American art, and where the Spanish colonized Spanish Colonial arc ...

located in the

Southern Tier The Southern Tier is a geographic subregion of the broader Upstate New York region of New York State, consisting of counties west of the Catskill Mountains in Delaware County and geographically situated along or very near the northern border ...

region of New York in downtown

Corning, New York Corning is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States, on the Chemung River. The population was 10,551 at the 2020 census. It is named for Erastus Corning, an Albany financier and railroad executive who was an investor in the company t ...

. Frommer's describes it as "one of the best-designed small museums in the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

." In 2015, The Rockwell Museum was named a Smithsonian Affiliate, the first in New York State outside of New York City.

History

The Rockwell Family

The museum founder, Robert F. Rockwell, Jr., moved to Corning in 1933 to run his grandfather's department store. Rockwell bought his first Western painting in 1959. Over the next 25 years he amassed a significant collection of paintings, bronze sculptures, etchings and drawings, and Native American ethnographic materials. Another collecting interest for Rockwell developed from his longtime friendship with Frederick Carder, founder of the

Steuben Glass Works Steuben Glass is an American art glass manufacturer, founded in the summer of 1903 by Frederick Carder and Thomas G. Hawkes in Corning, New York, which is in Steuben County, from which the company name was derived. Hawkes was the owner of the la ...

. He and his wife, Hertha, accumulated more than 2,500 pieces of Carder Steuben glass. In addition, they assembled a small collection of antique toys.

Institutional Timeline

Opening The Rockwell Museum

From 1960 to 1975, Bob Rockwell's growing collection of art was displayed to the public in the Rockwell Department Store on Market Street in Corning, New York. In 1973,

Corning Glass Works Corning Incorporated is an American multinational technology company that specializes in specialty glass, ceramics, and related materials and technologies including advanced optics, primarily for industrial and scientific applications. The co ...

executives Amory Houghton, Jr.,

Thomas S. Buechner Thomas Scharman Buechner (pronounced BEAK-ner; September 25, 1926 – June 13, 2010) was an artist who turned to working at museums, who became the founding director of the Corning Museum of Glass and director of the Brooklyn Museum, where he o ...

, and George W. Douglas pledged company support to provide a proper home for the Rockwell's collection of western art and artifacts, Carder Steuben glass, and turn-of-the-century toys. The plan was to restore and renovate City Hall as the home for the collections as the company's bicentennial gift to the community and as a major tourist attraction. The museum opened under the name The Rockwell-Corning Museum in the Baron Steuben Hotel on November 13, 1976. In 1981, the name of the museum was changed to The Rockwell Museum.

Move to Old City Hall

In 1980, The City of Corning offered its former 1893 City Hall, placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, to house the Museum collections.

funded the substantial exterior and interior renovation costs. On June 19, 1982 the museum re-opened as The Rockwell Museum in the restored Old City Hall. In 1991, The Museums West consortium was established and the Rockwell Museum was a founding member. In 1995, The museum was awarded accreditation by the American Association of Museums, and subsequently awarded in 2005.

Renovations

In 2000, the museum was focused on becoming "The Best of the West in the East" and closed in August for a complete interior renovation led by ABC Architects and Planners, under the direction of James Vincent Czajka, AIA New York Chapter. Renovation costs were underwritten by Corning Incorporated. The museum reopened as the Rockwell Museum of Western Art on May 18, 2001 and celebrated its 25th anniversary.

Re-imagined Museum

In July 2014, the name was shortened again to The Rockwell Museum. With sponsorship from LeChase Construction, a Family Exploration Studio was introduced to the museum experience for hands-on learning. In 2015, The Rockwell Museum was named a Smithsonian Affiliate, the first in New York State outside of New York City.

Old City Hall Building History

In the Flood of 1972, the basement and much of the ground floor were submerged and suffered extensive damage due to

Hurricane Agnes Hurricane Agnes in 1972 was the costliest hurricane to hit the United States at the time, causing an estimated $2.1 billion in damage. The hurricane's death toll was 128. The effects of Agnes were widespread, from the Caribbean to Canada, ...

. Despite its condition, the old City Hall was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1974. In 1982, it became the permanent home of The Rockwell Museum. The building went through another major renovation early in 2000. In 2002, the building won the American Society of Landscape Architects Merit Award. Designed by Rochester architect, AJ Warner and built by Corning contractor, Thomas Bradley, the building is

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesque ...

, a distinctly American style. Building costs were $28,579.50 in 1893. Polychromatic design with local brick & rusticated limestone quarried in Corning. The original bell in the bell tower held 20 weights of 50 lbs. each and is now at the City's current fire station. From 1893 to 1974, the ground floor was the Corning Fire Station. The first floor had been the main entrance level from the outside stairs. Housed here were the City Clerk, City Court, Police Department and Jail Cells. By 1896, the Police Department was built as a two-story addition at the back of the building with a separate entrance. The second floor held City Council Chambers, Public Health Department, and dentist offices until 1972. The third floor was home to a public library and youth center.

Executive Directors

Paul E. Rivard: 1975 – 1978 Antony E. Snow: 1978 – 12/1/83 Michael W. Duty: 1/1//84 – 12/31/86

: 6/26/86 – 12/18/86 (Trustee, Acting Director) Dwight P. Lanmon: 12/18/86 – 12/31/87 (Trustee, Acting Director) Arthur Townsend: 1/1/88 – 11/29/89 Mercedes C. Skidmore: 12/7/89 – 12/8/90 (Acting Director) Kent Ahrens: 12/8/90 – 9/7/95 Richard B. Bessey: 9/7/1995 – 5/1/1997 Stuart A. Chase: 5/1/1997 – 1/28/2002 Kristin A. Swain: 1/28/2002 – 7/15/2002 (Acting Director) Kristin A. Swain: 7/15/2002 – 12/31/2016 Brian Lee Whisenhunt: 1/1/2017 - Current

Community Partnerships

Alley Art Project

In 2010, the "Alley Art Project" was launched with the mural painting, "The Tree of Life." The Rockwell Education Department partners with the Corning-Painted Post School District High School Learning Center to create student-designed and painted murals that use The Rockwell's own art collection as inspiration. The murals are publicly visible in the alleyways of Corning, NY. The High School Learning Center provides an alternative setting for students who may otherwise be at risk of dropping out of school. To celebrate the museum's 40th anniversary, The Rockwell and High School partnered with artist

Virgil Ortiz Virgil Ortiz (born 1969) is a Pueblo artist, known for his pottery and fashion design from Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico. Ortiz makes a variety of pottery, including traditional Cochiti figurative pottery, experimental figurative pottery, traditiona ...

. Students studied Ortiz's ''Ancient Elder'' sculpture on exhibit at The Rockwell. The sculpture was developed as part of Ortiz's futuristic revolution story taking place in 2180 that restores sacred lands to the Pueblo peoples. Inspired by this work, students created their own "super power" characters who are meant to help bring about critical change, such as equality for all peoples. The mural is located at Cap'n Morgan's on Bridge Street in Corning, NY. All of the murals can be found on th
Corning Public Art Map.

Garden of Fire Community Collaborative Summer Program

The Rockwell Museum collaborates with several area partners to offer the second phase of the educational Garden of Fire project to regional children during the summer. The program, which was conceived collaboratively by local organizations, focuses on building capacity, depth and the integration of art and science for programs serving youth in Steuben County.

Dia de los Muertos

During the month of October, middle-school Spanish students from the surrounding area create decorative objects for a ''Dia de Los Muertos'' student ofrenda (altar) that is installed in The Rockwell's Student Gallery. The collaboration is celebrated each year with a Dia de los Muertos museum-wide educational event, including music, presentations, and traditional crafts. The Rockwell Museum has celebrated el Dia de los Muertos since 2004.

Collections

The museum houses three floors of works that focus on American art and artifacts, contemporary Native American art and bronze sculptures. Highlights include: *

Albert Bierstadt Albert Bierstadt (January 7, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was a German-American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West. He joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion to paint the scenes. He was no ...

's "Mount Whitney" * Ed Mell, "Jack Knife, 1993" Sculpture * Robb Kendrick Tin Type Portraits *

Frederic Remington Frederic Sackrider Remington (October 4, 1861 – December 26, 1909) was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in the genre of Western American Art. His works are known for depicting the Western United State ...

's "The Winter Campaign," "The Cheyenne," and "The Arizona Cowboy" * Ernest Leonard Blumenschein's "Jury for Trail of a Sheepherder for Murder" *

Charles Marion Russell Charles Marion Russell (March 19, 1864 – October 24, 1926), also known as C. M. Russell, Charlie Russell, and "Kid" Russell, was an American artist of the American Old West. He created more than 2,000 paintings of cowboys, Native Americans, an ...

's "A Mix Up," and "One Down, Two to Go" *

Deborah Butterfield Deborah Kay Butterfield (born May 7, 1949) is an American sculptor. Along with her artist-husband John Buck, she divides her time between a farm in Bozeman, Montana, and studio space in Hawaii. She is known for her sculptures of horses made fr ...

bronze * Ernest Blumenschein's "Jury for a Sheepherder Murder," and "Star Road and White Sun" * Sydney Laurence's "Mount McKinley," 1922 *

Frederick Carder Frederick Carder (September 18, 1863 – December 10, 1963) was a glassmaker, glass designer, and glass artist who was active in the glass industry in both England and the United States, notably for Stevens & Williams and Steuben, respective ...

Glass Collection Other artists in the museum collection include

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (born 1940) is a Native American visual artist and curator. She is an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and is also of Métis and Shoshone descent. She is also an art educator, art advocate ...

N.C. Wyeth Newell Convers Wyeth (October 22, 1882 – October 19, 1945), known as N. C. Wyeth, was an American painter and illustrator. He was the pupil of Howard Pyle and became one of America's most well-known illustrators. Wyeth created more than 3,000 ...

, William R Leigh,

Thomas Moran Thomas Moran (February 12, 1837 – August 25, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School in New York whose work often featured the Rocky Mountains. Moran and his family, wife Mary Nimmo Moran and daughter Ruth too ...

Cyrus Edwin Dallin Cyrus Edwin Dallin (November 22, 1861 – November 14, 1944) was an American sculptor best known for his depictions of Native Americans. He created more than 260 works, including the ''Equestrian Statue of Paul Revere'' in Boston, Massac ...

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

, and other modern and contemporary artists. In 2013, Albert Bierstadt's "Mount Whitney" painting received a new frame from Gill & Lagodich Fine Period Frames & Restoration in Manhattan. The new frame is a replica of an 1870s American frame for the museum's centerpiece. Its original frame had greatly deteriorated and was not an American 19th century frame. Another addition to the museum's collection includes the 1993 work by Ed Mell entitled Jack Knife, which is located on the corner of Cedar Street and Denison Parkway.

Publications

# 1976. ''The Painter's West''. Paul E. Rivard. # 1984. ''Remington's West.'' Michael Duty. # 1986. ''A Limitless Sky: The West of Charles M. Russell.'' Ginger Renner with Northland Press. # 1987. ''Photography in the West.'' Frank Armstrong. # 1987. ''Boundless Realism.'' Exhibit Catalog. Robert C. Manchester. # 1987. ''Great Paintings of the Old West.'' Postcards. # 1989. ''American Western Art.'' Museum Catalog. The Rockwell Staff. # 1990. ''Clyde Aspevig: Field Studies.'' Thomas Buechner. # 1991. ''Play of Light: Glass Lamps of Frederick Carder.'' Exhibit Catalog. Thomas Dimitroff. # 1993. ''Collector's Choice Review.'' Robyn Peterson, ed.

and Steuben Glass. # 1993. ''American Frontier Photography.'' Robyn Peterson. # 1995. ''Cyrus E. Dallin: His Small Bronzes and Plasters.'' Kent Ahrens. # 1996. ''Warp and Weft.'' Exhibit Catalog. Robyn Peterson. # 2005. ''Elemental Solitude.'' Exhibit Catalog. Shelia K. Hoffman. # 2007. ''Crafted to Perfection.'' Shelia K. Hoffman. # 2016. ''American Masterworks of Howar
Terpning
'' Kirsty Buchanan. # Undated. ''Carder's Corning.'' Manuscript by Stanley Weisenfeld. Two volumes and video. # 2000. ''The Rockwell Museum.'' DVD. Carder Steuben Glass Collection.

Exhibits

* Lock, Stock & Barrel: Historic firearms from the collection of Robert F. "Bobby" Rockwell III - Exhibition Dates: November 20, 2013 – January 1, 2015 * Painted Journeys: In the Spirit of American West- Exhibition Dates: January 24, 2014 - May 4, 2014 * Untouched by Chaos: Karl Bodmer and the American Wilderness- Exhibition Dates: March 3, 2014 – March 8, 2015 * On Fire: the Nancy & Alan Cameros Collection of Southwestern Pottery- Exhibition Dates: April 8, 2014 – April 1, 2016 * The sculptures of Abraham Anghik Ruben- Exhibition Dates: May 16, 2014- September 7, 2014 * Illustration and Imagination: W.H.D. Koerner's Western Paintings- Exhibition Dates: May 16, 2014 – September 7, 2014 * Harmless Hunter: Charles M. Russell's Wildlife Art- Exhibition Dates: September 19, 2014 – January 4, 2015 * A Feeling of Humanity: Western Art from the Ken Ratner Collection- Exhibition Dates: September 26, 2014 – January 11, 2015 * Touching on Water: Paintings by Thomas Paquette - Exhibition Dates: January 23, 2015 – March 29, 2015. * Between the States: Photographs of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

from the

George Eastman House The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as ''George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film'', the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in ...

Collection. Exhibition Dates: April 10 - August 2, 2015. * The Colorado River: Flowing Through Conflict, Photographs b
Pete McBride
Exhibition Dates: August 14, 2015 - February 7, 2016.
Richard Parrish
Aerial Perspectives of the American Landscape. Exhibition Dates: February 12 - June 19, 2016. *Art of the Parks: Celebrating 100 Years of the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

. Exhibition Dates: February 19 – December 31, 2016. *Historic Photographs of Watkins Glen State Park. Exhibition Dates: February 23 – December 31, 2016. *American Masterworks of

Howard Terpning Howard Terpning (born November 5, 1927) is an American Painting, painter and illustrator best known for his paintings of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans. Life and career Terpning was born in Oak Park, Illinois. His mother ...

: Highlights from the Eddie Basha Collection. Exhibition Dates: June 24 - September 11, 2016. *40 for 40: Anniversary Highlights from the Permanent Collection, Curated by Celebrity Guest Artists Steven & William Ladd. Exhibition Dates: September 24, 2016 – January 15, 2017. *Modernist Masters, Contemporary Icons: Highlights from the

Old Jail Art Center The Old Jail Art Center (OJAC) is an art museum, art and local history museum, regional history museum in Albany, Texas. It is housed in a former jail that was completed in 1878. After being replaced by a new jail in 1929, the old jail building w ...

. Exhibition Dates: February 3, 2017 – April 23, 2017. *

Marie Watt Marie Watt (born 1967) is a contemporary artist living and working in Portland, Oregon. Enrolled in the Seneca Nation of Indians, Watt has created work primarily with textile arts and community collaboration centered on diverse Native American th ...

: The Western Door. Exhibition Dates: May 5, 2017 – September 5, 2017. *The Harmon and Harriet Kelley Collection of African-American Art: Works on Paper. Exhibition Dates: September 15, 2017 – December 31, 2017. Previous exhibits include a collection from

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

displaying the work of

Ansel Adams Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association of photographers advoca ...

and

William Henry Jackson William Henry Jackson (April 4, 1843 – June 30, 1942) was an American photographer, Civil War veteran, painter, and an explorer famous for his images of the American West. He was a great-great nephew of Samuel Wilson, the progenitor of Ame ...

, and an

: Cowboys and Indians exhibit. There are also some well-known pottery artists such as

Tammy Garcia Tammy Garcia (born August 27, 1969, in Los Angeles, California) is a Santa Clara Pueblo sculptor and Ceramic artist. Garcia translates Pueblo pottery forms and iconography into sculptures in bronze and other media. Background Tammy Garcia is a m ...

Joseph Lonewolf Joseph Lonewolf (January 26, 1932 – November 9, 2014) was a Native American potter from Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico, United States. He was known for his use of historical methods and his development of sgraffito and bas-relief techniques used ...

, Nancy Youngblood, Margaret Tafoya, Maria Martinez, Al Qoyawayma and Popovi Da whose works are on display.

References

External links

*
Museums West
{{authority control Art museums established in 1976 Museums of American art Museums in Steuben County, New York Art museums and galleries in New York (state) Corning, New York U.S. Route 15 Smithsonian Institution affiliates Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in New York (state)