HISTORY

The Michelson Museum of Art was established in 1985 for the special purpose of accepting and caring for the life work of Russian American artist Leo Michelson (1887-1978). Janine, the wife of Leo Michelson selected Marshall as the permanent home for her late husband's works. She did not want to give the many paintings and drawings by her husband to a large museum where only a few would be shown and the others put away in storage. Her selection of Marshall, was prompted by a suggestion from Wendy Russell Reves, a Marshall native and a friend of the Michelson's.

Leo Michelson was born in Riga, Latvia, and began his studies at the Imperial School in St. Petersburg. He later studied and lived in Munich, Berlin, Paris and the United States. He became an American citizen in 1945. His work spans several different periods without falling prey to any of the categories that have been assigned to these periods. Old Russian Art and German and French Impressionism influenced his early career. He was categorized as a painter of the "Paris School", but developed a style and concept that was as advanced and imaginative as any of the greatly acclaimed experiments of his time.

The museum also includes the Gloria and Bernard Kronenberg collection of over 100 works by well-known post-impressionist artists (Milton Avery, David Burliuk, Abraham Walkowitz, to name a few) and the Ramona and Jay Ward Collection of African Masks and Artifacts. Jay Ward was the creator of the cartoons, Rocky and Bullwinkle, George of the Jungle and Dudley-Do-Right. The Michelson collection includes over 1,000 paintings, drawings and prints spanning two worlds and seventy years of Leo Michleson's career.

The Michelson Museum of Art's first home was in a lovely temporary space in the recently completed law office building of Jones, Jones, Baldwin, Curry & Roth. In April of 1990 it moved into its present location on the corner of North Bolivar and West Rusk. The 12,000 square foot facility was made possible when SWB Corporation donated the vacant first floor of their building to the Museum. The building dates from 1928 and is constructed in a Romanesque style. It has soaring columns, tall arched windows and decorative brickwork.

The goal of the Michelson is to present exhibits of artistic merit and educational value that otherwise would not be available to the area. The Education Director, Bonnie Spangler, heads a well-developed program that serves the Marshall Independent School District and the seven surrounding school districts. Mrs. Spangler goes into the schools where she conducts an interactive presentation for the students that directly relates to the current exhibit on display at the Michelson. Next the students visit the museum to view the artwork and correlate what they have learned in the classroom with the paintings. The museum's discipline based art education encompasses age and content specific tours, student teacher apprenticeship at local colleges, student art shows and curriculum enriching holiday exhibits. Summer Art Classes complete the Michelson' offerings. These classes are conducted by local artists and are open to children and adults.

The Michelson is open accessible to people of all ages and interests. All programs are prepared for the multi-cultural international classrooms and audiences. All exhibits at the Michelson are wheelchair accessible.