Next Sunday is the last day the Springfield Art Museum will be open for about three years. And during an open house over the weekend, museum officials announced plans for the transition period.
Museum director Nick Nelson said they would return to their roots and move into the Wilhoit Building at 431 S. Jefferson downtown, a building that played an important role in the institution’s history.
The Springfield Art Museum was founded in 1928 by Deborah Weisel, then head of the art department at State Teachers College—now Missouri State University—and other women in her Art Study Club. One of the women was Della Wilhoit, whose husband built the EM Wilhoit Building in 1926. When the museum outgrew its first building in the midtown Carnegie Library in 1929, the Wilhoits offered the museum six rooms in their building rent-free. One of the first exhibitions at the Wilhoit attracted over 1,500 visitors in its first week, according to Nelson.
“The Wilhoit Building was the site of the first artwork acquired by the museum,” he said, “and it was here that we reaffirmed our commitment to partnerships with local artists. Returning to the Wilhoit Building is a testament to our guiding principle for the next few years, which is to deepen our roots.”
The museum’s location in the Wilhoit Building is currently being renovated, and Nelson expects programs and classes to open to the public there beginning the first Friday in February 2025.
During the renovation, which is expected to begin early next year, museum staff will host and present programs, events, courses, school trips and select exhibitions.
The All School Exhibition, which features art by Springfield students in grades K-12, continues in partnership with MSU and Brick City Gallery. Watercolor USA will continue next year at the George A. Spiva Center for the Arts in Joplin. Community-embedded pop-up programs called “Art is Everywhere” are planned, and a partnership with the Springfield-Greene County Library allows the museum to share select works from its permanent collection with the public.
“We are deeply committed to continuing the museum’s arts education and outreach efforts in Springfield and the region, even though the main building is closed for construction for the next three years,” Nelson said.
Springfield Mayor Ken McClure announced Saturday that the museum had raised nearly $38 million of its $50 million campaign goal.
