The Blount Collection

Reinstallation and Interpretation of the Blount Collection

In 1988, the Museum opened in Blount Cultural Park with a new collection of American paintings under its new roof. This group of forty-one paintings, given by Blount, Inc., instantly elevated the Museum’s holdings, making its American painting collection one of the finest in the Southeast. For the next 30+ years, the Blount Collection works were rarely removed from their assigned places in the galleries.

In 2018, staff identified a refresh of the interpretation of the permanent collection as a priority within the strategic plan. Over the summer of 2019, a team of curators and educators eked out time in their busy schedules to develop a “voice” for new permanent collection labels, beginning with the Blount paintings. With an agreed-upon approach in place, the challenge then became: when and how to develop and install these new visitor-centered “chats” in the midst of all else always going on at the Museum.

Enter the 2020 pandemic. With the Museum’s galleries closed to the public for seven months, staff seized the opportunity to repaint the galleries, reorganize the installation of the works, and— alas—reinvigorate those labels. Today’s visitors experience Blount Collection galleries replete with new, visually striking groupings of works and labels crafted with visitor resonance and relevance in mind.

And, this is only the beginning. In the months and years to come, visitors will come to enjoy similarly reimagined permanent collection galleries throughout the Museum. We are delighted to realize this strategic priority as it better positions us to welcome into the Museum a wider range of River Region residents and visitors and to further-strengthen our renown as a vibrant cultural resource in the Southeastern region and well beyond.