Erie Art Museum - History

History

The Art Club of Erie was established in 1898 and met in the then-new Erie Library on Perry Square in downtown Erie. The Art Club moved to the Watson-Curtze Mansion in the 1940s. In 1956, the club raised money and found a home of its own in the Wood-Morrison House, adjacent to the Curtze Mansion. The new place was soon known as the Erie Art Center and had a professional director by 1968. The center became the Erie Art Museum in 1980 when it moved to the Old Custom House on State Street. The Ashby Printing Company building was purchased the same year and became the museum's annex.

In 1992, the Erie Art Museum became a part of the Discovery Square corporation, which invested $5 million in the development of a city block of museums, including the creation of the expERIEence Children's Museum in 1995 and the renovation and expansion of the Erie Art Museum and the Erie County History Center. Current plans are for the History Center to grow from 2,000 sq ft (200 m2) to 14,000 sq ft (1,300 m2), and the Art Museum to grow from 4,000 sq ft (400 m2) to 16,000 sq ft (1,500 m2). Although this plan was later abandoned, the Erie Art Museum completed an extensive renovation and expansion project, reopening in October 2010. The project created the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building in Erie, Pennsylvania.