The Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art and Science was a

Smithsonian Institution Affiliate Smithsonian Affiliations is a division of the Smithsonian Institution that establishes long-term partnerships with non-Smithsonian museums and educational and cultural organizations in order to share collections, exhibitions and educational strat ...

and

American Alliance of Museums The American Alliance of Museums (AAM), formerly the American Association of Museums, is a non-profit association whose goal is to bring museums together. Founded in 1906, the organization advocates for museums and provides "museum professionals w ...

accredited museum located in downtown

Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

, in the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; Spanish language in California, Spanish: ''Valle de San Joaquín'') is the southern half of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. Famed as a major breadbasket, the San Joaquin Valley is an importa ...

. The Museum was established in 1984 and was one of the largest museums between

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. "The Met" was housed in the historic 1922

Fresno Bee Building The Fresno Bee Building is a historic 5-story building located at Van Ness and Calaveras Street in downtown Fresno, California. It was built in 1922 by architect Leonard F. Starks to house the offices and printery for The Fresno Bee newspaper.

. In August 2005, the museum began an extensive interior renovation; the first of its kind since the Museum's opening. The museum reopened on November 13, 2008, and closed on January 5, 2010, after defaulting on its renovation loans. (Must disable Javascript to view)

History

In 1978, a group of Fresno civic leaders began to explore the possibility of creating a regional museum for the

. From 1981 to 1985, these members of the community raised more than $5.5 million to open the Met in the historic downtown Fresno Bee building. The Museum opened its doors to the community on April 8, 1984. Since that time, the Museum has attracted more than two million people with its programs in art and science with diverse exhibitions including '' A T. rex Named Sue, Masterworks from the

Albertina The Albertina is a museum in the Innere Stadt (First District) of Vienna, Austria. It houses one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world with approximately 65,000 drawings and approximately 1 million old master prints, as well ...

Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 March 6, 1986) was an American Modernism, modernist painter and drafter, draftswoman whose career spanned seven decades and whose work remained largely independent of major art movements. Called the "M ...

: Visions of the Sublime, Variations on a Theme: American Prints from Pop Art to Minimalism'' and ''Grossology: The (Impolite) Science of the Human Body.'' In 1995, the Museum became the first organization outside the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...

to win

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

's "Award for Excellence" in non-profit management from

Chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock la ...

and The Management Center of San Francisco. In 1995, the Met received a

Central California Central California is generally thought of as the middle third of the U.S. state of California, north of Southern California (which includes Los Angeles and San Diego) and south of Northern California (which includes San Francisco and San Jose, ...

Excellence in Business Award in the non-profit category as presented by The Fresno Bee, and American Alliance of Museums accreditation status in July 2007. The Museum was named the Best Museum each year since 1999 by the readers of The Fresno Bee. On January 5, 2010, the Museum closed for good, due to the museum's inability to pay off the increasing deficit from the museum's renovation and operations.

Renovation

The museum's $28 million renovation project brought the historic 1922

into the 21st century, with more accessible gallery space, new restroom facilities and elevators, and remodeled fourth and fifth floors, which previously had not been opened as gallery space. The building underwent significant structural enhancements, specifically on the west wall from the footings below the basement up to the fifth floor. The existing support columns consisting of steel reinforced concrete were enhanced in the basement and first floor. The building reopened November 13, 2008. The museum's fourth floor consisted of a large gallery space that also served as a forum for educational purposes and housed the Michaelis Classroom in an adjacent room. The fifth floor became the home for the museum's administrative offices and also housed a conference room and research library. MichaelisClassroomFresnoMet

Temporary space/Reeves Family ASK Science Center

During the museum's renovation, programming and exhibitions were held in a temporary location. The museum's Reeves Family ASK Science Center moved into donated space in the fall of 2005 and was open until July 2008. The Reeves Family ASK Science Center was a hands-on science education space that featured rotating exhibits. Following the renovation the center returned to its location inside the museum.

Educational and community outreach

The museum's outreach efforts included: The Mobile Met Science Outreach program, which visited schools,

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

groups, day care facilities and summer school programs from Los Baños to Visalia and provided free hands-on science lessons inspired by the California Science Standards for children in kindergarten though sixth grade. The Docent Outreach Project which allowed teachers in grades 1 through 3 to take advantage of the Met's programming without traveling to the museum. The program's lessons were one hour long and featured hands-on art instruction. Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), which used art to teach critical thinking, communication skills and visual literacy. These lessons were provided in English, Spanish and Hmong, free of charge to schools. The Met on the Move program, which debuted on October 13, 2008, included its mobile outreach vehicle, the Met on the Move, which provided hands-on activities and lessons in art and science to elementary schools in and around the Central San Joaquin Valley. The Met on the Move was the latest addition to the City of Fresno's Department of Parks After School, Recreation & Community Services Mobile Fleet.

CMAC

Following the closure of the museum, the city of Fresno took possession of the property. After standing vacant for two years, a new public access station, Community Media Access Collaborative moved into the second floor of the building in April, 2012. As part of their public access mission, they continue to show art from local artists. The other floors remain unoccupied.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fresno Metropolitan Museum Of Art And Science Science museums in California Museums established in 1984 Art museums and galleries in California Museums in Fresno County, California San Joaquin Valley Smithsonian Institution affiliates Culture of Fresno, California Defunct museums in California