The Interior Museum is a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

operated by the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation ...

and housed at the department's headquarters at the Stewart Lee Udall Main Interior Building in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, on the first floor. When the Interior Museum opened in the U.S. Department of the Interior's newly constructed headquarters in the nation's capital on March 8, 1938, a museum was considered a novel element to include in a federal office building. However, the Secretary of the Interior at that time— Harold Ickes (1874–1952)—was a proponent of the arts and also strongly believed in the importance of having the American people understand the work of the department. To this day, the Interior Museum's mission remains to actively educate and inspire employees and the public about the ongoing stewardship of the nation's public lands, natural resources, and cultural heritage. The Interior Museum's collection contains more than 8,000 objects of historical, cultural, and scientific importance relating directly to the activities of the department. In addition to developing exhibitions and public programs, Interior Museum staff also conduct public tours highlighting the elements that made the Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building a "symbol of a new day" during the Great Depression. The headquarters building contains more

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

-era murals than any other government building, featuring such artists as

John Steuart Curry John Steuart Curry (November 14, 1897 – August 29, 1946) was an American painter whose career spanned the years from 1924 until his death. He was noted for his paintings depicting rural life in his home state, Kansas. Along with Thomas Hart B ...

Maynard Dixon Maynard Dixon (January 24, 1875 – November 11, 1946) was an American artist. He was known for his paintings, and his body of work focused on the American West. Dixon is considered one of the finest artists having dedicated most of their art to ...

, William Gropper, Allan Houser, Velino Herrera, and

Millard Sheets Millard Owen Sheets (June 24, 1907 – March 31, 1989) was an American artist, teacher, and architectural designer. He was one of the earliest of the California Scene Painting artists and helped define the art movement. Many of his large-scale b ...

, plus a series of photomurals by

Ansel Adams Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his Monochrome photography, black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association ...

References

External links

*
Upcoming Public Programs
at the Interior Museum
U.S. Department of the Interior Museum at Google Cultural Institute
History museums in Washington, D.C.

Museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

1938 establishments in Washington, D.C. {{WashingtonDC-museum-stub