Cincinnati has a full scale art attack underway at the Taft Museum, Cincinnati's home for art with a wide diversity of exhibits, which is considered one of the finest small art museums in the country. Architecture as art? The Taft Museum, originally a mansion, was built in 1820, and is a wonderful example of Federal period architecture designated as a historic landmark.
Anna Taft and family inhabited the mansion, from 1873 until her death in 1931, while husband Charles Phelps Taft died in 1929. His half-brother and the 27th President of the United States, William Howard Taft, accepted the nomination for president in 1908 in a speech held on the porch of the Taft House so you get a triple dose of art, architecture and history in one location when visiting the museum.
The Tafts collected art and their collection of over 600 masterpieces, and the mansion itself, was given to Cincinnati in 1927 just before the Great Depression., it was a gift of absolute beauty in an age of dark and despair, and opened as the Taft Museum of Art in 1932. Today the Taft has a large parking garage, a special exhibitions gallery, education center, gift shop, cafe, and a performing arts and lecture facility in Luther Hall.The museum is ADA compliant for those with mobility impairments and they offer sensory tours for the visual and hearing impaired.
The collections include European and American paintings to decorative arts and porcelains. At the Taft you can ge tup close and personal with paintings by Rembrandt, Gainsborough and Whistler. There are also displays of three dimensional art in the form of European and American sculptures and for the Antiques Roadshow fan, they have an exciting collection of early 19th Century American Furniture.
Along with presenting art for arts sake, the museums mission is one of education for the public, and in the classroom to excite the young about the creative possibilites available to them through the world of art and encourage a new generation of future Goya's and Monets .
Not all art is indoor art, but, is available as "public art" when creativity takes to the streets. One of the programs the Taft undertook in 2012 was called Art for All, by forming partnerships with community arts centers, local businesses and organizations, where framed reproductions from the museums collection filled the streets and outdoor areas of Cincinnati at parks, the zoo and even the airport.
The program idea was modeled after a similar program fostered by the Tate Gallery in London and the Detroit Institute of Arts. It was the museums way of thanking Cincinnatians for their support of the museum over the years. The program was successful and although the program has officially closed, it has generated a life of it's own proving that art is a fuel injected creation that powers itself. Remnants of the program can still be viewed and enjoyed in two permanent Taft inspired murals created by Artworks in Bellevue, Kentucky, and Over-the-Rhine residents and visitors can find 34 Art For All reproductions at indoor public locations.
Want to pick up on souvenirs? The Taft aims to please. The gift shop is a tribute to art as it has an extensive collection of artful gifts and books, as well as stationary, toys, artsy home decor items, jewelry and all manner of all things art.
Your adventure in art doesn't end with works by the great masters, but the Linder Cafe offers up a menu of creative cuisine and wine as you contemplate creativity while feasting on a Gloria Swanson Salad, a Brown Derby Chop Salad and for the lover of the pugilistic arts, why not try the Jack Dempsey Knuckle Sandwich.
The Taft Museum is located at 316 Pike Street, is open Wednesday - Friday, 11 am - 4 pm, and Saturday and Sundays from 11 am - 5 pm. For more information contact them at (513) 241-0343, or visit their website at http://www.taftmuseum.org
You don't have to leave home to get your art kicks and enjoy a full tilt boogie art attack in Cincinnati. Simon and Garfunkel said in song "It's all happening at the zoo," but, in Cincy when it comes to art, it's all happening at the Taft Museum of Art. .