Mission Statement
The mission of the Minnesota Marine Art Museum is to enrich the human experience,
enable the joy of discovery, and elevate the spirit
-- all through the world of art and learning.
Museum History
The Museum opened July 27, 2006 featuring three major art collections, making it a regional and national attraction. On loan to the Museum, the Burrichter/Kierlin Marine Art Collection features oil paintings, watercolors and three-dimensional objects from a variety of countries and periods which were created by many of the world's most important marine artists. The Leo Smith Folk Art Collection consists of distinctive wood carved and hand painted sculptures that capture the spirit of small town river life. These whimsical, colorful sculptures represent and celebrate the flora, fauna and folklore of the upper Mississippi River region. Finally, the Museum’s permanent collection features historic marine art, artifacts and objects ranging from items such as personal letters from Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson to his wife to large Tiffany stained glass window displayed in the Museum’s atrium.
On May 1, 2009 the museum opened a new expansion gallery and educational room. The large new gallery features Impressionism and Hudson River school art from Renoir, Monet, Pissarro, Homer, Sisley, Cole, Bierstadt, Buttersworth, Silva and many more.
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Simon Jacbsz de Vlieger,
A Coastal Landscape with Dutch Frigates
Exchanging Salutes, 1647 - 1648.
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Louis Comfort Tiffany,
View of the Bay through Wooded
Landscape with Stream, 1896.
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Weathervane
Nova Scotia artist Murray Stevens is a seventh generation member of a family of sail makers, boat designers, and boat and yacht builders -- as well as being a racing sailor. Murray was trained in metal work in Rhineland, Germany, and was commissioned in 1983 to design and build a large stainless steel schooner weathervane to be mounted on top of the Canadian Trade Center Tower in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The weathervane at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum is a smaller version of that first weathervane. The artist agreed to come out of a 20-year retirement to construct this symbol for the Museum.
The Museum’s weathervane weighs 650 pounds, and the globe alone measures 30 inches in diameter. It is made of stainless steel and fiberglass and serves as the model for the Museum’s logo.