Albin Polasek House and Studio

Last updated
The Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens
Winter Park Polasek Studio Florida03.jpg
USA Florida location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location Winter Park, Florida
Coordinates 28°35′47″N81°20′39″W / 28.59639°N 81.34417°W / 28.59639; -81.34417
Built1949
NRHP reference No. 99000767 [1]
Added to NRHPMay 2, 2000

The Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens or The Polasek is a historic site in Winter Park, Florida, United States. It is located at 633 Osceola Avenue on three acres overlooking Lake Osceola. On May 2, 2000, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Contents

The Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Garden is dedicated to preserving the works of Czech sculptor Albin Polasek, celebrating representational art and exhibiting regional and international artists.

History

Founded in 1961, the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens is home to an art collection focusing primarily on American representational sculpture created by Czech-American sculptor Albin Polasek.

Born in Moravia, Albin Polasek (1879-1965) immigrated to the United States in 1901 to work as a wood carver. He attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia and the American Academy in Rome. For 27 years he was head of the Department of Sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago. He moved to Winter Park in 1950. [2]

The Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens is a nonprofit organization whose budget is funded by donations and memberships. All donations and dues go to support the Albin Polasek Foundation, which oversees the preservation, maintenance, and operation of the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens. [3]

Collections

The museum is Polasek's Mediterranean-style retirement home and studio. A lot of the original furnishings are on display. In 1961, Polasek opened his home and studio to the public. The museum is now a member of The Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios (HAHS), an affiliate program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The 36 sites included in HAHS are the living and work spaces of painters, sculptors, ceramicists, photographers, and furniture designers. The Polasek Museum is currently the only one in Florida. [4]

The permanent collection of approximately 200 pieces includes sculpture by Polasek and his first wife Ruth Sherwood as well as antiquities from Polasek's collection. The galleries feature changing exhibitions of local artists for viewing and for sale. Special areas to visit in the garden include the butterfly garden, two water gardens, the cycad collection along the museum's front drive and the many individual container gardens found throughout the property. [5]

The Capen-Showalter House

Originally scheduled to be demolished back in 2013, The Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens, Winter Park History Museum, the Friends of Casa Feliz, and community supporters rescued the historic home by raising $450,000 to relocate it to the Polasek Museum. The home was cut into two halves and floated across Lake Osceola. The project won the 2014 Organizational Achievement Award from Florida Trust for Historic Preservation. The 4,200-square-foot house contains museum offices, exhibits, and artwork. Workshops, meetings, and special events are held at the home. [6]

Events and programs

The Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens hosts the annual Winter Park Paint Out. Twenty-five artists have seven days to publicly create works throughout the streets of Winter Park. Once completed the paintings are hung in the gallery's ‘Wet Room’ and offered for sale to benefit the museum. During this week long event in April, the museum is free to the public.

Daily tours of the permanent collection and the Capen-Showalter House are available as part of regular admission. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winter Park, Florida</span> City in Florida, United States

Winter Park is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 29,795 according to the 2020 census. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Chester French</span> American sculptor (1850–1931)

Daniel Chester French was an American sculptor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He is best known for his 1874 sculpture The Minute Man in Concord, Massachusetts, and his 1920 monumental statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brookgreen Gardens</span> United States historic place

Brookgreen Gardens is a sculpture garden and wildlife preserve, located just south of Murrells Inlet, in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The 9,100-acre (37 km2) property includes several themed gardens featuring American figurative sculptures, the Lowcountry Zoo, and trails through several ecosystems in nature reserves on the property. It was founded by Archer Milton Huntington, stepson of railroad magnate Collis Potter Huntington, and Anna Hyatt Huntington, his wife, to feature sculptures by Anna and her sister Harriet Randolph Hyatt Mayor, along with other American sculptors. Brookgreen Gardens was opened in 1932. It was developed on property of four former rice plantations, taking its name from the former Brookgreen Plantation, which dates to the antebellum period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Des Moines Art Center</span> Art museum in Des Moines, Iowa

The Des Moines Art Center is an art museum with an extensive collection of paintings, sculpture, modern art and mixed media. It was established in 1948 in Des Moines, Iowa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albin Polasek</span> American sculptor (1879-1965)

Albin Polasek was a Czech-American sculptor and educator. He created more than 400 works during his career, 200 of which are displayed in the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens in Winter Park, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park</span> National Historical Park of the United States

Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park in Cornish, New Hampshire, preserves the home, gardens, and studios of Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848–1907), one of America's foremost sculptors. The house and grounds of the National Historic Site served as his summer residence from 1885 to 1897, his permanent home from 1900 until his death in 1907, and the center of the Cornish Art Colony. There are three hiking trails that explore the park's natural areas. Original sculptures are on exhibit, along with reproductions of his greatest masterpieces. It is located on Saint-Gaudens Road in Cornish, 0.5 miles (0.80 km) off New Hampshire Route 12A.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Institute of American Indian Arts</span> Public tribal college in Santa Fe, New Mexico

The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is a public tribal land-grant college in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States. The college focuses on Native American art. It operates the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA), which is housed in the historic Santa Fe Federal Building, a landmark Pueblo Revival building listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Federal Building. The museum houses the National Collection of Contemporary Indian Art, with more than 7,000 items.

Richard W. Bock was an American sculptor and associate of Frank Lloyd Wright.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonnet House</span> Historic house in Florida, United States

The Bonnet House is a historic home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. It is located at 900 Birch Road. On July 5, 1984, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It is named after the Bonnet Lily.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chesterwood (Massachusetts)</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

Chesterwood was the summer estate and studio of American sculptor Daniel Chester French (1850–1931) located at 4 Williamsville Road in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Most of French's originally 150-acre (61 ha) estate is now owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which operates the property as a museum and sculpture garden. The property was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965 in recognition of French's importance in American sculpture.

Allen Trovillion was an American politician who served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 36th district.

C. M. Russell Museum Complex is an art museum located in the city of Great Falls, Montana, in the United States. The museum's primary function is to display the artwork of Great Falls "cowboy artist" Charles Marion Russell, for whom the museum is named. The museum also displays illustrated letters by Russell, work materials used by him, and other items which help visitors understand the life and working habits of Russell. In addition, the museum displays original 19th, 20th, and 21st century art depicting the American Old West and the flora, fauna, and landscapes of the American West. In 2009, the Wall Street Journal called the institution "one of America's premier Western art museums." Located on the museum property is Russell's log cabin studio, as well as his two-story wood-frame home. The house and log cabin studio were designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. In 1976, the listing boundaries were amended to account for moving the house.

Historic Artists' Homes and Studios program is a network of about 30 artists' homes and studios in the United States. The network of house museums is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Polášek is a Czech surname. Notable people with the surname include:

Walter S. Arnold is an American stone carver and sculptor best known for his gargoyles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobbi Mastrangelo</span>

Bobbi Mastrangelo was born Barbara Ann Betschen on May 16, 1937 in Youngstown, Ohio. She is an artist specializing in relief sculpture, mixed media, and fiber art including handmade cast paper. Her work is best known for its unusual focus on the theme of manhole covers and water covers, grates and drains. Her art has been exhibited widely throughout the United States and is in the collections in several museums.

<i>Forest Idyl</i>

Forest Idyl is a bronze statue created in 1924 by Albin Polasek while he was head of the Sculpture Department at the Art Institute of Chicago. There are several copies of the three versions of this sculpture, which are located at Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina; three in Winter Park, Florida, at the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens and at City Hall; and in Muncie, Indiana, at Ball State University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newington-Cropsey Foundation</span>

The Newington-Cropsey Foundation (NCF) is a nonprofit private organization based in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. The foundation's aim is to maintain and preserve the works of Jasper Cropsey and the art movement he was a part of, the Hudson River School. The foundation also promotes representational painting and sculpture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan Kaláb</span> Czech artist

Jan Kaláb is a Czech visual artist, whose art features vibrantly colored, abstract designs of organic shapes in various formats, including paintings, sculptures, installations, and street murals. Having started as a graffiti artist, Kaláb's artwork has appeared in Albin Polasek Museum, the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, the MAXXI National Museum of 21st-Century Arts (Rome), and the Czech Radio. His art has been reviewed in art news media including Novinky.cz, Lidové noviny, Creative Boom, Aktuálně.cz, and iDNES.cz.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. "Unexpected art discovered while walking my dog". Chicago Now. 15 March 2016.
  3. 1 2 "The Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens". polasek.org.
  4. "Historic Artists' Homes & Studios". artistshomes.org.
  5. Linn, Virginia (14 January 2016). "48 hours in Winter Park, Florida". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  6. Freeman, Michael (5 October 2015). "Capen House celebrates its grand opening on Sunday at Polasek Museum". Orlando Sentinel.