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Help Conserve the "Springfield Landscape" at Your Art Museum

Project of
Springfield Art Museum

Your gift helps the Art Museum preserve one of the most iconic and truly home-grown paintings in its permanent collection, "Springfield Landscape".

This project has raised

$2,739

of the $2,500 goal

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Project Completed

Pledge Incentives

$25.00 Level

13 Supporters

Fine art conservation is done by highly skilled crafts persons. Donors of $25 or more will help underwrite conservation expenses and have their name placed on a special conservation recognition label adjacent to "Springfield Landscape" once it is reinstalled in the Museum's permanent collection exhibition.

$50.00 Level

9 Supporters

A contribution of $50 or more provides for a half hour of conservation work. Donors at this level will have their name listed on the conservation recognition label and will receive other incentives like discounts on art classes and camps, special invitations to artist talks and family days, as well as the Museum's complimentary, full-color quarterly Newsletter.

$100.00 Level

6 Supporters

A gift of $100 or more provides for one (1) hour of conservation work. In addition to conservation label recognition, Museum class discounts and event invitations, donors at this level receive a North American Reciprocal Museum Association membership card providing complimentary access to over 1,000 museums, zoos, and historical societies across America!

$250.00 Level

3 Supporters

Your lead conservation donation of $250 or more provides for two (2) hours of conservation work. Donors at this level receive all the benefits promised at all the other levels, plus recognition in the Museum's Lobby and an exhibition catalogue of your choice.

Project Overview

"Springfield Landscape" is one of the earliest known paintings of the City of Springfield. Given that the Landscape is over 130 years old, it needs restoration and preservation in order for generations of Springfieldians and visitors alike to enjoy this work and learn more about the humble beginnings and tremendous growth of our community. Your gift will help preserve this iconic work for another 100 years and generations to come!

The painting was commissioned by Eli David Ott, Greene County's probate court clerk in the 1870s. The artist remains unknown but was likely a German itinerant (or traveling) artist. The commission was completed sometime between 1862 and 1890. It was gifted to the Springfield Art Museum by Eli's daughter, Cora Ott - a mathematics teacher at Springfield High School (now Central High School) and one of the founding members of the Art Study Club which established the Art Museum in 1928.

With assistance from the City of Springfield's Geographic Information Systems (GIS) team, the Art Museum has determined that the artist was likely standing at the corner of modern-day Benton Avenue and Chestnut Expressway when they painted the Landscape.

You can learn much more about "Springfield Landscape" by visiting this digital label: https://art.sgfm.yourcultureconnect.com/

Updates

Our Heartfelt Thanks!

In this season of thanks and giving, the Springfield Art Museum is ever so grateful for you!

Thank you for your generous contribution to help conserve the Museum's most iconic piece of local history, "Springfield Landscape". We look forward to sharing with you the remarkable before and after results in the coming months. Conservation is delicate work so it can take some time - but it will be worth the wait and will ensure generations to will to learn from and enjoy this wonderful work of art.

In the meantime, with your gifts, we're over half-way to our goal of $2,500! Would you consider sharing this #GivingTuesday opportunity with your friends and family? They, like you, will receive all the benefits of supporting the Museum; plus, be recognized on the special conservation label and receive a special invitation to visit the newly conserved "Springfield Landscape" when reinstallation at the Museum is complete.

Again, thank you for your kind generosity and support!

Nick Nelson
Museum Director

P.S. If you wish to see the "before" in person, you can visit "Springfield Landscape" on display at YOUR Art Museum right now in the Creating an American Identity permanent collection exhibit.

Wow! We are humbled!

Thank You! Over the weekend, the Museum exceeded its $2,500 #GivingTuesday goal to restore and conserve 'Springfield Landscape'. We are humbled by the wonderful generosity from you and our community.

Art Museum staff are now working with a conservator to schedule the painting's refresh - starting in early Spring 2022. In the meantime, 'Springfield Landscape' will remain on view. So, until it leaves, we're going to install a label recognizing you, our generous donors, who are making this conservation possible. We'll let you know when that label is up.

Again, thank you for supporting the Art Museum and we hope you'll come by and see 'Springfield Landscape' before it leaves for conservation in Spring.

Very best regards,

Kate Francis
Museum Affairs Officer for Fundraising and Development

Supporters

About Springfield Art Museum

OUR MISSION...

The Springfield Art Museum invites you to connect with the world, your community, and yourself through active engagement with art objects. 

OUR VISION…

The Springfield Art Museum recognizes the past and embraces the future as a collaborator and catalyst for the transformation of individuals and the community through art. The Art Museum is a vital partner in the economic development of the city and values collaboration. The Museum will actively cultivate the use of its facilities both interior and exterior as a cultural resource for its citizens through the continued expansion of its permanent collection, creative development and expansion of exhibitions and providing educational outreach to the citizens of Southwest Missouri.

OUR STORY...

The Springfield Art Museum is one of the City’s oldest cultural institutions. It started as the Art Study Club, founded by a small group of women in 1926 led by Deborah D. Weisel. The group was successfully incorporated on June 26, 1928 as the Springfield Art Museum. By 1946, the Museum became a City department when Council approved a special levy to include financial support of the Museum and appointed a nine-member board. The Art Study Club eventually deeded the Museum to the City.

As a city department, the Springfield Art Museum continued to grow and find its permanent home in Phelps Grove Park with the largest gallery dedicated to Ms. Weisel. Today, the Springfield Art Museum continues to honor the legacy of the Art Study Group by expanding community outreach and introducing people of all ages to the beauty, wonder, and imagination of art.

The Museum is currently working to cultivate the use of its facilities as a cultural resource for Southwest Missouri, to expand its permanent collection, and to develop and expand its exhibitions while providing greater educational outreach to the community. We are stewards of the community’s most valuable cultural treasures, and the future of the museum and its programs continues to be brighter than ever. The Museum is always free, and you are always welcome.

Springfield Art Museum

http://www.sgfmuseum.org

Springfield, Missouri
417-837-5700
artmuseum@springfieldmo.gov