Ariel W.
Yelp
The Cornell Fine Arts Museum is a free museum located on the campus of Rollins College in Winter Park. There is limited free parking a few steps away from the entrance. Rollins College was founded in 1885 and by the 1900's a few paintings and a natural history collection were donated to the college. In 1941, Jeannette Morse Genius, spouse of the president of Rollins College at that time, donated the money to build the Morse Gallery of Art on campus. Through the years more works of art were donated. In the 1970's George and Harriet Cornell gave the college the money to renovate the Morse Gallery into a new museum named The Cornell Fine Arts museum which opened in 1978.
Rollins College is a very beautiful, expensive liberal arts college. Fred Rogers is one of their most famous alumni. I have wanted to check out this museum for awhile and I finally got the chance on a Saturday afternoon visit to Winter Park. They ask that you pre register for tickets but I did not know that before I arrived. They helped me by registering for me while I enjoyed the exhibits.
The museum features rotating exhibits and they have their own collection of 5,600 objects , spanning centuries. Also part of the museum is the Alford Inn, a boutique hotel that features art exhibits. The hotel serves as a satellite location for the museum. During my visit their was an exhibition by Marcus Jansen who addresses political and social themes in his art. There was also an exhibit called What Women Want marking the 100 year anniversary of suffrage in the United States. Another exhibit, Place as Metaphor addressed climate change with a video from 2015, Mel Chin's L'arctique est Paris, and a portrait of Greta Thunberg, a climate change activist photographed by Hellen van Meene.
My favorite exhibit was Storied Objects: Relics and Tales from the Thomas R. Baker Museum. A fire destroyed the first natural history collection of Rollins College in 1909. The college put out ads asking for museum quality pieces to rebuild the collection and people all over the country donated 10,000 pieces by 1920. These objects were placed in the Thomas R. Baker museum until it closed in 1970. This exhibit showcases items that come from 5 continents and span 5,000 years of human history. If you can't attend in person there is a 360 degree view of it on the museum website. It blows my mind that people had these things and sent them in. On exhibit is a door knocker from Pompeii, a Pre-Columbian figure, fossils from the head of a sphinx, Egyptian mortuary figurines, and a Sioux beaded bag. Sitting in a hallway is a marble 2nd century Roman sarcophagus. I was in awe of these things. Where did people get ancient objects from? Remarkable. During the year the museum offers tours, lectures, and family programs provided by donor support.
The museum is small but well worth a visit. When you finish you can walk around out back and take in the view of Lake Virginia. I saw an anhinga drying his wings. I love the campus architecture and a visit to the free museum makes for an educational and economical outing. Just remember to register before you come.