Visit Colby Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine

One of Maine's Leading Art Museum is Free and Open to the Public

Jun 14, 2009

Need another reason to visit Maine? This striking museum located on the Colby College campus has an outstanding permanent collection AND celebrates its 50th year in 2009.

The Colby Museum of Art is well known for its outstanding permanent collection of American art from the 18th-, 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century, but also for its seasonal installations of modern, edgy artwork, which leaves visitors dwelling on the deeper points of creative expression.

The museum boasts 28,000 square feet of exhibition space, making it one of the largest museums in Maine. The museum serves both as a teaching resource for Colby College and as an art resource for the people of Maine and visitors from around the world.

The Colby Museum of Art is at 5600 Mayflower Hill, right on the college campus, a short distance from Miller Library (the most visible building on campus with its prominent clock tower). There's limited street parking at the museum entrance; otherwise, there's ample parking in the Roberts Lot behind the museum.

Find directions, a downloadable map, and the exhibition schedule at the museum's website.

The museum now holds nearly 700 works by contemporary artist Alex Katz; even a whole wing is devoted to this artist. In addition, Colby is one of the largest repositories of the paper-based works (drawings and prints) of renowned artist Richard Serra (Colby has on display his steel 4-5-6 sculpture, too).

Colby Museum of Art Celebrates 50 Years

Visiting the museum any time of the year is exciting (and educational), but the 50-year anniversary's special exhibit is on view July 11, 2009 to February 21, 2010. For this exhibit, the museum will display some of its very early treasures and will retell its history by grouping these treasures together by decade acquired. Oils, watercolors, prints, statuary, and multimedia installations will be featured. The exhibit does not focus solely on American artwork, but includes impressive examples of Chinese art, European paintings and prints, and Greek and Roman artifacts.

Colby College—Great Museum, Great College

A top-notch liberal arts college on Mayflower Hill in Waterville, Maine, Colby College harks back to 1813, making it the 12th oldest independent liberal arts college in the US.

The student population numbers approximately 1,850, and admission is highly competitive. The college offers four-year bachelor of art degrees. Colby offers 53 majors and 33 minors. The most popular majors are biology, economics, English, history, international studies, and government.

Very appropriately, the college motto is Lux mentis scientia (Knowledge is the light of the mind).

Follow the Maine Art Museum Trail

The Colby Museum of Art is part of the Maine Art Museum Trail, a collaboration of seven Maine art museums.

Taken together, these seven facilities are host to an astonishing 53,000 pieces of artwork:

Visitors can certainly discover a wealth of natural beauty while traveling to Maine, but also a wealth of art along the Maine Art Museum Trail.

The copyright of the article Visit Colby Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine in Maine Travel is owned by Cheryl Pratt. Permission to republish Visit Colby Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.