Category Archives: featured

In Nature’s Studio

TWO CENTURIES OF AMERICAN LANDSCAPE PAINTING (OCTOBER 6, 2023 – JANUARY 15, 2024)

This rich exhibition features the bounty and beauty of the American landscape from the early nineteenth century through the twentieth century. Drawn from the permanent collection of the Reading Public Museum, the selections explore the Hudson River School and the emergence of the first uniquely American artistic movement; Impressionism and Tonalism at the turn of the century; and Modern trends in interpreting the landscape. Majestic and inspirational depictions of bucolic American vistas—intimate forest interiors, sweeping panoramic views of natural wonders, and dramatic images of the untamed land and sea—join dramatic scenes of Europe, the Near East, and South America by artists from the United States.

In Nature’s Studio: Two Centuries of American Landscape Paintings is organized by Reading Public Museum.

Mennello Museum of American Art and its exhibitions are generously supported by the City of Orlando and Friends of the Mennello Museum of American Art.  Additional funding is provided by Orange County Government through the Arts & Cultural Affairs Program and United Arts of Central Florida.  Sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.

(TOP) Frederic Edwin Church (American, 1826 – 1900), Syria: Ruins by the Sea, 1873 – 1874, oil on canvas, 10 1/2 x 16 inches, Museum Purchase, 1922.157.1. Reading Public Museum, Reading, Pennsylvania.  

Self Taught Black Artists in the American South

From the Collection with Recent Acquisitions | (JANUARY 26, 2024 – MAY 19, 2024)

This exhibition presents the work of 13 Black self-taught artists from the American South. It highlights excellent examples from the Mennello Museum’s permanent collection alongside the 2023 acquisition of works from the Polk Museum of Art. Works by Mary Proctor, Alyne Harris, Purvis Young, Jesse Aaron, and Mose Toliver are among the paintings and sculptures complemented and contextualized by the acquisition from the Polk Museum of Art. Additional artists include Nellie Mae Rowe, Clementine Hunter, Jimmy Lee Sudduth, and more.

(TOP) Nellie Mae Rowe, Untitled (Bearded Lady), 1978, crayon, graphite, marker on paper, Collection of the Mennello Museum of American Art, Museum Purchase, 1999-045-000

(BOTTOM) Purvis Young, Heads Above the Street, 1991 
Oil, wood, vinyl, masonite, metal brackets, Collection of the Mennello Museum of American Art, Museum Purchase, 1998-002-000.

Anila Quayyum Agha: Flourishing Patterns

June 23 – September 24, 2023  

Anila Quayyum Agha is a Pakistani-American artist best known for her large-scale installations of elaborate, laser cut cubes. Suspended from above as though floating, and lit from within, the cubes cast lace-like, floor-to-ceiling shadows that completely transform the surrounding environment, flooding the space with allusions to the sacred geometric designs that developed across cultures and religions – especially those found in Islamic tradition and the richly ornamented public spaces, like Mosques, where Agha was excluded from as a female growing up in Lahore, Pakistan. Agha also creates wall-mounted sculptural works and drawings in which she employs embroidery, beads, and light to transcend the flat, two-dimensional plane on which she works.

Anila Quayyum Agha is organized by the Mennello Museum of American Art and curated by Katherine Page, Curator of Art and Education, Mennello Museum of American Art.

Mennello Museum of American Art and its exhibitions are generously supported by the City of Orlando and Friends of the Mennello Museum of American Art.  Additional funding is provided by Orange County Government through the Arts & Cultural Affairs Program and United Arts of Central Florida.  Sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.

Anila Quayyum Agha, Crossing Boundaries – Nuvo Red, n.d. Laser-cut lacquered steel and halogen bulb; Edition: 1/3. 48 x 48 x 48 inches. Courtesy of Anila Quayuum Agha and Sundaram Tagore Gallery

Photography Jim Hobart MacBeth Studio

Free Family Funday

Every second Sunday of the month is Free Family Funday! 

On the 2nd Sunday of each month – Join us at the museum for free admission all day, plus a fine art project! Docent touring and art making are back!  Talk about the art with our knowledgable educators and then create your own work!

Each Free Family Funday has a different art project based on the artists of the current exhibition, their subject matter, and their methods. Check out the photos and videos below to see some of the projects we’ve been making between 2020 – 2023!

We would LOVE to see your projects. Share it with us on social media using #MennelloMuseum

Other past projects have included cyanotypes with Orlando based artist John Baker during the Edward Steichen photography exhibition; Ink Pouring Portraits during the Firelei Baez exhibit; and Stained Glass-like landscapes during the Lawrence Lebduska exhibit.  

Free Family Fundays

November 12, 2023 | Nature Lanterns

September 10, 2023 | Textiles

August 13, 2023 | Pattern Play

July 9, 2023 | Light Boxes

June 11, 2023 | Starting out with a Palette Knife

May 14, 2023 | Watercolor Flowers

April 9, 2023 | Pastel Landscapes

March 12, 2023 | Portraiture in Impressionism and Realism

February 12, 2023 | Pinhole Cameras

January 8, 2023 | Free Family Funday | Binding your Artist Volume

December 11, 2022 | Free Family Funday | Cyanotype VS. Wet Plate

November 13, 2022 | Free Family Funday | Self Representation in Portraiture


October 9, 2022 | Free Family Funday | Flashy Fish, Creepy Crawlies, Perfect Pets


September 11, 2022 | Free Family Funday | Braiding Coasters in the Breeze


August 14, 2022 | Free Family Funday | Personifying Color Fields


July 10, 2022 | Free Family Funday | Carving Soap Sculptures


June 12, 2022 | Free Family Funday | Puffy Paint Party


May 8, 2022 | Free Family Funday | Kitchen Lithography


April 10, 2022 | Free Family Funday |


March 13, 2022 | Free Family Funday | Melting Wax Paintings


February 13, 2022 | Free Family Funday | Candy Crowns


January 9, 2022 | Free Family Funday | Blackout Poetry


December 12, 2021 | Free Family Funday | Freedom Lanterns


November 14, 2021 | Virtual Free Family Funday | Writing and Drawing Manga


October 10, 2021 | Virtual Free Family Funday | Wood Block Printing Patterns


September 12, 2021 | Virtual Free Family Funday | Origami Kimono Bookmarks


August 8 2021 | Virtual Free Family Funday | Flowers and their Language


July 11 2021 | Virtual Free Family Funday | Mumma and the Fauves


June 13, 2021 | Virtual Free Family Funday | Painting with Play-Doh


May 9, 2021 | Virtual Free Family Funday | Mumma’s Signature Portraits


April 14, 2021 | Virtual Free Family Funday | Ripped Landscapes


March 14, 2021 | Virtual Free Family Funday | Plant and Animal Motifs in Watercolor


February 14, 2021 | Virtual Free Family Funday | Relief Printing Valentine’s Cards


January 10, 2021 | Virtual Free Family Funday | Tablets


December 13, 2020 | Virtual Free Family Funday | Chalk Murals


November 8, 2020 | Virtual Free Family Funday | Painting on Wood


October 11, 2020 | Virtual Free Family Funday | Create Your Own Zine


September 13, 2020 | Virtual Free Family Funday | DIY Watercolors


August 9, 2020 | Virtual Free Family Funday | Eco Weaving


July 12, 2020 | Virtual Free Family Funday | Mobiles


April 2020 | Virtual Free Family Funday | Botanical Printing


Welcome to the Mennello Museum of American Art

The Mennello Museum of American Art endeavors to preserve, exhibit, and interpret the Museum’s outstanding permanent collection of paintings by Earl Cunningham. The Museum also seeks to enrich the public through special exhibitions, publications, and programs that celebrate other outstanding traditional and contemporary American artists.