Category Archives: featured

Impression and Reality

Paintings of American Impressionism and Realism from the Mennello collection alongside important works from prestigious Florida museums. 

February 25 – June 11, 2023

From the late 1800s through the 1920s, two important stylistic movements of early 20th century Art History coexisted – American Impressionism and Realism. These artists’ styles overlapped in time and a loose, impressionistic brushstroke, but transected in their subject matter. Today, those paintings highlight the diversity of American artists’ experiences, mentorships, training, and location at the turn of the century, all while industrializing city centers of the United States – Philadelphia, Boston, and New York – were exponentially expanding. Impression and Reality considers the dichotomy between these two cooccurring philosophies – one that highlights light, nature, and the temporary pleasures or luxuries of life, and the other that emphasizes the harsh, strenuous conditions of ordinary life in the growing urban cities.

Mennello Museum of American Art is delighted to showcase 34 paintings and 3 works on paper by the most celebrated artists of the early 20th century art in the United States. Preeminent artists of their time on display include artists like John White Alexander, Frederick Carl Frieseke, and Henry Salem Hubbell alongside lesser known, but equally important contemporaries Lydia Field Emmett, Jane Peterson, and Lilla Cabot Perry – to name a few.

This exhibition brings together beloved artists from collections across Florida including the Mennello Museum’s own collection, the Marilyn and Michael Mennello Foundation, and significant loans from the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, Harn Museum of Art, Museum of Florida History, Rollins Museum of Art, Tampa Museum of Art.

In total, the exhibition considers artists’ interests in depicting experiences of life in urban and bucolic landscapes, their interest in domesticated and wild subjects in the natural world at home and abroad, ­as well as the social mores and representation of women. These reflections implore the necessity to highlight under-recognized women who were also creating, marketing, and participating in these movements. 

Lilla Cabot Perry,Le Paravent Jaune (The Yellow Screen),1907.Oil on canvas.Courtesy ofThe Michael A. and The Honorable Marilyn Logsdon Mennello Foundation.

Karl J. Anderson, The Green Pitcher, 1913. Oil on canvas. Courtesy of The Michael A. and The Honorable Marilyn Logsdon Mennello Foundation.

Robert Henri, Ann of Achill, 1913. Oil on canvas. Collection of the Mennello Museum of American Art, Gift of Michael A. Mennello in memory of the Honorable Marilyn Logsdon Mennello, 2018-002-014.

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

May 14, 2022 | Watercolor Flowers

April 9, 2022 | Pastel Landscapes

March 12, 2022 | Portraiture in Impressionism and Realism

February 12, 2022 | Pinhole Cameras

January 8, 2022 | 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.