About Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale

The Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale has come a long way since its original 1958 incarnation as the Junior League's Fort Lauderdale Art Center, housed in a former hardware store. A fire in 1967 prompted the center to relocate to a temporary home in a former annex to what is now Nova Southeastern University—an institution with which the museum would later forge an intellectual and cross-disciplinary association. The museum as patrons know it today was designed by American architect Edward Larrabee Barnes and opened to the public in 1986. Within its bright-white exterior—with color apparently overflowing from its top, dripping down across the sides—stands a permanent collection of more than 6,000 pieces, including a significant body of work by early-20th-century American painter William Glackens. Other art in residence includes Picasso ceramics, creations of the northern European COBRA movement, and works from more than 90 contemporary Cuban artists in exile around the world.

After exploring the varying aesthetics of temporary exhibitions, guests can grab a bite to eat and question what makes a sandwich “art” in the café area of the Books & Books store. Adults and kids dive deeper into art via gallery talks, storytelling, and hands-on activities, as well as art-academy classes taught by locally and nationally renowned artists.