Wednesday, January 6, 2016

The Appleton Museum - I










In the 1970s a Chicago businessman by name of Arthur Appleton arrived in the Ocala area and founded the Bridlewood Farm, an 800-acre spread dedicated to breeding thoroughbreds.  Down through the years, Mr. Appleton had put together a large collection of artifacts and paintings which he decided to show to the public.

Thus began the Appleton Museum in Ocala and was originally designed to show Mr. Appleton's collection exclusively.  The city donated 44 plus acres and the building was completed in 1987.  Down through the years, the museum's mission expanded, and today serves as a major cultural resource for all of central Florida.  

You can read more about the museum and its work here.

We will be showing additional photos of the interior and the current exhibitions in the days ahead.  

Regarding the above photos:  

#1 - A lovely Florida sunflower near the entrance to welcome visitors.
#2 & 3 - Exterior shots of the museum's front entrance.
#4 & 5 - These photos picture the beautiful interior courtyard.



17 comments:

William Kendall said...

Impressive architecture... I look forward to more!

Florada?

Francisco Manuel Carrajola Oliveira said...

Um belo e moderno museu.
Um abraço.

Linda said...

I couldn't help but notice the misspelling FlorAda. LOL! Lovely architecture, Lowell, very nice! :)

RedPat said...

I really like the look of this place!

The Vet's Centre at Sunnybrook is probably the highest rated long-term care facility in the city so my dad is being well taken care of - lots of volunteers and lots of activities.

Kay said...

It looks like quite a nice place! (Is there a reason for the spelling "Florada" in the first shot?) I'm glad you'll be able to show the interior - some institutions get very prickly about interior photography.

Lois said...

I have always wanted to visit the Appleton and am looking forward to seeing more pictures! Years ago, when I worked at the FSU College of Fine Arts, the Appleton was operated by FSU and I had daily contact with their staff who were considered employees of our department. Eventually operation of the museum was transferred to the College of Central Florida which seems to have worked out well for all involved. FSU does still operate the Ringling in Sarasota.

Oman said...

Happy New Year. Hope you have a great one.

Halcyon said...

Is there a reason it says "Florada" on the sunflower pot? I hope this is not a misspelling of Florida... that would be pretty embarrassing!
This museum sounds really nice. I like the idea of the more wealthy sharing their art collections with the everyday man. (Though in reality, they probably just do it for the tax breaks, but still).

Aimeecakes said...

Looks like a very interesting place to visit. I look forward to seeing what it's like inside! Love the flower in the first shot :)

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Your museum here looks a little like my building today Lowell, but the arty contents in yours sound waaaay more interesting than the stuffy politicians in mine :)

EG CameraGirl said...

Looks a bit stark on the outside, but I look forward to seeing what's inside.

Sharon said...

I LOVE visiting art museums so I'm going to enjoy this tour. The building is wonderful and that sunflower is the biggest I've ever seen. :-)

VP said...

A beautiful building and a lovely sunflower!

Bergson said...

impressive building and impessive flower

cieldequimper said...

Loooove that flower!

Tanya Breese said...

can't wait to see what's inside!

Kate said...

The museum's name initially startled me because Wisconsin has a city of the same name. The museum has an interesting history.

"Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again." — Henri Cartier-Bresson