Worcester Art Museum
The Worcester Art Museum, also known by its acronym
WAM, houses over 35,000 works of art dating from
antiquity to the present day, representing cultures
from all over the world. The WAM opened in 1898 in
Worcester, Massachusetts, and is the second largest art
museum in New England. The WAM also has a café,
museum shop, library, and a year round roster of
classes for children and adults.
In September 1896
Stephen Salisbury III and a group of his friends
gathered together to created the Art Museum
Corporation. Salisbury then gave a tract of land, on
what was once the Salisbury farm (now fronting
Salisbury Street in Worcester, Massachusetts), as well
as $100,000 USD to build an art museum. The museum was
designed by Steven Earl, a Worcester architect, and
formally opened in 1898. The museum's collection at
this point consisted largely of plaster casts of
"antique and Renaissance" sculptures as well as a
selection of 5,000 Japanese prints, drawings, and
books, willed to the museum from John Chandler
Bancroft, son of John Bancroft.
Photo 27, Mar 2011