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Welcome
Welcome to the Bristol Art Museum located in Downtown Bristol, Rhode Island! BAM is a non-profit organization 501 (c) 3, founded in 1963. We serve the local East Bay and greater Rhode Island community. Visit the main galleries at 10 Wardwell Street, located behind the historic Linden Place museum.
BAM is a proud member of the American Alliance of Museums & the New England Museum Association, as well as a participant in the
Blue Star Museums program. |
Museum Mission Statement
BAM's mission is to encourage the creation, promotion, and appreciation of the arts through rotating exhibitions and educational opportunities. Community outreach programs and partnerships are central to our goal of engaging diverse audiences in the arts of our time. BAM aims to enrich the cultural life of the community and region through eclectic exhibitions and educational programs, and to be an accessible community resource for future generations. 
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Bristol Art Museum Board of Directors | 2020
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Honorary Directors
Victor Piccoli Ray Edler Mary Ellen Dwyer |
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Museum History at a Glance
The Bristol Art Museum was founded in 1963 by three women from Bristol: Jill Pardee, Margaret Nerone, and Marie Perry. Mrs. Ethel Barrymore Colt Miglietta, heir to the Linden Place Estate, offered them the use of her Ballroom at Linden Place, which they then converted into functioning gallery space.
Each year nine exhibits were mounted between the months of June and October (no heat). The venue attracted major artists like Frank Benson, George DeForest Brush, Robert Motherwell, Maxfield Parrish, Norman Rockwell, and Richard Grosvenor, to name but a few. Over the years BAM presented loaned works of art from various museum collections ranging from the Metropolitan in NYC, Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Smithsonian and the Rhode Island School Design Museum. With the passing of Mrs. Ethel Barrymore in 1986, the Linden Place estate was put up for sale. With the support of a major grant from the RI Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission, a successful art auction by the Bristol Art Museum and many private donations the “Friends of Linden Place” was formed. |
The Linden Place Mansion opened to the public in 1990 as a house museum and the Bristol Art Museum presented one exhibit that same summer. The Museum continued to enjoy use of the ballroom as exhibition space for three two-week exhibits a year.
The Bristol Art Museum has presented a variety of exhibits from artists of Rhode Island, greater New England, and nationally, including David McCaulay, Allison Newsome, Thomas Sgouros, Esther Solondz, Howard Newman, Thomas Lyon Mills, Elin Noble, Mary Ruefle, and Willy Heeks.
The Museum has presented - documentaries such as Looff Carousel, and Narragansett Bay Fisheries, and in 1991, the extremely popular traveling exhibit “American Wilderness” was presented with works by Ansel Adams and Paul Strand. In 2003 the Museum celebrated its 40th Anniversary with a distinctive exhibit, featuring one work of art by select artists from each of the previous 40 years.
In 2008 Friends of Linden Place offered the Bristol Art Museum an opportunity to renovate and re-purpose its historic carriage house into permanent galleries and artist studios. The Museum hired the architect John Lusk to design a permanent home for the Museum. Phase I of the structural improvements began in 2011. Phase II involved creating an entrance on Wardwell Street, removing walls to create gallery spaces, and refurbishing the second floor to create artist studios and the Piccolli Classroom, a multi-purpose space equipped with group viewing technology. In December 2013, BAM opened its permanent space with an inaugural exhibit of artworks by sculptor John Udvardy and painter Penelope Manzella. In the years since, the Museum has aggressively expanded their public programs to offer gallery talks and lectures, artist meetings and networking opportunities, child and adult art classes, special artist workshops, and more -- all made possible by the construction of The Piccoli Classroom in September 2015. Through grant funding generously provided by RISCA, the Museum was able to adapt our main gallery space to include state-of-the-art technologies for large scale presentations and “Art al Fresco” is an annual art fair held on Linden Place grounds each July, a popular summer event.
In 2017, the Museum established and adopted a Permanent Collections policy, and currently holds 42 works of art in the collection. Today, the Museum presents annual year-round art exhibits in the main galleries, as well as quarterly juried exhibits in BAM's Community Galleries at the Rogers Free Library.
The Museum has invested almost $1,000,000 renovating the 1867 carriage house for the purpose of creating a permanent regional art museum space. This was all accomplished with 3 major grants from The Champlin Foundation, other supporting grants and the generosity of many private donors.
The Bristol Art Museum has presented a variety of exhibits from artists of Rhode Island, greater New England, and nationally, including David McCaulay, Allison Newsome, Thomas Sgouros, Esther Solondz, Howard Newman, Thomas Lyon Mills, Elin Noble, Mary Ruefle, and Willy Heeks.
The Museum has presented - documentaries such as Looff Carousel, and Narragansett Bay Fisheries, and in 1991, the extremely popular traveling exhibit “American Wilderness” was presented with works by Ansel Adams and Paul Strand. In 2003 the Museum celebrated its 40th Anniversary with a distinctive exhibit, featuring one work of art by select artists from each of the previous 40 years.
In 2008 Friends of Linden Place offered the Bristol Art Museum an opportunity to renovate and re-purpose its historic carriage house into permanent galleries and artist studios. The Museum hired the architect John Lusk to design a permanent home for the Museum. Phase I of the structural improvements began in 2011. Phase II involved creating an entrance on Wardwell Street, removing walls to create gallery spaces, and refurbishing the second floor to create artist studios and the Piccolli Classroom, a multi-purpose space equipped with group viewing technology. In December 2013, BAM opened its permanent space with an inaugural exhibit of artworks by sculptor John Udvardy and painter Penelope Manzella. In the years since, the Museum has aggressively expanded their public programs to offer gallery talks and lectures, artist meetings and networking opportunities, child and adult art classes, special artist workshops, and more -- all made possible by the construction of The Piccoli Classroom in September 2015. Through grant funding generously provided by RISCA, the Museum was able to adapt our main gallery space to include state-of-the-art technologies for large scale presentations and “Art al Fresco” is an annual art fair held on Linden Place grounds each July, a popular summer event.
- The Museum encourages the creative efforts of “Plein Air Painters” as they paint local environments during the summer months of July and August.
In 2017, the Museum established and adopted a Permanent Collections policy, and currently holds 42 works of art in the collection. Today, the Museum presents annual year-round art exhibits in the main galleries, as well as quarterly juried exhibits in BAM's Community Galleries at the Rogers Free Library.
The Museum has invested almost $1,000,000 renovating the 1867 carriage house for the purpose of creating a permanent regional art museum space. This was all accomplished with 3 major grants from The Champlin Foundation, other supporting grants and the generosity of many private donors.
- Friends of Linden Place agreed to a 25 year lease, renewable for 50 more years.
