Cornell Fine Arts Museum
The richly diverse art collection of the Cornell Fine Arts Museum at Rollins College boasts more than 5,000 works ranging from antiquity to contemporary art, and is recognized as one of the largest and most distinguished collections in Florida. The long history of the museum is central to Rollins College, and to the Winter Park community.
• Ca.1900- Rollins College collection began with the contributions of a few oil portraits of college notables and gifts of engraved prints.
• 1937- Rollins College officially inaugurated art collecting, under the presidency of Hamilton Holt, with a donation by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation of several Italian Renaissance paintings.
• 1941- Winter Park resident and Rollins trustee Jeannette Morse Genius, married to Dr. Hugh McKean, president of Rollins College from 1951-1969, donated the funds to erect the Morse Gallery of Art on the shores of Lake Virginia.
• 1942- The McKeans, acting as directors of the small gallery, introduced a program of exhibitions and encouraged students, faculty, and Florida artists to exhibit their works. The American and European artworks soon captured the focus of many benefactors from around the country.
• 1950- George H. Sullivan, a Winter Park resident, made the first major donation to the museum, a Louis Sonntag painting. Sullivan also donated works by Francesco de Mura, Gasq, and Mercié in 1952 and 1959.
• 1960-1969- Alumni Jack and June Myers donated what was the backbone of the Cornell’s old master collection.
• 1966- The McKeans’ refurbished the Morse Gallery and their world-famous collection of Tiffany glass was exhibited there for ten years.
• 1976- George and Harriet Cornell donated more than one million dollars to construct a fine arts complex, which included an art department with classrooms and studio spaces and a patio on Lake Virginia. The funding was also used to renovate and enlarge the existing gallery.
• 1978- The George D. and Harriet W. Cornell Fine Arts Center opened and the renovated and enlarged Morse Gallery of Art became the Cornell Fine Arts Museum.
• 1981- The Cornell became one of the first college art museums in Florida to be accredited by the American Association of Museums.
• 1992- The museum was re-accredited through 2002. Also in this year, the Cornell was the only art museum in the state to be awarded an Institute of Museum Services general operating support grant. This grant made it possible to hire an education coordinator, to begin a comprehensive education program, and to conduct an audience survey.
• 2002- The museum was re-accredited through 2012.
• 2006- The Cornell Fine Arts Museum reopened its doors to the public after an 18-month, $4.5 million renovation. This renovation expanded the museum to include six display galleries, a print study room, and an educational gallery.
- The Alfond Collection of Contemporary Art was added to holdings of the museum through the generosity of alumni Barbara and Theodore Alfond. A significant part of this growing collection is on view at The Alfond Inn, a philanthropic boutique hotel owned by Rollins College and whose proceeds fund student scholarships.
