The museum provides visitors the opportunity to learn about the visual arts through diverse traveling exhibitions and thought-provoking in-house exhibitions.
Nearly 12,000 children participate in free school tours each year. These tours include hands-on art activities, which enable students to make crucial connections between what they see and what they create. Public programs for children and adults fill the calendar throughout the year, and include an independent film series, visiting lecturers, terrace concerts, dance performances, and free family events.
Located at the heart of Memphis in historic Overton Park, the Brooks is a vibrant cultural complex that comprises 29 galleries, two art classrooms, a print study room, a research library, and a professional auditorium with state-of-the-art audio visual equipment. In addition, the facility includes a new café and both public and private meeting spaces.
In 1913, Bessie Vance Brooks donated $100,000 to the City of Memphis for the construction of a museum in honor of her late husband, Samuel Hamilton Brooks. The Brooks Memorial Art Gallery opened to the public in 1916. The Beaux Arts style building, inspired by the Morgan Library in New York City, was designed by James Gamble Rogers and constructed of Georgian marble. The museum was enlarged in 1955 to secure a gift of thirty-two objects from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, which was dependent upon sufficient gallery space to exhibit the artworks. To accommodate the continuing growth of the permanent collection, a further expansion was completed in 1973. In 1983, the institution’s name was changed to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, and in 1989 the Brooks separated from the city becoming fully private, although the city retains ownership of the building. The final, award-winning addition, which replaced the 1955 wing, opened in 1989.
With less than 12 percent of its budget provided by government funding, the museum relies on the generosity of friends and supporters to meet operating costs and other expenses. There are many ways for individuals, foundations, and corporations to give support. In return, the museum thanks members and sponsors with special privileges, discounts, and naming opportunities.
Through our world-class exhibitions and programs, the Brooks has become a center of cultural activity in Memphis. With the help of generous donors and supporters, the collection of 19 paintings housed in a 8,200 square foot building in 1933 has grown to over 10,000 works of art in a 86,000 square foot building. The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art continues to fulfill the purpose of its founder, Bessie Vance Brooks, as a “repository, conservatory, and museum of art . . . for the enjoyment, inspiration, and instruction of our people.”
Our Mission
The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art enriches the lives of our diverse community through the museum's expanding collection, varied exhibitions, and dynamic programs that reflect the art of world cultures from antiquity to the present.
Our Vision
Transforming lives through the power of art.
Our Core Values
The work of the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art is guided by:
The responsible and thoughtful stewardship of the art entrusted to our care the promise that art is accessible to all people a culture of warm hospitality and polite civic discourse a commitment to inclusion and diversity at all levels: collections, programming, board and staff, volunteers and audiences a dedication to excellence, best practices, and constant improvement in order to merit the public trust the abiding belief that art inspires, enlightens, and educates, and, in doing so, transforms lives, engages citizens, and builds communities