Stetson University’s Homer and Dolly Hand Art Center houses the university’s extensive collection of art by Modernist painter Oscar Bluemner (1867-1938)
Stetson University’s Homer and Dolly Hand Art Center houses the university’s extensive collection of art by Modernist painter Oscar Bluemner (1867-1938).
The 5,000-square-foot art center includes two galleries; one to exhibit rotating selections from the Vera Bluemner Kouba Collection and the second to display other works from the university’s permanent art collection or for special shows. The $2.2 million building also has a foyer gallery/reception area, a vault, a preparation area and an art study/seminar room.
Longtime trustee and alumna Dolly Hand ’49 and her husband, Homer Hand, made the lead gift for the art center, which is located between Sampson Hall and the duPont-Ball Library.
The Oscar Bluemner Collection, which contains more than 1,000 pieces, was bequeathed to Stetson University in 1997 by the artist’s daughter, Vera Bluemner Kouba. Selections from the Vera Bluemner Kouba Collection have been exhibited at Stetson University and at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.
The Hand Art Center is a secure, permanent, state-of-the-art facility for the Bluemner collections and a place to share with art historians, scholars, students and art lovers.
