museum of friends

I was thrilled to stumble upon this impressive contemporary art museum, filled with work by a wide variety of American artists. The collection comes from the museum founders, themselves artists; much of the work was received as gifts from friends and colleagues. As such, it is eclectic, and behind each work is a story. What an extraordinarily layered experience. Highly recommended.

On my first visit to the museum, I was quite taken by surprise by the size and diversity of the collection. Unlike most museums, MOF contains a very eclectic collection consisting of artists from many different parts of the country as well as local artists. The Museum of Friends collection consists of art donated by friends of the two artists who own and operate the museum; thus the name "Museum of Friends."The museum is located in the downtown area and consists of a two-story building with a changing collection of art on the first floor as well as a very large collection upstairs. What I most enjoyed was seeing the wide variety of art including; paintings, sculptures, photographs, pencil drawings and the use of many unusual and varied types of media. The museum also has a very large library available to the public although books are to be viewed on the premises.I'd suggest any person traveling through or near Walsenburg watch for The Museum of Friends located at the Southwest corner of Main and Fifth Streets. Entrance to the museum is free which is very uncommon these days. Irene G

Located right on the Main drag of Walsenburg, is a Contemporary Art Museum filled with treasures of the last 50 years of art making in America, Europe and the Pacific. The co-founders moved to Walsenburg in 2006 with a huge collection of prints, paintings, sculptures, video, film, memorabilia, and the history of contemporary art in America. The street level is devoted to changing exhibitions and the 2nd floor is filled with the permanent collection, Hawaiian collections, Italian American room, offices and the artist is residence quarters. The website www.museumoffriends.org features current exhibitions and programs and a history of part shows, and artists in residence programs. A real treat is the "Where's Walsenburg?" contemporary intervention with the community, also to be viewed at the State Capitol in 2015, curated and designed by curator Maria Cocchiarelli.