Cornell Fine Arts Museum

Mission

To support and enrich the educational mission of Rollins College for the College’s students, faculty, staff, and alumni, as well as for the Museum’s members, and volunteers, and for the residents of and visitors to the Central Florida area.

2. To expand the knowledge and appreciation of the visual arts by developing exhibitions and other programs that use or augment the permanent collection, and/or display the finest in art – ancient to contemporary.

3. To preserve, conserve, and expand the College’s unique permanent collection, researching, interpreting, and displaying it on a regular basis.

4. To enhance the College’s curricular offerings, reach out to the local community, and support development efforts.

History

The richly diverse art collection of the Cornell Fine Arts Museum boasts more than 5,000 works and is recognized as one of the largest and most distinguished collections in Florida.The Rollins collection of paintings began more than a century ago. It grew significantly in 1937 when the Samuel H. Kress Foundation donated several Italian Renaissance paintings including Madonna Enthroned Nursing the Christ Child by Cosimo Rosselli, a Sistine Chapel artist.In 1941, Winter Park resident and Rollins trustee Jeanette Morse Genius, married to Dr. Hugh McKean, president of Rollins 1951-69, and an art patron and artist in her own right, donated the funds to erect the Morse Gallery of Art. Its collection of American and European art was soon the focus of many benefactors. About UsSet on the Rollins College campus overlooking beautiful Lake Virginia, the Cornell Fine Arts Museum offers an intimate and unique experience in Winter Park. Among the more than 5,000 works ranging from antiquity to contemporary, we hold the only European Old Masters collection in the Orlando area, a sizable American art collection, and the forward-looking Alfond Collection of Contemporary Art, shown both at the museum and at The Alfond Inn a few blocks from campus. 

About Us

As an educational unit of Rollins College, we are a museum dedicated to teaching through and with art. We strive to engage visitors of all ages with our collection – displayed thematically in “Conversations” among centuries, styles and media - and to share our innovative exhibitions, which change seasonally and feature art for all tastes, from the early Renaissance to cutting-edge contemporary. Educational programs, offered free of charge, include gallery talks (both at the museum and at The Alfond Inn), lectures, panel discussions, films, as well as hands-on art activities, special tours, and scavenger hunts for the younger visitors.