Frequently Asked Questions
What are your hours?
We are open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and Sunday 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. We are closed on
Mondays, all major
holidays, and for some special events.
Special summer hours: (July and August) Tuesday
through Saturday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., closed on Sundays, Mondays, all major
holidays, and for some special events.
How much does it cost to visit the Museum?
Admission to Polk Museum of Art is $5.00 for general admission and $4.00 for
seniors age 62 and over. Members, students, and children age 5 and younger
admitted FREE. Please see our Admission
Policy for more details.
Do you feature local artists?
Yes, if the artist's work is of a national scale quality. Polk Museum of Art is
a major regional art institution so we concentrate on exhibiting artwork that
meets the standards of major museums. For us, that means that the term
"local" includes artists from all over Florida, and in recent years we
have presented exhibitions of the work of Florida artists including Theo Wujcik,
Richard Beckman, Charles Parkhill, Susan Gott, Virginia beth Shields, Elizabeth
Clement, Clyde Butcher, and Lise Drost, to name a few. All proposals for
exhibitions are reviewed by the Executive Director and the Curator of Art, and
those which meet nationally-accepted standards and which are compatible with the
Museum's philosophy of exhibitions are considered for inclusion in the
exhibition calendar.
Why don't you have more sculptures in the lobby or outside?
We would love to have more sculptures on exhibit in or around our building, but
for right now, we are limited by space. Not all of the sculptures in the
Permanent Collection can withstand the outdoor environment, and our indoor
sculptures do not always match the theme of the major exhibitions on display in
our main galleries. We also often hold special events in our lobby area, and
when we do have sculptures on display, they have to be moved frequently, which
is not always safe for the art. When we complete our planned second floor
expansion, you will be able to see more sculptures regularly on display.
Be sure to visit the Lemon Street Promenade in downtown Lakeland while you're
here and take the time to look at the Florida
Outdoor Sculpture Competition. The Competition, started in 2001, is a joint
project of the Museum and the City of Lakeland, and it features 10 sculptures
placed along a beautiful, tree-lined pedestrian walkway. Lakeland also is home
to the Tribute to the Volunteer Spirit by nationally recognized artist
Albert Paley. Located on the Lake Mirror Promenade, this 41 foot tall monumental
sculpture is a colorful and exuberant celebration of energy and dedication of
volunteers.
Where do your exhibitions come from?
Some of our exhibitions are organized by our Curator of Art and Curatorial
staff, and the works are borrowed from museums, artists, galleries, and
collectors. Some of these exhibitions are linked, in one way or another, to
works in our Permanent Collection. Other exhibitions are "rented" from
fine arts agencies or other museums that organize exhibitions. Finally, some of
them are developed from works in our Permanent Collection that are selected
around different themes (style, media, subject matter, historic period, etc.).
For a much more detailed description of the process of organizing an exhibition,
visit the Exhibition Development
page in the Exhibitions section.
How often do the exhibits change?
That depends on the gallery. Exhibitions in the two main galleries (Dorothy
Jenkins and Emily S. Macey Galleries) change roughly every 10 - 12 weeks. The
Perkins Print Gallery changes approximately every 2 months, and the two upstairs
galleries (Ledger and Murray Galleries) change every 4 months. The exhibition in
the David & Lucia Taxdal Pre-Columbian Gallery is a permanent display of Ancient
Art of the Americas in which individual pieces are rotated periodically. The
George Jenkins Student Gallery, for which the schedule of 5-6 exhibitions is set
in cooperation with the school district, changes approximately every 2 months
during the school year with the final exhibition of the year lasting through the
summer. The Florida Outdoor Sculpture
Competition, which is a joint effort of the Museum and the City of Lakeland,
remains on display on the Lemon Street Promenade in downtown Lakeland for a
year, with new pieces installed every March. In total, the Museum averages about
22 exhibitions annually.
Can you tell me how much my piece of artwork is worth, or if it is
"real" or not?
Museums are often inundated with questions concerning the value of art,
photographs, antiques and other objects. It is actually unethical, and in many
cases illegal, for a Museum to appraise or authenticate items such as these. For
more information, visit the Care & Evaluation of
Your Art section of this web site.
I am an artist. How do I get and exhibition in this Museum?
You need to submit images of your work, a resume, and artist statement to our
Curator of Art for consideration. Please visit the Exhibition
Development page in the Exhibitions section for more details on what we are
looking for and how to submit your portfolio.
Who was the architect of the building?
Ernie Straughn, of the architectural firm Straughn Furr Architects of Lakeland,
designed the building in 1986. Construction was completed in September 1988. The
firm, now Straughn Trout, has continued to
work with the Museum to prepare designs for our upcoming expansion of the
facility. |
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