Hickory Museum of Art
243 Third Avenue NE
Hickory, NC 28601

P O Box 2572
Hickory, NC 28603
phone: 828-327-8576
fax: 828-327-7281
Map

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www.hickorymuseumofart.org

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Exhibition Information page 2

Hours
Tuesday through Saturday 10 AM - 4 PM
Sunday 1 - 4 PM
Closed Mondays and Holidays

Admission
Daily admission to the Hickory Museum of Art is FREE.

Group tours may be arranged in advance. For information on group tours and school field trip opportunities, e-mail or call HMA Educator Ginny Zellmer at 828-327-8576.

Directions
HICKORY MUSEUM OF ART
243 3rd Avenue NE , Hickory, NC 28601
828-327-8576

The Museum is located in a 3 story brick building on the SALT Block in the right wing of the Arts and Science Center of Catawba Valley.

• Please note Hickory streets run North and South, Avenues are East and West and Center Street divides East from West. Many streets are one way only!
  
  
• Traveling North on Hwy 127 (from all points south of 2nd Street, NE, Hickory, NC)
  
  
• Traveling South on Hwy 127 (from all points north of 2nd Street, NE, Hickory, NC)
  
  
• Traveling West on I-40 (from all points east of I-40 exit 125)
  
  
• Traveling East on I-40 (from all points west of I-40 exit 123)
  
  
• Traveling North on Highway 321 (from I-85)
  
  
• Traveling South on Hwy 321 (from Lenoir)
  

Visitors with Disabilities
The front entrance parking lot (3rd Ave NE side) has two accessible parking spaces, and two ramps leading to the front door. The back entrance is accessible with additional parking spaces and ramps, but visitors with mobility disabilities will need to use the wheelchair lift to access the art museum.

With advance notice, our educators can adapt group tours to accommodate persons with disabilities. Please call us at 828-327-8576.

HICKORY MUSEUM OF ART HISTORY
Paul Austin Wayne Whitener was the founder and first director of the Hickory Museum of Art. In 1935, the Hickory native and Duke University football player, spent the summer in Little Switzerland, North Carolina. It was there he met his future wife, Mildred McKinney Whitener Coe, and his career path would make a dramatic turn. He watched Mickey paint a mountain landscape and thought he would like to try his hand at it. Paul was a natural, and it was there his passion for art was born. Paul's artistic talent advanced rapidly. He enrolled in the Ringling Museum of Art's summer school in Little Switzerland, and later studied under notable artists, Wilford Conrow, Frank Herring and Donald Blake.

Paul's desire to share his own growing appreciation of art prompted him to announce his intention to start an art museum in Hickory, North Carolina, where he had been raised. Area residents shared his vision and in 1944 Paul Whitener's dream was realized, and the Hickory Museum of Art was established. Today, it is the second oldest art museum in North Carolina. Paul served as the first director until his death in 1959. Mickey became the director after his death and served in that position until 1995.

In 1986, the Hickory Museum of Art moved into its current location in the Arts and Science Center of Catawba Valley, initially built as Claremont High School. Our exhibitions feature our Permanent Collection of American Art and works borrowed from private collectors and other institutions.

Exhibitions

Events