Fresno Museums
Fresno museums give us the opportunity to travel back in time and discover some of Fresno's past. Here are three great choices:
Fresno Metropolitan Museum
The Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art, History and Science feature several permanent exhibitions including but not limited to the Ansel Adams photo collection and the William Saroyan Exhibition.
This Fresno museum also features a science center which is a part of a unique collaboration between San Francisco's Exploratorium and other large and small museums located in Europe, Mexico and the United States. There are special exhibitions at this Fresno museum from time to time.
One of a recent special exhibition was: Georgia O'Keeffe: Visions of the Sublime from October 22, 2004 - January 2, 2005. The Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art was the only museum in the west coast to present this exhibition.
The Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art is located in downtown Fresno at 1515 Van Ness Avenue, Fresno, CA 93721-1200. Contact number is 559.441.1444
Admission to this Fresno museum is $8 for adults. Free Admission is offered on the first Thursday of the month from 5 pm to 8 pm. Please call to confirm admission times and fees.
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The Kearney Mansion is one of 28 buildings in Fresno that have been accepted into the National Register of Historic Places. The mansion was built between 1900 and 1903 for agricultural developer Martin Theodore Kearney.
The Kearney Mansion Museum provides visitors with a look into Fresno's farming past and into the life of the entrepreneur and visionary who lived there.
Mr. Kearney is an inspiration, succeeding through his own determination, foresight and self-education.
He was not born rich (son of an Irish laborer) but worked his way up from a clerk to a successful entrepreneur. The Kearney mansion that we see today was not built for him - it was to be his caretaker's lodge!
Mr. Kearney stayed in this lodge while waiting for his REAL home to be built. His vision was to build a "Chateau Fresno" which would be modeled after France's Chateau de Chenonceaux...talk about a grand vision!
Mr. Kearney lived in that lodge until his death in 1906. At that time, only the lodge and the servants' quarters were completed (they're joined by a porch).
Mr. Kearney left his estate that was worth $1.5million and 5400 acres of farmland to the Regents of the University of California.
Public tours for Kearney Mansion Museum are available Fridays to Sundays at 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00 pm.
Admission to this Fresno museum is $4 for adults, $3 for seniors, $2 for children or students. The entry fee to Kearney Park is waived for those touring Kearney Mansion Museum.
Tours begin at the Kearney Mansion's front door. Kearney Mansion is located at 7160 West Kearney Boulevard.
Please call 559.441.0862 to confirm admission times and fees.
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They sure don't build homes like the Meux home anymore. In this modern age, the Meux Home certainly looks like a grand Victorian home but it was considered a "middle-class" residence at its time (things just seem to be grander back then!).
The Meux home museum is furnished in the period, as a representative house museum. Dr. Thomas Richard Meux and his family moved into the Meux home in January 1889.
The Meux family was originally from Tennessee and moved to Fresno in 1887. What is remarkable is that the Meux family resided in this house for 81 years.
Dr. Meux died in 1929 at the age of 91. His daughter, Anne Prenetta Meux, was 4 when they moved into the house and lived there till her death in 1970.
The Meux Home Museum is another building in Fresno that is in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Meux Home is open to the public from Fridays to Sundays at Noon to 3pm. Admission to this Fresno museum is $5 for adults.
The Meux Home Museum is located on the corner of Tulare and R Streets in downtown Fresno and is within walking distance of the Fresno Convention Center.
Please call 559.233.8007 to confirm admission times and fees.
Other Fresno museums include the Legion of Valor museum, African American Historical and cultural museum and Artes America.