The Trout Museum of Art (formerly Appleton Art Center) was founded in 1960. The first location was established at 130 North Morrison Street, Appleton in 1972.[1][2] The building currently housing the Trout was originally built in 1922 to house a furniture company, but it was donated to the museum in 2002. In 2010, the Trout family gifted the museum their art collection and established a 1-million-dollar trust to maintain it, at which time the museum was renamed to the Trout Museum of Art.[3][4] Also in 2010, the building's front atrium addition was donated and built by the Boldt Company.[2] In 2022, the museum began searching for a new location, originally planning on building a new building on the Ellen Kort Peace Park.[4][5] However, because of local outcry and an unfavorable environmental site inspection, the museum abandoned these plans.[6] In 2024, the museum announced plans to build a new location in conjunction with Lawrence University, which is planned to be completed in the fall of 2025.[7][8]
Exhibits
The museum hosts an annual exhibit designed to showcase art from around Wisconsin, called the "TMA Contemporary".[9][10] In addition, the museum hosts between 12-18 other exhibits per year, both from its private collection, and works on loan.[2][11][12][13]
