Mission Statement

Where art from around the world invites and inspires diverse audiences to experience the power of creativity.

Description

The Speed Art Museum, originally known as the J. B. Speed Memorial Museum, is Kentucky’s oldest and largest art museum. It was founded in 1925 by Hattie Bishop Speed as a memorial to her husband, James Breckinridge Speed, a prominent Louisville businessman and philanthropist. The museum is supported entirely by donations, endowments, grants, ticket sales, and memberships. The focus of the collection is Western art, from antiquity to the present day. Today, The Speed Art Museum is currently undergoing another major transition with an unprecedented $50 million expansion project that will welcome visitors to a space that seamlessly integrates art and nature with a new Art Park and public piazza . The expansion will also provide flexible exhibition spaces to present the Speed's collection and new acquisitions for the public, along with new facilities for collection care and research.