History
In 1869, Edwin B. Crocker, a banker and landowner of great wealth, and Margaret Crocker began to assemble a significant collection of paintings and drawings during an extended trip to Europe just a year after their purchase of land on the corner of Third and O Street in the city of Sacramento. As a prominent California family, the Crockers supported many social and civic causes. Judge Crocker (1818–1875) served on the State Supreme Court. His brother was Charles Crocker, one of the “Big Four” railroad barons. In 1885, his widow, Margaret (1822–1901), fulfilled their shared vision of creating a public art museum when she presented the E. B. Crocker Art Gallery and collection to the City of Sacramento and the California Museum Association, “in trust for the public.” the contents of which were valued at the time at more than $500,000.000.
While the Crocker Art Museum had undertaken a series of renovations and additions since it first opened as a public museum 125 years ago, the facility could not keep pace with the Museum’s burgeoning collection and the growing population of Sacramento and California's Central Valley Region. In 2000, the Crocker began a master planning process with Gwathmey Siegel & Associates and in 2002 commissioned the firm to design a major expansion of the Museum. The expanded Crocker Art Museum opened on October 10, 2010.
Read more about this topic: Crocker Art Museum
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