Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art and Science - History

History

In 1978, a group of Fresno civic leaders began to explore the possibility of creating a regional museum for the San Joaquin Valley. From 1981-1985, these members of the community raised more than $5.5 million to open the Met in the historic downtown site of the Fresno Bee building. The Museum opened its doors to the community on April 8, 1984.

Since that time, the Museum has attracted more than 2 million people with its programs in art and science with diverse exhibitions including A T. rex Named Sue, Masterworks from the Albertina, Georgia O'Keeffe: Visions of the Sublime, Variations on a Theme: American Prints from Pop Art to Minimalism—A Selection from the Anderson Graphic Arts Collection and Grossology: The (Impolite) Science of the Human Body.' '

In 1995, the Museum became the first organization outside the Bay Area to win Northern California's "Award for Excellence" in non-profit management from Chevron and The Management Center of San Francisco. In 1995, the Met also received a Central California Excellence in Business Award in the non-profit category as presented by The Fresno Bee. The Museum has also been named the Best Museum each year since 1999 by the readers of The Fresno Bee. The Museum was granted American Association of Museums accreditation status in July 2007.

On January 5, 2010, the Museum closed due to the museum's inability to pay off the increasing deficit from the museum's renovation and operations.