Rockwell Museum. The Rockwell Museum is a Smithsonian Affiliate museum of American art located in the Finger Lakes region in downtown Corning, New York.
Frommer's describes it as one of the best-designed small museums in the Northeast. In 2015, The Rockwell Museum was named a Smithsonian Affiliate, the first in New York State outside of New York City.
The museum founder, Robert F. Rockwell, Jr., moved to Corning in 1933 to run his grandfather's department store. Rockwell bought his first Western painting in 1959.
Over the next 25 years he amassed a significant collection of paintings, bronze sculptures, etchings and drawings, and Native American ethnographic materials. Another collecting interest for Rockwell developed from his longtime friendship with Frederick Carder, founder of the Steuben Glass Works.
He and his wife, Hertha, accumulated more than 2,500 pieces of Carder Steuben glass. In addition, they assembled a small collection of antique toys. From 1960 to 1975, Bob Rockwell's growing collection of art was displayed to the public in the Rockwell Department Store on Market Street in Corning, New York. In 1973, Corning Glass Works executives Amory Houghton, Jr., Thomas S. Buechner, and George W. Douglas pledged company support to provide a proper home for the Rockwell's collection of western art and artifacts, Carder Steuben glass, and turn-of-the-century toys. The plan was to restore and
Frommer's describes it as one of the best-designed small museums in the Northeast. In 2015, The Rockwell Museum was named a Smithsonian Affiliate, the first in New York State outside of New York City.
The museum founder, Robert F. Rockwell, Jr., moved to Corning in 1933 to run his grandfather's department store. Rockwell bought his first Western painting in 1959.
Over the next 25 years he amassed a significant collection of paintings, bronze sculptures, etchings and drawings, and Native American ethnographic materials. Another collecting interest for Rockwell developed from his longtime friendship with Frederick Carder, founder of the Steuben Glass Works.
He and his wife, Hertha, accumulated more than 2,500 pieces of Carder Steuben glass. In addition, they assembled a small collection of antique toys. From 1960 to 1975, Bob Rockwell's growing collection of art was displayed to the public in the Rockwell Department Store on Market Street in Corning, New York. In 1973, Corning Glass Works executives Amory Houghton, Jr., Thomas S. Buechner, and George W. Douglas pledged company support to provide a proper home for the Rockwell's collection of western art and artifacts, Carder Steuben glass, and turn-of-the-century toys. The plan was to restore and
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