About the Addison
The Addison Gallery’s collection of American art is one of the most comprehensive in the world, including nearly 17,000 objects spanning the 18th century to the present. In a typical year, the Addison presents approximately twelve shows, including both permanent collection installations and major traveling exhibitions, carefully balanced to represent a wide range of art, across time and media. The Addison has also organized numerous nationally touring exhibitions, including shows such as American Vanguards: Graham, Davis, Gorky, de Kooning and Their Circle, 1927 – 1942 and Coming of Age, as well as retrospectives dedicated to artists such as John Marin, Sheila Hicks, William Wegman, Trisha Brown, Carroll Dunham, Wendy Ewald, Terry Winters, and Richard Stanciewicz.
The Addison is committed to serving the public through free admission and an education outreach program that reaches diverse audiences, including teachers, students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12, and adults. All Addison education programs are offered free of charge. The Addison’s Museum Learning Center, in the new Sidney R. Knafel Wing, offers a flexible classroom and exhibition space that makes the entire collection accessible for programs tailored to the specific interests of individual groups. In addition to classes in art and art history, the Addison’s collection lends itself to use by history, math, and science classes.
The Addison is located on the campus of Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, just 30 minutes north of Boston.
History of the Addison
Thomas Cochran created the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy in 1931 as the most extraordinary of his many gifts to the school. Guided by Cochran's goal "to enrich permanently the lives of the students," the Addison's programs demonstrate a central concern for education. The museum is a teaching resource for Phillips Academy students and faculty as well as an art center for the greater Boston area and the nation at large.
By the Terms of Trust under which the Addison Gallery was founded, the museum's collection is limited to works of art or craftsmanship produced by native-born or naturalized citizens of the United States, with the following exceptions: photographs and books by other than native-born or naturalized citizens; portraits or busts of Americans and portrayals of American scenes or vessels by artists of foreign birth produced not later than 1800; pieces of pottery or glassware of whatever origin or date decorated with American scenes; and scale models of famous ships connected with the history of the United States.
