Exploring the Huntington Museum of Art with Jennifer Wheeler

In this episode of the Kanawha Valley Hustlers podcast, I’m at Meet-Up 64 at the Huntington Museum of Art, and I’m joined by Jennifer Wheeler. Jennifer tells me that her hustle is being the Director of Development at the Huntington Museum of Art.

I have to admit, I am embarrassed to say that I am not familiar with the Huntington Museum of Art. So I ask Jennifer to tell me a little bit about it. She explains that the museum has been here for nearly 75 years. It is located on McCoy Road in Huntington, spanning 50 acres and housing thousands of square feet of beautiful artwork. The museum is a community museum and the largest in the state. It is the only plant conservatory in this area. It takes two hours to get to anything else like this. They have a beautiful glass sculpture as part of their permanent collection. They also have over 17,000 items in their permanent collection.

Looking around, I can see it is a spectacular place with a lot to offer. I ask Jennifer how people can visit. Is it open to the public? Can people just show up, get tickets, and take a look?

Jennifer confirms that the museum is open Tuesday through Sunday. On Tuesdays, they are open until 8:00 in the evening, and it’s free, thanks to a gift from the city of Huntington. The rest of the week, admission is $5 per person. Memberships are available for as little as $25 per household, which gets you free admission.

I ask Jennifer to tell me more about some of the exhibits and what they offer for visitors. I know there was the plant conservatory, but I am curious about what else they have. Jennifer explains that the conservatory is like a greenhouse. They have many species of coral, axolotls, and various plants. Axolotls are very popular because they are in Minecraft, and kids love them.

She tells me that they have several permanent galleries. The Near Eastern Gallery has wonderful metalworks and tapestries. The Glass Gallery is another permanent installation, and they also have the Herman Dean Firearms collection always on display. Other galleries rotate the art, bringing in traveling exhibits or showcasing items from their own collection.

The museum has an impressive Daywood collection, with world-renowned oil paintings. Their permanent collection includes works by artists such as Picasso and Matisse. If you’ve heard of a major artist, they probably have one of their pieces.

I ask Jennifer how people can learn more about the museum and she directs me to the Huntington Museum of Art website, https://hmoa.org/

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