WINTER PARK, FL—In a tradition dating from 1995, The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art will offer free admission to its galleries on Friday, July 4, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in conjunction with the City of Winter Park’s Fourth of July Celebration in Central Park.
This Independence Day holds special significance for the Museum as it marks 30 years since the Morse opened its doors at its current location on Park Avenue. The opening of the Museum on Park Avenue realized Hugh and Jeannette McKeans’ dream for establishing the Morse as a community resource. “We want a museum that will add ideas and vitality to Central Florida,” Hugh F. McKean (1908–95), founding director of the Morse, said in describing the new space and its mission in a May 29, 1994 article in the Orlando Sentinel. “We’re the kind of museum that hopes to have people come around again and again.”
On July 4, 1995, a parade was organized with the City of Winter Park, and, for the first time, community members waved their flags together and shared in local and patriotic pride on the Fourth of July.
In celebration of this anniversary, the Museum will feature live music in the galleries from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Visitors will also have the opportunity to view special objects on display, including a 1798 cream jug by American silversmith and patriot Paul Revere (1735–1818) and a baseball autographed by legends Babe Ruth (1895–1948), Ty Cobb (1886–1961), and Lou Gehrig (1903–41), as well as Central Florida resident and baseball legend Joe Tinker (1880–1948).
The Morse is home to the world’s most comprehensive collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1933). The Museum’s holdings also include American art pottery, late 19th- and early 20th-century American paintings, graphics, and history of design objects.
Summer hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday. Regular admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, and $1 for students. Children
younger than 12 receive free admission and are always welcome with their parents or
guardians. For more information, visit the Museum’s website, morsemuseum.org.