Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts – Little Rock, Arkansas

Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts offers an inspiring array of visual, performing arts, and educational experiences. The Museum is committed to creating an inclusive cultural space for the community to engage with diverse artistic perspectives through the AMFA Foundation’s 14,000 object permanent collection, compelling temporary exhibitions, lively theatre, and enriching courses.

Museum History

The Museum’s history dates back more than 100 years. In 1914, a group of intrepid women formed the Fine Arts Club with a mission to bring the arts to Arkansas.

The Fine Arts Club planted the seeds that were realized when the Museum of Fine Arts opened in downtown Little Rock’s MacArthur Park in 1937. Built by the Works Progress Administration – and featuring a stunning Art Deco façade – the Museum of Fine Arts was the first museum dedicated to the fine arts in the state of Arkansas.

In 1959, as the museum’s art collection and mission continued to grow, the Museum of Fine Arts launched a fundraising campaign to create a statewide center for the arts. Led by Winthrop Rockefeller, who would become the governor of Arkansas in 1967, the campaign emphasized that the institution would serve all of Arkansas – and encouraged Arkansas residents to get involved. Businesses and individuals from all parts of the state made donations – including children who saved nickels and dimes in jars. In 1960, the Little Rock Board of Directors adopted an ordinance officially establishing the Arkansas Arts Center, and the new building – an addition to the 1937 museum – opened in 1963.

Over the next 50 years, as the institution and its mission continued to grow in scale and in scope, the Arkansas Arts Center’s MacArthur Park building underwent seven further expansions to accommodate its growing collection and community. In a 1982 renovation and expansion, the Museum of Fine Arts’ art deco façade was preserved as a feature of the building’s interior galleries.

In 2016, a project to reimagine the Arkansas Arts Center for the 21st century began when Little Rock residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of a hotel-tax bond to renovate its MacArthur Park building. That same year, Studio Gang was selected as the project’s design architects for their vision of the new building. In 2017, SCAPE joined as the project’s landscape architects with Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects as associate architects.

In October 2019, this transformational project broke ground, and in 2021, the Arkansas Arts Center changed its name to the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts. On April 22, 2023, AMFA celebrated its historic Grand Opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, then officially opened its doors for guests.

Mission & Values

The mission of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts is to create an inclusive cultural space that inspires and builds community through the visual and performing arts. Serving the state of Arkansas and beyond, AMFA provides enriching experiences in the arts for all.

Building Transformation

The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts has undergone a major transformation of its building and grounds in Little Rock. Through revitalizing existing structures and uniting them with a “blossoming” central addition, Studio Gang’s design creates a 133,000-square-foot building that embraces the surrounding city and park and establishes a bold new architectural identity.

The Museum’s historic 1937 Art Deco façade is returned to its original role as the building’s north entrance. The central addition, with its organic curves and pleated roof, creates a complementary, park-side entrance at the south and establishes a light-filled, connective space that intuitively guides guests into AMFA’s Harriet and Warren Stephens Galleries, Windgate Art School, Performing Arts Theater, Cultural Living Room, Museum Store, and restaurant.

The design also treats architecture and landscape as intrinsically linked. SCAPE’s 11-acre landscape extends the Museum experience into the park, bringing a biodiverse array of new plantings that provide shade and beauty for indoor/outdoor social spaces, as well as new walking paths that allow the public to enjoy nature and view outdoor sculptures.