Foosaner Art Museum

The Foosaner Art Museum was a visual arts institution located in Melbourne, Florida, along the Indian River in the Eau Gallie Arts District. Established in 1978 as the Brevard Art Center and Museum, it became the largest visual arts museum in Brevard County and amassed a permanent collection of over 5,000 objects spanning 20 centuries. The museum operated under the Florida Institute of Technology from 2011 until its closure was initiated in 2018, with operations extended until July 2021.

The museum was established on March 8, 1978 as the Brevard Art Center and Museum, Inc., and its first building was acquired that summer. The initial facility provided 4,500 square feet of exhibition space across three galleries. In June 1980, a major gift from Cocoa Beach philanthropist Samuel J. Foosaner enabled the purchase of an adjoining 6,000-square-foot building, which was remodeled for studio classes and became the Renee Foosaner Education Center. The museum moved to a new five-gallery facility in February 1986, tripling its exhibition area. Following the closure of the local science museum in 1994, the board expanded to add a children's science education facility, and in February 1995 the organization became the Brevard Museum of Art and Science. The science center opened in fall 1995 and was renamed the Ruth Cote Clemente Children's Science Center in 1999. In June 2007, the board changed the name to Brevard Art Museum and converted the former science center space to enlarge painting and ceramic studios. On July 1, 2011, the museum merged with the Florida Institute of Technology after receiving a $1 million gift from the Foosaner Foundation, given by Samuel Foosaner's daughter Dione Negroni-Hendrick, and was renamed the Foosaner Art Museum. In January 2018, Florida Tech's board voted to close the museum due to operating expenses, though a second vote extended operations until July 2021. The university sold the space to property developers in April 2020, and the collection was transferred to the Appleton Museum in Ocala. Samuel Foosaner's granddaughter, Andrea Lee Negroni, expressed anger at Florida Tech, stating that the last of her mother's donation was processed three months before the closure vote and that her mother would not have given if she had known the museum's fate.

The permanent collection was composed primarily of Modern and Contemporary Art. It included the Enrique Conill Mendoza Collection of American Industrial Design and what was described as the world's largest collection of works by Ernst Oppler, the German artist who lived from 1867 to 1929. The collection also encompassed American and European art of the 19th and 20th centuries. The holdings reflected both the museum's interests and the lives of the community it served.

Beyond the Ernst Oppler collection and the Enrique Conill Mendoza Collection of American Industrial Design, the museum presented rotating exhibitions drawn from its permanent holdings and temporary shows of nationally and internationally recognized artists. Documented exhibitions included Langdon Kihn: An American Story (March 22, May 11, 2014), which displayed more than 80 works with 31 from Dr. Clifford Bragdon's personal collection alongside loans from private collectors, institutions, and the National Geographic Society, plus New York Times photographs and Indigenous relics from western North America. Clyde Butcher: Florida's Photographer (opened June 8, 2019) presented 69 black and white landscape photographs. Abstraction: Retrospective Memories (March, July 2021) featured works by Rene Griffith and Steve Steinberg.

The museum was situated at 1463 Highland Avenue in the Eau Gallie Arts District of Melbourne, Florida, along the Indian River. The original 1978 building was modified for museum use. After the 1986 move, the facility featured five galleries with expanded office, technical support, and storage areas. The 1980 expansion added the Renee Foosaner Education Center with studios for pottery, painting, drawing, and printmaking. The 1995 science center addition added approximately 5,000 square feet of exhibition space, later repurposed for art studios in 2007.

The Foosaner Art Museum was located at 1463 Highland Avenue, Melbourne, Florida, in the Eau Gallie Arts District along the Indian River. It was owned and operated by the Florida Institute of Technology after the 2011 merger. The museum offered year-round changing exhibitions and educational programming through the Renee Foosaner Education Center, serving both residents and visitors to Brevard County. Following the January 2018 vote to close and the subsequent extension to July 2021, Florida Tech sold the property to developers in April 2020. The collection was transferred to the Appleton Museum in Ocala, ending the institution's presence in Melbourne after more than four decades.