Currier Museum of Art in New Hampshire, USA

The Currier Museum of Art is an art museum at 150 Ash Street in Manchester, New Hampshire. Its holdings extend from European art of the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque periods to American art, photography, ceramics, furniture, glass and contemporary work. The collection also includes two Manchester houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, making architecture an unusually direct part of the museum’s holdings rather than only a subject represented in its galleries.

The Collection and What Is on View

The Currier’s permanent collection contains more than 15,000 objects. Only a small portion can be displayed in the galleries at one time, and the museum rotates works regularly. Visitors looking for a particular painting, photograph or decorative object should therefore check the museum’s online collection or contact the museum before relying on an older gallery listing.

The museum holds European painting and sculpture dating from the 14th through the 17th centuries, with works connected to the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Its broader holdings continue through later European and American art. Artists represented in the collection and gallery program include Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Georgia O’Keeffe and Josef Albers, alongside New England artists and contemporary artists working in a wide range of media.

Decorative arts form another substantial part of the collection. The Currier has holdings in ceramics, furniture and glass, including historic New England furniture and modern American studio furniture. Its ceramics include work by Bernard Leach, Shoji Hamada, Lucie Rie, Hans Coper, Peter Voulkos and Toshiko Takaezu. The museum has also developed an extensive body of work by New Hampshire studio potters Mary and Edwin Scheier.

Photography

The photography collection contains more than 1,700 images and covers much of the medium’s history. Nineteenth-century material includes work associated with photographers such as William Henry Fox Talbot, Carleton Watkins, William Henry Jackson and Eadweard Muybridge. Twentieth-century holdings include photographs by Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Lewis Hine, Gordon Parks and other documentary and fine-art photographers.

The Zimmerman and Kalil Houses

The Currier is the only museum in the United States that stewards two Frank Lloyd Wright houses that are open to the public through guided tours. Both stand in Manchester and were created for families who knew one another.

Isadore and Lucille Zimmerman commissioned their house from Wright in 1949. The two-bedroom residence follows his Usonian ideas, using a compact plan in which narrow passages open into larger connected living areas. Brick and Georgia cypress are prominent materials, and the property retains furniture and a garden designed by Wright.

The nearby Kalil House, designed in 1955 for Toufic and Mildred Kalil, uses Wright’s Usonian Automatic system. It is one of only seven Usonian Automatic houses constructed. The system employed modular concrete blocks as part of Wright’s attempt to develop houses that could be assembled more efficiently than conventional custom construction.

Visits to the houses are separate guided experiences rather than ordinary self-guided museum admission. Tours begin and end at the Currier Museum of Art; visitors check in at the museum and are transported to the houses by museum van. Going directly to either house is not the correct tour procedure. General admission to the Currier Museum is included with a house-tour ticket.

For the 2026 Frank Lloyd Wright tour season, the museum lists tours from April 22 through December 27, Wednesday through Sunday, with scheduled periods beginning at 9:30 AM, noon and 2:30 PM. Each tour lasts about two hours. Children under seven are not permitted on these tours, including children in carriers.

The historic layouts create some accessibility limits. Both houses contain narrow passages, stairs and uneven ground. The museum states that mobility devices used on the house tours must be no more than 29 inches (73 cm) wide; smaller wheelchairs are available in limited numbers. These restrictions apply to the Wright houses rather than the main museum building.

How the Museum Developed

The museum traces its origins to former New Hampshire governor Moody Currier and his wife, Hannah Slade Currier. They conceived the idea of creating an art museum in Manchester during the 1890s. Moody Currier died in 1898 and Hannah Currier in 1915. Their estate and former home became the basis for the institution that followed.

The Currier Gallery of Art was chartered by the New Hampshire legislature in 1919. Its museum building opened in October 1929. A community art school followed in 1939.

The physical museum changed as the institution grew. Galleries designed by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer opened in 1982, while an atrium and additional exhibition galleries designed by Ann Beha were completed in 2008.

Architecture also became part of the permanent collection. The Zimmerman House was bequeathed to the museum in 1988. The Currier acquired the Kalil House in 2019, bringing the two neighboring Wright-designed residences under the care of the same museum.

Visiting the Currier Museum of Art

The museum currently lists regular public hours as 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Wednesday through Sunday. It is closed on Monday and Tuesday. Current admission information, exhibition schedules and changes to holiday hours are published on the museum’s official visitor information page.

The museum currently lists general admission at $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens aged 65 and older, $15 for students with identification, and $5 for youth ages 13–17. Museum members receive free admission. The Currier also operates several free-admission programs; for example, New Hampshire residents receive free museum admission on the second Saturday of each month under the museum’s current program.

Free visitor parking is available in front of the museum. Public transportation is also possible: Manchester Transit Authority Route 42 serves the Beech Street and Prospect Street stop identified by the museum for Currier visitors.

Tours and Accessibility

Public gallery tours are included with museum admission. The current visitor schedule lists a 45-minute Highlights Tour at 1:00 PM Wednesday through Sunday, as well as shorter Looking Together sessions at 11:00 AM and noon on Saturday and Sunday. Daily programming can change, so the museum’s schedule should be checked for the date of a visit.

Public areas of the main museum are wheelchair accessible. Accessible restrooms are located near the lobby, and elevators provide access to the upper level and auditorium. Portable stools are available for museum tours. The Currier also provides a free digital guide through Bloomberg Connects with a museum map, audio material and other interpretive content.

Temporary exhibitions change throughout the year, while only a fraction of the permanent collection is displayed at any given time. The museum maintains current exhibition listings and searchable collection information on its official collection page.