Cici and Hyatt Brown donate 485 paintings to their namesake collection of art at MOAS

The Browns said in a press release that they plan on donating more art in the future.

By Observer Staff
| 10:50 a.m. January 20, 2023

Hyatt and Cici Brown celebrate the opening of the Cici and Hyatt Brown Museum of Art in 2015. File photo

Ormond Beach Observer
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The Cici and Hyatt Brown Museum of Art at the Museum of Arts and Sciences campus first opened in February 2015 with over 400 paintings, part of an inaugural gift from the collection of Cici and Hyatt Brown. This year, the Browns have bestowed another large gift of art to the museum: 485 paintings.

“This is the fourth grouping of Florida paintings being gifted to the Museum of Arts and Sciences from our collection," Hyatt and Cici Brown said. "Yes, we are planning on giving a fifth gift. We look forward — post COVID — to getting back to more frequent exhibitions where Florida art and history will be available to the public.

"Storm at the Shore" by Andrew "Harold" Newton, 1934-1994, from the Cici and Hyatt Brown Collection. Courtesy of MOAS

The museum — composed of a permanent gallery and six smaller changing galleries — highlights Florida-themed oil and watercolor paintings dating back to 1839. The Browns began their collection in 1997, and after nearly 20 years, they donated the collection along with the funding for constructing a 26,000-square-foot museum. In July 2022, the newest exhibition titled "Key West: Southernmost USA" opened.

“Great things are happening at the Museum of Arts & Sciences, and Cici and Hyatt Brown are leading the way," MOAS Executive Director Tabitha Schmidt said.