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The Figge Art Museum draws upon the rich history of the Davenport Museum of Art while setting new standards for cultural, social and economic development. The new facility provides unparalleled social, cultural and educational spaces for the community.

The Davenport Municipal Art Gallery opened in 1925, through a gift of 350 European and Mexican Colonial paintings, creating the first municipal art gallery in the State of Iowa. Today, the collections have grown over ten-fold and include more than 3,500 paintings, sculpture, and works on paper from the 16th century to the present.

In 2003, the museum launched its next phase of growth: relocation to the heart of downtown Davenport in an 115,000 sq. ft. facility overlooking the Mississippi designed by London architect David Chipperfield. In recognition of the $13.25 million lead gift to the new building project from the V. O. and Elizabeth Kahl Figge Foundation the museum was renamed the Figge Art Museum.

The new building and new name represent significant internal changes that have taken place. The new facility allows the collections to be permanently on view for the first time in the museum’s history, with ample space designed for traveling and educational exhibitions. The new building triples the size of the previous facility, with fifty percent of its public spaces dedicated to education and public service purposes.