Louisville Art Galleries, Museums, Supplies & More

Best art galleries Louisville museums supplies classes your area

Today we will all be going on a deep dive into art in Louisville and our opening section will fully cover the best art galleries and museums near you.

After that we will get into a variety of other topics like local art supply stores, events, festivals, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, sculptures and statues, art classes, studios for rent, and the top frame shops in your area.

If you are after any specific section you can jump straight to it using the table of contents on the left and we are also including a Louisville art map with all of the various places we mention throughout the post pinned on it.

The Southeast is a region that we have covered often on our site.

Best Art Galleries & Museums In Louisville

When you are ready to visit the best art galleries and museums in Louisville you can head to:

Children and students can enter the KMAC Museum for free when they are open from 10am to 5pm Wednesday through Sunday to check out a lot of different educational programs available like museum guide programs, adult workshops, summer camps for kids, and artist-in-residence programs.

The oldest and largest art museum in Kentucky is the The Speed Art Museum who keeps regular hours of 10am to 5pm Wednesday through Saturday and from noon to 5pm on Sunday offering summer camps, workshops, and classes near you for all ages and skill levels. The Speed Art Museum is always free to enter on Sundays when they do their Sunday Showcase and every September they hold the Art of Bourbon Auction.

There are 18 artists with varying areas of expertise at PYRO Gallery which is open from noon to 6pm Friday and Saturday and from 1pm to 4pm on Sunday. They have a membership program and do commission based creations in different styles like oil painting, acrylics, fibre, photography, and mixed medias.

The Cressman Center for Visual Arts in Louisville is where you can find the glass program for the Department of Fine Arts of Hite Art Institute and where the public can go watch the daily operations of this glass blowing studio. There are many exhibitions in their gallery, they host lectures, and you can watch both the faculty and students work on various glass and sculpture media.

Anyone can buy local contemporary fine art, get custom framing and installations, or check out the numerous ready-made frames at B. Deemer Gallery which is open from 10am to 5:30pm Tuesday through Friday and from 10am to 3pm on Saturday.

Materials & Supplies Near You

These art stores in your area should have all of the materials and supplies you need:

You can buy all kinds of supplies and materials at Preston Arts Center plus they have weekly classes or one-day workshops for kids and adults.

There are more than 20 Artist & Craftsman Supply stores spread around the country.

You probably already know what the other chain stores like Michael’s and Hobby Lobby have to offer.

Shows & Events

Some of the top local art shows and events held here would be:

Over 180 juried artists, musicians, and other entertainers gather at Waterfront Park on the Big Four Bridge Lawn for the The Big Four Arts Festival each September and this two-day event gets tens of thousands of visitors annually.

The first weekend of each October from Friday through Sunday you should check out the free The St. James Court Art Show in your area which brings in over five hundred artists from around the US.

Cherokee Parkway between Cherokee Rd and Willow Avenue is where you can find The Cherokee Triangle Art Fair in Louisville every April where you can expect to find many family friendly events, creative opportunities for kids, and a whole lot of original artwork on display.

Every month the First Friday Hop is a great way to check out your local art scene as many of the top museums, galleries, shops, and entertainment venues in the downtown area stay open late for this fun event. There are usually more than 40 unique boutiques, artists, galleries, restaurants, and other things to do along the First Friday Hop route.

Art Dealers & Appraisers

When you are trying to find a new piece for your collection or to figure out the true value of something visit one of these art dealers and appraisers in Louisville:

One of the oldest, largest, most reputable African-American fine art galleries in the world is the E&S Art Gallery who has a large variety of different collectible artwork and provides great custom framing. You can visit them for free consultations plus they can help with art resale, installation, curatorial services, auctions, fundraisers, and some of the coolest art shows in your area.

Art Sanctuary has many things to offer like classes, lectures, and rentable studio spaces.

PYRO Gallery, Kentucky Fine Art Gallery, and B. Deemer Gallery from our best galleries list also sell art.

Walking Tours

Art walking tours can be a lot of fun when the weather is nice:

AKA the East Market District, Nulu is home to many galleries, antique shops, specialty stores and lots of cool things to see and do.

The Noco Arts & Cultural District in downtown Jeffersonville is a great place to see large wall murals, sculptural bike racks, creative crosswalks, and other unique things to the area. People are also recommended to try out Jeffersonville Arts Alliance’s JAM Sessions where you can create public art with professional artists and educators.

Don’t forget about the First Friday Hop that we listed in the events section either.

Sculptures & Statues

Framing art supply stores Louisville lessons near you studios

You may also want to take some photos of these statues and sculptures:

  • Tetra Sculpture at 131 Louisville Riverwalk
  • Gracehopper Sculpture at 131 Louisville Riverwalk
  • York Statue at Belvedere Waterfront Park
  • Lincoln Memorial Sculpture at 301-801 E River Rd

Charles Perry created the Tetra Sculpture which you can find at the 200 block of Witherspoon Street.

The Overlook at Waterfront Park is home to Gracehoper which was sculpted by Tony Smith.

The York Statue can be found in Belvedere Waterfront Park in the area between the Ohio River and The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts.

Another to mention at Waterfront Park is the Lincoln Memorial Sculpture which was created by Ed Hamilton.

Louisville Art Classes

Whether you are trying to find private lessons or group classes for kids, teens, or adults the best art schools near you would be:

At the Louisville Academy of Fine Arts they have visual arts classes in your area for kids aged 3 to 18 years old including classes in painting, sketching, drawing, photography, sculpting, and dance plus they have popular summer camps.

People of all ages and skill levels can take the oil painting lessons by the instructors at Schrodt Art Studio whose class schedule runs from 9:30am to 12:30pm Wednesday through Saturday plus they have night classes on Tuesdays.

Studios For Rent Near You

To rent out local art studio space head to:

KMAC Museum, The Speed Art Museum, Noco Art Center and Art Sanctuary from our previous lists also rent out studio space.

Framing

For art framing services in Louisville try out:

You can get quality and affordable custom framing in your area from Bluegrass Frames who provides a wide selection of in-stock frames and matting, shadowbox framing, gallery stretched artwork and stretching services, and large format digital printing services plus they can do delivery and installations.

There are over a thousand frame samples to choose from at Franklin Custom Frames.

If you need free design consultations, shadowboxing, custom framing, or just want to look through their thousands of framing and matting options head to The Art of Framing.

Kentucky Fine Art Gallery, B. Deemer Gallery, Michaels, and E&S Art Gallery are more places to get custom framing services around town.

By the way we have also written about local art in:

Have Fun Enjoying The Louisville Art Scene

We wish we had more to share about the full art scene near you but for now that is all we’ve got. We listed the best galleries, museums, events, shows, supply stores, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, sculptures, classes, studios, and framers that you may want to check out.

If you made it this far you might just know quite a bit about the local art scene yourself. Feel free to share your own tips, or to let us know if we may have gotten anything wrong in the comments.

We hope you enjoy your time at the best Louisville art galleries, museums, supply stores, or doing whatever else you plan to do with the info.

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This post and all of the posts on our site are edited by Dan Soloman who has been a huge fan of art since he was a little kid. His mother was a good local artist, and she taught him the trade from a very early age. He studied art and its history in both high school and college, has worked at multiple galleries, and recently has begun creating and editing online content for this site and some other online media platforms.

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