History
Located in Tallahassee’s Park Avenue historic district, LeMoyne Arts has been the city’s premier art center since its founding in 1963 by four community women leaders, Mary Metzke, Clifton Lewis, June Strauss, and Nanette Fisher along with the first President, Al Block.
In the 1950s, Clifton Lewis had curated a gallery in the lobby of The Lewis State Bank, as a place for local artists to display their works. Her efforts led to the organization and establishment of LeMoyne Art Foundation at its original location behind the bank on South Calhoun Street in the Deeb House. (​LeMoyne is named for Jacques LeMoyne de Morgues, who was an artist and member of a sixteenth-century French expedition to Florida.) ​The founders of LeMoyne Art Foundation were determined to make a fine art gallery and venue for art education that was inclusive, welcoming all to participate and enjoy community through the visual arts. LeMoyne codified a nondiscrimination clause in the organization by-laws, the first private organization in Tallahassee to do so. In 2014, Clifton Lewis was recognized by the City of Tallahassee as a Foot Soldier in the Footsteps to Freedom, acknowledging her participation in the local struggle to end racial inequality.
LeMoyne’s Art Gallery is part of the downtown heritage trail, a tour showcasing 13 historically significant sites in downtown Tallahassee. For more information about the tour, visit Downtown Heritage Trail • Visit Tallahassee.
Meginnis-Munroe House
LeMoyne Arts organizes rotating contemporary exhibitions in a beautifully restored 1854 Antebellum home that serves as the visual arts gallery. Pieces from LeMoyne Art’s permanent collection are also displayed in the galleries on a rotating basis, and include works by Karl Zerbe, Nancy Reid Gunn and Fred Holschuh. LeMoyne offers a beautiful Gallery Shop, featuring one-of-a-kind unique items created by local and regional artists.
Education Center
The Education Center offers an array of rooms and studios, each dedicated to different art mediums: painting, stained glass, plein air painting, life drawing and general crafting. Our education programs offer high school scholarships and over 100 classes and camps annually, serving thousands of children and adults throughout the year. There are ongoing classes during days, nights, and weekends, as well as lectures and meetings by community organizations.
LeMoyne Ceramics Studio
LeMoyne Arts is one of the few venues in Tallahassee offering a ceramics studio and kiln for firing pottery. Classes include saggar and raku ceramics, introduction to ceramics, and ceramic hand building. Classes are taught by LeMoyne Arts seasoned potter in residence, Nancy Jefferson, as well as local instructors. The studio also provides space for local potters to complete their own projects and fire their own ceramics.
In spring 2023, the ceramics program was moved into Studios C & D of the previous Education Annex at 417 E. Call St. This move allowed for the ceramics program to triple in size and increase its offerings.
​Carmel "Kelly"
Simmons Dozier Garden
​Nestled in Tallahassee’s Historic Downtown District, the Carmel “Kelly” Simmons Dozier Garden anchors the one-acre campus at LeMoyne Arts. Visitors can explore the art gallery, shop, education center, and working artist studios. A self-guided audio tour guides guests through the galleries and into lush gardens, showcasing sculptures by renowned artists and themed spaces, including a Japanese garden, succulent gardens, and rain gardens.
The Studios of LeMoyne
More info coming soon!
Meginnis-Munroe House
c. 1854
​The first floor of the house is shared between the LeMoyne Arts Gallery Shop, and four galleries, each one dedicated to individuals who had significant, lasting impact on the foundation.
​Each of the gallery entrances are labeled by a gold plaque: Albrecht Gallery, Marylou Kuhn Gallery Shop, Hoover Gallery, and Puckett Gallery. These spaces are host to monthly, and bi-monthly rotating exhibitions, children's activities, gallery talks, and private rentals.
The second floor is lined with big windows, and high ceilings, making it a pleasant, and cheery space for administrative offices. The first floor of the house is also easily accessible via wheelchair ramp.
The Gallery Shop is located at the front of the first floor and features hundreds of art works, jewelry, ceramics, wood works, books, trinkets, and textiles. The LeMoyne Arts ceramics lab is located below the first floor, and is used as a studio and class space for our instructors and students, all year long.
