Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art

Opened in 2008, the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art (MMBA) (Arrowroot Building, Botanical Gardens [1], 183 South Rd., tel. 441/236-2950, fax 441/236-4402, mworks [at] logic [dot] bm, www.bermudamasterworks.com [2], 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Mon.–Sat., admission $5, children under 12 free), is the brainchild of the Masterworks Foundation, an indefatigable nonprofit whose mission since 1987 has been the repatriation of Bermuda artwork by famous artists including Winslow Homer, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Charles Demuth.

The group’s Tom Butterfield and Elise Outerbridge have gathered an impressive collection of more than 1,000 paintings, drawings, photographs, maps, and memorabilia, much of which is now showcased in the $9-million museum opened in 2008. Housed in a former arrowroot-processing factory, it comprises three gallery spaces, a gallery mezzanine, a members’ lounge and book collection, a classroom, an art conservation room, and an art storage facility. A café and gift shop are slated for the future.

Hemmed by a walled rose garden on the south side, the museum features fun outdoor sculptures—including a life-sized moose—and has become a showcase for contemporary Bermuda artists as well as foreign luminaries past and present.

The Foundation runs an annual artist-in-residence program, and has an active calendar of outreach and educational programs, including art camps for kids, painters’ picnics, Art in the Park festivals, workshops, and biweekly openings of temporary shows. Check the schedule on its website.