Benton Museum of Art

What is Benton Museum of Art?

The Benton is a university art museum named for Janet Inskeep Benton. Its building was designed by Machado and Silvetti Associates, with Gensler also involved. Inside, roughly 20,000 objects cover a wide span. There are early Italian paintings made on wooden panels during the Renaissance, art and objects created by Indigenous peoples of the Americas, and works on paper and film from both sides of the Atlantic, including prints, drawings and photographs. The range means a single visit can move from centuries-old religious images to modern camera work in a few steps.

Several of Claremont's other cultural stops sit within a short walk, so the museum makes a natural starting point for exploring the town. There are restrooms on site.

History of Benton Museum of Art

From 1958 the college's art museum, then known as PCMA, was housed in the Montgomery Art Gallery. In 2020 the new Benton building took over that role, giving the collection a larger, modern home and a new name. The move is recorded as a relocation of the museum rather than the start of a new institution.

Visiting Benton Museum of Art: tips

Allow at least an hour for the galleries, more if you like to linger with prints and photographs. The museum sits in the heart of Claremont, so it is easy to combine with other stops on foot. Brackett Observatory is about 0.3 miles away, the Prometheus fresco about 0.4 miles, and the Russian Village District about 0.6 miles.