The Norton Museum of Art was founded in 1941 by Ralph Hubbard Norton and his first wife, Elizabeth Calhoun Norton. Norton, the former head of the Chicago-based Acme Steel Co., moved to West Palm Beach upon retirement and decided to share his sizable collection of paintings and sculpture. The late Art Deco/Neoclassical building designed by Marion Sims Wyeth opened its doors to the public on February 8, 1941. Its mission statement is "to preserve for the future the beautiful things of the past." Under the leadership of its director Hope Alswang from 2010 until 2019, the Norton Museum of Art raised $100 million, which it put toward a plan called the “New Norton.” That initiative involved adding 35 percent more gallery space to the museum, as well as a new auditorium and dining area.
Building
In 2001, the Norton Museum of Art underwent a significant expansion when the Gail and Melvin Nessel Wing was built and increased the size of the museum to. Constructed over two years, it was opened to the public in 2003. The expansion created more space to display art in both the new and existing areas, increasing the Norton's gallery space by 75 percent, allowing more opportunities for the museum's permanent collection. The wing includes 14 new galleries, an enclosed courtyard to accommodate a variety of educational and social events, a glass ceiling installation commissioned from Dale Chihuly, a cantilevered spiral staircase, and three-story atrium designed to evoke the museum's art. The J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Pavilion is a wedge-shaped meeting and reception space off to one side. The new wing was designed by Chad Floyd of the Connecticut-based Centerbrook Architects & Planners. In 2013, the museum unveiled a $60 million master plan designed by the British architect Norman Foster that would nearly double its gallery space and add an education center, auditorium and restaurant. The new West Wing added a 43 ft-high Great Hall. A parking lot next to the museum was converted into a sculpture garden. A new entrance and forecourt along the main thoroughfare, South Dixie Highway, re-established the axial layout of the Norton’s original 1941 Art Deco building. As planned, the museum broke ground in 2016. The Museum closed in July, 2018, for renovations. On February 9, 2019, it re-opened, adding of gallery space, new classrooms, a restaurant, and a 210-seat auditorium, in addition to the sculpture garden.
In 2012, the Norton Museum of Art launched the Rudin Prize for Emerging Photographers, which comes with a $20,000 prize. It was an initiated by Beth Rudin DeWoody and is given biennially to an emerging photographer who has never had a museum show. 2012 The inaugural Rudin Prize was awarded to Analia Saban, nominated by John Baldessari. The other nominees were:
