The Columbia Museum of Art is located in the heart of downtown Columbia, South Carolina, just blocks from the State Capitol building, University of South Carolina campus, great hotels, B&Bs and restaurants of all kinds.

The Columbia Museum of Art seeks to inspire, educate and enrich the lives of the community, South Carolinians, tourists and visitors by collecting and preserving fine and decorative art from around the world, exhibiting highly regarded work from a broad range of cultures and providing dynamic educational and cultural programs.

South Carolina's premier international art museum houses an extraordinary collection of European and American fine and decorative art that spans centuries. In recent years, the Museum’s collection of Asian art and Antiquities has grown through generous gifts to the collection. Founded in 1950, the museum opened its new building on Main Street in 1998 by transforming an urban department store into a sleek and airy, light-filled space with 25 galleries. The collections include masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance and Baroque from the Samuel H. Kress Collection, works by significant furniture and silver makers, as well as modern and contemporary art from the present time. Of particular interest are Sandro Botticelli's Nativity, Claude Monet's The Seine at Giverny and art glass by Louis Comfort Tiffany. The Museum also offers changing exhibitions from renowned museums and educational programs that include group and public tours, lectures, films and concert series.

Excavating Egypt: Great Discoveries from the Petrie Museum of Egypt Archaeology
Columbia Museum of Art
www.columbiamuseum.org/
January 2008- June 2008

Excavating Egypt features more than 200 of Petrie’s most significant finds – many never before seen by the public. The objects, hidden away in secret storage facilities throughout London at the beginning of World War II, have not been displayed until now. They are part of a remarkable collection of “firsts” and include: one of the world’s oldest garments, a rare beaded-net dress from the Pyramid Age, circa 2400 B.C.; a fragment of mankind’s first history book from 2400 B.C.; the earliest examples of metalwork in Egypt; the earliest examples of glass – so rare the Egyptians classed it with precious gems; the oldest “blueprint,” written on papyrus; the first royal monument, from the reign of the legendary Scorpion King, from 3100 B.C.