MARITIME GALLERY, HARMON MUSEUM’S NEWEST, FEATURES OVER 60 SCALE SHIP MODELS

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

4/22/2025

MARITIME GALLERY, HARMON MUSEUM’S NEWEST, FEATURES OVER 60 SCALE SHIP MODELS

The Harmon Museum opened its newest gallery, the Ashley & Barbara Ford Maritime Gallery, on Saturday, April 19th. The gallery was created to house the Ford Maritime Collection, over 60 scale models of ocean liners through the ages. Most of the models on display measure over 32" and were fashioned and built by Langfords of London, using the original shipwright plans. The newly renovated Ford Maritime Gallery opened to the public following a well-attended private reception and ribbon cutting.

The Ford Maritime Collection adds to Harmon Museum’s already impressive list of collections including the Robert & Virginia Jones Shaker Collection, the Armstrong Air & Space Collection, and the K. Richard B. Niehoff Folk Art Collection, Ohio’s largest collection of folk art. This collection boasts over 250 works, by over 60 named artists, and 30+ unsigned works by early artists in the Northwest Territories. The works are on rotation in the Niehoff-Outland Folk Art Gallery which completed its own renovation in April of last year. The Harmon Museum collections have been included in the Dayton Aviation Trail, The Lake Erie and Ohio River Trail, The Ohio Air and Space Trail, and a starting point for A Traveler’s Guide to Ancient Ohio.

Along with gallery openings, Harmon Museum offers a diverse array of quality programming including a regional concert series, Summer History Camp for school children, free frontier activities for families at the Beedle Log Cabin, and professional art exhibitions for regional artists. Among the 48 art exhibitions, held over the last six years artists, more than 70 professional artists have been featured, including Charlie & Edie Harper, Bing Davis, C. F. Payne, John & Martin Rettig, Rodney Veal, Cedric Michael Cox, and the professional ceramicists of Warren County. Opening on September 9th
is a special exhibition, “The Art of the Harlem Renaissance”.

The museum is open Tuesday – Saturday from 10am until 4pm, year-round. Visit our website at WCHSmuseum.org for more information about the Harmon Museum, including upcoming event details.