ABOUT

Lily Pad Pitchers through time

Explore, Experience, Create

WheatonArts is an internationally acclaimed arts community. Explore the renowned Museum of American Glass with the world’s largest hand-blown glass bottle! Watch daily artist demonstrations in the Glass, Pottery, and Flameworking Studios. Discover other cultures in the Folklife Center. Shop the award-winning Museum Stores, picnic with the GateHouse Café, and walk the Nature Trail. Special events, exhibitions, educational programs, performances, and workshops are offered throughout the year.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is WheatonArts?

Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center (“WheatonArts”), founded as Wheaton Village in 1968, is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to engage artists and audiences in an evolving exploration of creativity. The mission will be advanced through the interpretation of collections and exhibitions; education initiatives and culturally diverse public programs; residencies and other opportunities for artists. With a history spanning five decades, WheatonArts has earned regional, national and international recognition for its unique collections and programs. The Museum of American Glass is at the heart of the Center, housing the most comprehensive collection of glass produced in America. Located in Millville, the center of the nation’s first glass industry, the Museum is one of only 9 museums in New Jersey to be accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.

What is the organization’s philosophy?

It is our belief that the arts give understanding and voice to the wide range of human thought and feeling, and add immeasurably to the quality of our lives. We believe that the relationship between contemporary art, the artistic tradition from which it has grown, and the approachability provided by hands-on engagement, provides a doorway to the arts at a variety of educational and emotional levels. Creating a single site that weaves and interprets the development and coexistence of Contemporary Art, Decorative Arts, and Multi-Cultural Traditional Arts has given us an opportunity to offer accessibility to Creativity, to a broad and diverse audience.

Sensitivity to the need for the preservation of Southern New Jersey’s glassmaking heritage was the genesis of the organization. Placing this local resource within a national context is the inspiration from which we have established our role as a museum and artist community. The presentation of American glass history through collections, archives, a library, and exhibits, has allowed us to broaden the perspective gained by New Jersey residents and offer a resource of American Glass to a national and international audience.

A commitment to artists is central to our philosophy. By establishing relationships with artists who dedicate themselves to the long-term process of mastering a medium as well as the artist experimenting with those mediums as a growth experience, WheatonArts acknowledges the responsibility to provide and maintain a supportive and unique environment for artists to learn, create, interact, present and market their work.

We believe the arts must be an integral part of the education of all citizens, with special emphasis on school-age children, as a part of their basic education. Therefore, WheatonArts actively supports state and national education goals, which recommend the arts to be integrated into the core curriculum of New Jersey students.

Where are you located?

We are located at (GPS) 1000 Village Drive, Millville, NJ 80332 in Cumberland County. We are approximately 45 miles southeast of Philadelphia, PA, and 40 miles west of Atlantic City. WheatonArts is easily accessible from the New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway, and Routes 47, 49 and 55. 

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