Mission & Governance | Springfield Museums

President's Welcome

Our five spectacular museums and the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden are OPEN and are welcoming enthusiastic visitors of all ages throughout the year.

Whether you are visiting our Museums for the first time, or are a repeat visitor, we are excited to share our unparalleled collections, programs, and exhibitions with you. Our Science Museum features a Live Animal Center & Aquarium, Smithsonian Spark!Lab Invention Space and the newly renovated Seymour Planetarium with a full-dome state-of-the-art digital projection system. In the Wood Museum of Springfield History, we show and tell why Springfield is known as the “City of Firsts” with displays of Rolls Royce automobiles, motorcycles, Milton Bradley games and much more.

In the D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts, you can find works by renowned artists that include Claude Monet and Edgar Degas while the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum is a superb example of a Victorian museum and collection. In the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum, you can trace the childhood of Theodor Seuss Geisel (AKA Dr. Seuss) and learn how his boyhood in Springfield might have influenced his stories. And no visit to the Quadrangle would be complete without a stroll through the Dr. Seuss Sculpture Garden, where you can mingle with larger-than-life bronze statues of Dr. Seuss’s beloved characters in a park-like setting.

In addition to our permanent collections, we always have new and exciting exhibitions rotating throughout our Museums, along with special programming all year-long. There are fun programs during school vacation weeks in December, February and April, a six-week Summer Spectacular in July and August, weekly lectures, classes and workshops, and drop-in activities in our Art, Science and Dr. Seuss Museums. There is something for everyone at the Springfield Museums!

Kay Simpson, President
413-779-2159

Mission Statement

The Springfield Museums uses art, history, science and Dr. Seuss to explore our shared connections and unique perspectives to promote engagement, literacy and learning.

Vision Statement

Springfield Museums will be a leading cultural attraction with local and global appeal that draws audiences together in multi-generational learning. We will be known for inclusion, innovation and inter-disciplinary collaboration. As an anchor for our community, the Museums will advance knowledge by engaging diverse voices and perspectives.

Guiding Principles

Springfield Museums promotes a boundless experience – we engage, inspire, connect and serve.

We focus on creating people-centric experiences while respecting individuals from all backgrounds, identities and diverse life experiences.

We embrace our roles of communicator, collaborator, convener and connector by sharing stories of individuals and communities past and present.

We inspire creativity, experimentation and empathy with offerings that strengthen life-long learning informed by experiential and informal education.

We strive to be a resilient organization by building talent, capacity and accountability in all areas of management and operations.

We are committed to partnering with Springfield to support our vibrant, culturally significant home that attracts and retains visitors, residents, businesses and educational organizations.

We ensure that inclusion, equity, and access are represented in our collections, exhibitions and educational programs and among the board, staff and volunteers.

Land Acknowledgment

The Springfield Museums acknowledge that we are located on the traditional land of the Eastern Algonquian people–including the Pocumtuc, Agawam, Nipmuc, and Nonotuck–we honor with gratitude the land itself and the people who have stewarded it throughout the generations and continue to steward it today. In the United States, we all stand on Native land in a country still shaped by a history of slavery and by racism. We gratefully acknowledge those who have come before us and those who continue to fight injustice today.

Check out our 2022 Report Card! [PDF]