Orlando's hidden gem, per everyone who finds it

At 900 East Princeton Street on Lake Formosa in Loch Haven Park, the Mennello is the small museum that keeps surprising people — Dray's World on this page arrived only because the bigger museum across the park was closed, and calls it a lucky accident. Inside, the core is permanent: the Earl Cunningham collection, the self-taught folk painter whose early works are all birds, whose bright coastal scenes fill the galleries.

The Mennello Museum of American Art

Dray’s World

Dray's World pivots to the Mennello after finding the Orlando Museum of Art closed — and lucks into one of Loch Haven Park's best small museums. Inside: the Earl Cunningham collection (the self-taught folk painter whose early works are all birds) and a Japanese block-print exhibition with pieces from the early 1700s so protected that no photography is allowed in the gallery. Admission was just $5 when filmed.

Key takeaways
  • The Mennello is home to a major Earl Cunningham folk-art collection
  • No photos allowed inside the Japanese block-print gallery
  • At $5, it's one of the cheapest museum visits in Orlando

Discover an ORLANDO Hidden Gem: The Mennello Museum of American Art ✨

RockinRobin Roadtrips

RockinRobin Roadtrips discovers the Mennello as an Orlando hidden gem: $8 admission ($5 seniors) at 900 East Princeton Street, a playful pool-party themed exhibition with a hyper-realistic aluminum popsicle sculpture, a bronze portrait of founding benefactor Marilyn Mennello, and sculpture spread across the grounds — including a Statue of Liberty holding a microphone. A lakeside sculpture garden wraps the building on both sides.

Key takeaways
  • Admission was $8 for adults, $5 for seniors when filmed
  • The sculpture garden spreads around the lakeside building
  • Exhibitions lean playful — expect contemporary pop themes

The Mennello Art Museum, Orlando FL

Milt's Travels

A walk through the Mennello Museum of American Art's galleries and its Earl Cunningham collection in Loch Haven Park. (No transcript available for this video.)

The garden is half the visit

The sculpture garden spills outside onto the Orlando Urban Trail, shaded by live oaks — one of them roughly 350 years old. The art-outside-the-walls walk on this page (hyper-realistic aluminum popsicle and all, from a pool-party themed show) treats the grounds as the headline, and the museum leans in: free Family Fun Day on the second Sunday of every month.

The practical layer

  • Hours: Tuesday–Saturday 10:30–4:30, Sunday noon–4:30, closed Mondays
  • Admission is single digits — the tours here paid between $5 and $8, with student and military breaks; check the current board
  • Shows rotate — the museum's own film here goes deep on an eco-feminist exhibition about water and the Florida landscape, which is the register this place programs in

A walk through the lovely Mennello Museum of American Art!

Build An Adventure

Build An Adventure walks the Mennello with all the practical details: 900 East Princeton Street on Lake Formosa in Loch Haven Cultural Park, open Tuesday–Saturday 10:30–4:30 and Sunday noon–4:30 (closed Mondays), admission $5 adults, $1 students, military free. The art spills outside into a sculpture garden, the calendar runs yoga, family days and craft days, and weekday visits can mean having the museum nearly to yourself.

Key takeaways
  • Closed Mondays; last Sundays open early at 9 a.m.
  • Students get in for $1 with ID; kids 5 and under free
  • Weekday visits are quiet — staff are happy to talk art

Sculpture Culture at the Mennello Museum in Orlando, Florida

Words Taken from Sam's Journal

Sam and José explore the Mennello with the sculpture garden as the headline: the grounds sit on the Orlando Urban Trail in Loch Haven Park, shaded by oaks including a roughly 350-year-old tree, and the museum runs a free Family Fun Day on the second Sunday of every month. Inside, one of the largest collections anywhere of a single American folk artist.

Key takeaways
  • Free family admission on the second Sunday of each month
  • The grounds include a roughly 350-year-old oak
  • The sculpture garden connects to the Orlando Urban Trail

Mira Lehr Virtual Tour Part One

Mennello Museum

The Mennello's own virtual tour of 'High Water Mark' by eco-feminist artist Mira Lehr — a deep dive into an exhibition about water, climate and the Florida landscape, walking piece by piece through the show with the museum's context for each work.

Key takeaways
  • Mira Lehr's work centers Florida water and climate
  • The tour covers each piece of the High Water Mark exhibition
  • Exhibitions here often carry an environmental theme

Who it's for

Anyone building a Loch Haven Park day: an hour here, the Orlando Museum of Art across the way, the lake between them. Small, shady, and genuinely charming.

Sources: the seven videos on this page — three independent visits, a hosted sculpture-garden tour, and the museum's own exhibition film — summarized from their entries in our catalog.

Watch: Mennello Museum of American Art, guided

1 videos · summaries from the actual guides

Orlando Cultural Walk: The Mennello Museum Sculpture Garden at Loch Haven Park · Florida USA 4K

Walkorama

A look at the Mennello Museum's lakeside sculpture garden on Lake Formosa, where the art continues outside the gallery walls. (No transcript available for this video.)

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