Dana founded the Newark Museum in 1909, directing it until his death. The Museum was exceptional because it included contemporary American commercial products as folk art as well as factory-made products. John C. Dana personally believed that purchasing European oil painting was a waste of money and thus supported American art movements. He did not like modern art, but he believed in the principle of a universal museum and thus ordered purchases of art associated with the Ashcan School. In 1915, he curated the exhibition "Clay Products of New Jersey" where he displayed two porcelain toilets from Trenton Potteries, part of his work toward including industrial arts in the museum. Cotton also began the Newark Museum's notable Tibetan collection.