The Springfield Art Museum was started by a small group of women, headed by Deborah D. Weisel. Within two years of its original founding as an art study club, the museum had been formed and began showing travelling exhibitions from cities like New York and Philadelphia. In 1948, the museum was handed into the control of the city. In 2018, a 30-year plan was revealed with the intent of updating the museum to be comparable to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Northwest Arkansas, capitalizing on its central location in the city and adjacent park space.