Huntington Museum of Art/ C. Fred Edwards Conservatory & the
Ritter Park Rose Garden

Tour Date: Wednesday, October 12 and Thursday, October 13
Tour Time: 1 – 5 p.m.
Cost is registered prior to June 10: $35, includes admission fees (For additional tour pricing for guests see registration information)
Cost is registered on or after June 10: $45, includes admission fees (For additional tour pricing for guests see registration information)
Activity Level: Easy. (See additional information at the bottom of the page)

Travel with us to Huntington, West Virginia, to visit the Huntington Museum of Art. For more than five decades the museum has been bringing the world of art to the people of West Virginia.

Enjoy the beauty of glass, the wisdom and whimsy of Appalachian folk art, the artistry of American furniture and firearms, and the serenity of 19th and 20th century American and European paintings. Ponder the exotic Middle Eastern arts and the sculptures by Calder and Rickey.

In addition to art, this Museum was founded with the mission to be a proponent for, and an interpreter of, nature. This mission is manifested in the conservatory which contains warm growing non-native plants to include orchids, agriculturally important plants, fragrant plants and unusual plants.

The orchid collection contains 400 varieties, which include hybrids and species. Agriculturally important plants include those that are important because we eat them or use their products in some way. The presence of fragrant plants adds another dimension to the conservatory.

Plants such as orange Jessamine and white ginger add a pleasing aroma to the air. The unusual category includes the pitcher plant, designed to trap insects, the turtle plant, which produces a structure to help it survive droughts, and the sensitive plant, which responds to touch by folding its leaflets.

There are two sculptures in the conservatory. A glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly and a bronze by Harriet Whitney Frishmuth.

On the way home, we will stop by Huntington’s Ritter Park Rose Garden. This 70-year-old rose garden houses around 2,000 bushes and is noted for its All-American Rose selections.

*Museum and conservatory ADA accessible. Bus does not have wheelchair lift. However wheelchair can be stored in cargo area if person is capable of get on and off the bus.

Photos published with permission of the West Virginia Department of Commerce.