Museums - African Art Museum of the S.M.A. Fathers

The African Art Museum of the SMA Fathers is one of five museums around the world founded and maintained by the Society of African Missions (SMA), an international Roman Catholic missionary organization that serves the people of Africa. The order’s founder, Bishop Melchior de Marion Bresillac (1813–1859), urged his society to respect and preserve the culture of the peoples they served, a unique vision among missionaries of his time. Established in 1980, the Tenafly museum is dedicated solely to the arts of Africa. Its permanent collection, exhibited on a rotating basis, offers a unique perspective in the study and research of sub-Saharan sculpture, painting, costumes, textiles, and decorative arts, as well as religion and folklore. The museum’s collection continues to grow through private donation.