The Trout Museum of Art has been a central visual arts institution in downtown Appleton since its founding in 1960 as the Appleton Art Center. After establishing a location on North Morrison Street in 1972, it moved in 2002 into a donated former furniture company building. In 2010, the Trout family donated their art collection and created a $1 million trust, leading to the museum’s renaming, while the Boldt Company donated and built the front atrium addition. The museum mounts an active schedule of exhibitions, including the annual TMA Contemporary and many other shows, and in 2025 it entered a new Lawrence University building with 30,000 square feet on part of the lower floor.