A chronological table of the former Ishibashi Museum of Art

The Ishibashi Cultural Center was built in Kurume City in 1956 by the founder of Bridgestone, Ishibashi Shojiro (also founder of the Ishibashi Foundation), and then donated to the city.
The foundation had been running the Ishibashi Museum of Art (present Kurume City Art Museum), which had been the core facility of the cultural center from April 1977 to September 2016. Here is a summary of its timeline.

Year	Events
1956	April 26—Opened as the core facility of Ishibashi Cultural Center (photo 1). Held the Opening Exhibition Ishibashi Art Gallery exhibition and Works of Aoki Shigeru and Sakamoto Hanjiro exhibition. July—Started holding lectures on art (held 488 lectures until May 2016). September—Sakamoto Hanjiro visited the museum to retouch his Three Grazing Horses and two other works (photo 2). Subsequently visited the museum on occasion.	photo 1 photo 2
1961	Commenced Summer Western-style Drawing Course (held 15 times until 1976) (photo 3).	photo 3
1963	Held the Picasso Guernica exhibition and Paintings from the Matsukata Collection from the Holdings of the National Museum of Western Art exhibition (photo 4). Recorded the museum's largest number of visitors in this year (187,000 visitors).	photo 4
1965	First renovation and extension construction was completed (from1,587 m² to 2,125 m²). Held an exhibition titled Ten Modern Japanese Painters: The Masters of Kyushu.
1966	Held Ishibashi Art Gallery Tenth Anniversary Exhibition: Masterpieces from the Bridgestone Gallery.
1968	Visited by the Crown Prince and Princess (photo 5).	photo 5
1969	Held exhibitions titled Toulouse-Lautrec and Paul Klee. Started Sunday Painters' School (until 1999). Sakamoto Hanjiro passed away.
1971	Held an exhibition titled Sakamoto Hanjiro: The Human and His Art. Changed the museum's English name from Ishibashi Art Gallery to Ishibashi Museum of Art.
1972	Held Bridgestone Museum of Art Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: Aoki Shigeru.
1974	Established a "guest corner" as a measure against the declining number of visitors (until 1977) (photo 6).	photo 6
1975	Enhanced the Aoki Shigeru and Sakamoto Hanjiro's room, and began promoting the facility as the area's "Home Museum."
1976	September—Ishibashi Shojiro passed away.
1977	Upon request from Kurume City, the administration of the Ishibashi Museum of Art was handed over to the Ishibashi Foundation from the Kurume Cultural Development Foundation.
1978	Completion of renovation and extension construction (doubled the floor area to 2,970 m²). Held Masterpieces from the Bridgestone Museum of Art Grand Reopening Exhibition. Started training 10 volunteers (until about 1982).
1979	A Gift of the Sea by Aoki Shigeru was transferred to and exhibited at Ishibashi Museum of Art. Thereafter, the piece was exhibited at the Bridgestone Museum of Art only in July and August (until 1990).
1980	Sakamoto Hanjiro's former atelier was transferred from Yame City to the Ishibashi Cultural Center's garden where it was restored.
1982	Held the Sakamoto Hanjiro exhibition.
1983	Held the Aoki Shigeru and Late Victorian Art exhibition.
1985	Held Exhibition Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Matsuda Teisho.
1986	Held an exhibition titled Koga Harue: The Development of a Japanese Avant-Garde Painter.
1987	Held the Burne-Jones and His Followers exhibition.
1989	Held an exhibition titled Victorian Dreamers: Masterpieces of New-Classical and Aesthetic Movements in Britain.
1991	Held exhibitions titled Rossetti and Marie Laurencin.
1996	Held an exhibition titled Masterpieces from the Ishibashi Collection: Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Opening of the Ishibashi Cultural Center. Opened Ishibashi Museum of Art, Asian Gallery (the building was built on the site of a former swimming pool).
1997	Held Starting Anew in the Meiji Period: A Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings from the Hakubakai Group 1896-1991. June—Ishibashi Kanichiro passed away.
1998	Started holding gallery talks.
2002	Both the main building and the Asian Gallery were renovated. (photo 7). Held the exhibitions Special Exhibition Commemorating the Reopening of the Ishibashi Museum of Art—Ishibashi Shojiro; Art Collector: From Aoki Shigeru and Sakamoto Hanjiro to Western Art and Bridgestone Museum of Art Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration: Fujishima Takeji. Admission fees to the main building and the Asian Gallery were integrated into a single fee, and admission to the permanent exhibition for children in junior high school and under became complimentary. Started Summer Course in Artistic Technique for Children and Their Parents (has been continued as a workshop).	photo 7
2003	Held an exhibition titled Aoki Shigeru and Romanticism in Modern Japanese Art. A voice guidance service was introduced this year.
2004	Started Summer Vacation Children's Program (until 2009).
2005	All admission fees for children in junior high school and under were dropped.
2006	Held exhibitions Ishibashi Museum of Art Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration: Sakamoto Hanjiro and From Sesshu to Pollock: An Exhibition Marking the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Ishibashi Foundation. A volunteer system was introduced this year. Introduced the museum mascot character Egaki Taizo Kun (a pun on "I want to draw pictures") (photo 8).	photo 8
2008	Restoration and repair work of Sakamoto Hanjiro's former atelier was completed and was opened for viewing (photo 9). The museum shop in the main building was completed.	photo 9
2009	Held an exhibition titled Passion: Commemorating the 120th Anniversary of Birth of Ishibashi Shojiro.
2010	Held an exhibition titled Koga Harue: A Retrospective.
2011	Held Aoki Shigeru Centennial Exhibition: Myth, Sea and Love; Takashima Yajuro: Homecoming Exhibition and Nomiyama Gyoji.
2013	Held an exhibition titled Treasures from Kinkaku-ji and Ginkaku-ji—Sesshu, Tohaku, Sotatsu, and Jakuchu (at the Asian gallery). Resurrected Summer Vacation Children's Program.
2014	In May this year, it was announced that the administration of the Ishibashi Museum of Art would be returned from the Ishibashi Foundation to Kurume City from October 2016.
2015	Held an exhibition titled Legendary Artists of Japanese Western Painting—the Centennial of the Nika Exhibition.
2016	Held an exhibition titled The Story of the Ishibashi Museum of Art: Starting from Kurume in 1956 (photo 10). October 1—Changed the museum name to Kurume City Art Museum. November 19—The Kurume City Art Museum was opened. The Shojiro Ishibashi Memorial Museum (former Asian Gallery at the Ishibashi Museum of Art) was also opened this day.	photo 10