Hand Fan Museum, Art museum in downtown Healdsburg, California.
The Hand Fan Museum occupies rooms in the H2hotel building in Healdsburg and holds a permanent collection of more than 2,500 hand fans, gathered over several centuries and in many styles. The fans range from plain paper leaves to painted, jewelled and gilded pieces. A connected conference room hosts lectures and a free art programme for local schools.
The museum opened in 2002, founded by Pamela Sher, president of the museum and a board member of FANA, and is the only fan museum in the United States. In September 2005 it held its first Annual Fan Convention in the California Wine Country, marking artist Charlotte C. Stokes's donation of more than 200 fans. In spring 2010 it moved into the H2hotel building, which added a conference room for lectures and its free art program for local schools.
Fans reveal how people across different times and places used these objects for more than just staying cool - they served as fashion statements, symbols of status, and even ways to express ideas without speaking. Walking through the rooms, you notice how cultures adapted fans to their own traditions and needs.
The museum sits downtown on Healdsburg Avenue and welcomes visitors free of charge from Wednesday through Sunday. The space is compact enough to explore in about an hour, making it easy to fit into a stroll through the town.
The museum's collection has been published in the book Fantastic Fans. In September 2005 it held its first Annual Fan Convention in the California Wine Country, marking artist Charlotte C. Stokes's donation of more than 200 fans from Pennsylvania.
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