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This is a list of college and university museums in the United States.
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (November 2020) |
Overview
University art museums and galleries are collections of art that are developed, owned, and maintained by schools, colleges, and universities. There are approximately 680 university art museums and galleries in the United States. While historically the origins of these kinds of institutions can be traced back to learning collections in art academies in Western Europe, they are now most often housed in centers of higher education. The primary aim of many university art museums and galleries is to create a sphere removed from the pressures of the commercial art world where students, artists, curators, and faculty can experiment freely; in terms of both making and exhibiting art, and also curating.
Distinctions between art museums, galleries, and academic museums
An art museum houses a permanent collection, whereas a gallery usually hosts a changing program of art exhibitions. However, some university and college art galleries also feature permanent collections or showcase collections owned by the larger institution. Some institutions have a museum or an art gallery, and some have both. Others, such as the City College of New York, have important collections but neither a museum nor a dedicated gallery.
Art schools in the United States often have many gallery spaces on campus. Maryland Institute College of Art has 21 galleries.
Many university and college libraries also feature galleries to showcase items from their collections, which can include art, music, poetry, literary works and ephemera.
Another important distinction is the difference between art museums and academic museums. All university art museums and galleries are types of academic museums, but not all academic museums are university art museums and galleries.
Vulnerability in times of crisis
University art museums function in a number of different ways. Some exist as affiliates of a university, operated by a separate board of trustees and administration, while others are nested within the institution. Art museum collections can become vulnerable to deaccession due to fiscal issues. One such example of a controversial deaccession was the Randolph College scandal; when the administration sold paintings from the museum's collection without the permission of the museum.
See also: Randolph College § Art controversiesAcademic freedoms and artistic freedoms of expression
University art museums and galleries differ from traditional art museums and commercial galleries due to their relationship with institutions of higher education where academic freedoms are ideally upheld. With the protection of academic freedoms, topics that would otherwise be avoided, ignored, or censored can be openly explored. The two main academic freedoms are: the freedom of the student to study whatever they want, and the freedom of the teacher to teach whatever they want. When these two freedoms are observed, in the context of a university art museum and/or gallery, a unique setting for academic discovery is opened up. University art museums and exhibits are sometimes sources of controversies regarding issues of propriety, politics, gender, and sexuality.
Alabama
- Alabama Museum of Health Sciences
- Alabama Museum of Natural History (UA Museums)
- Evelyn Burrow Museum at Wallace State Community College
- Gorgas House Museum (UA Museums)
- Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art
- Kathryn Tucker Windham Museum
- Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum (UA Museums)
- Moundville Archaeological Park (UA Museums)
- Paul W. Bryant Museum (UA Museums)
- Southern Environmental Center
- Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site
- University of Alabama Museums (UA Museums)
- William R. Harvey Museum of Art at Talladega College
Alaska
Arizona
- Arizona State Museum
- Arizona State University Art Museum
- Center for Creative Photography
- Center for Meteorite Studies
- Louis Carlos Bernal Gallery
- University of Arizona Mineral Museum
- University of Arizona Museum of Art
Arkansas
- Japanese American Internment Museum
- Lakeport Plantation
- Pfeiffer House and Carriage House
- Physical Education Building (Arkansas Tech University)
California
- Academy of Art University Automobile Museum
- Art, Design & Architecture Museum
- Benton Museum of Art
- Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
- Bohart Museum of Entomology
- University of California Museum of Paleontology
- California Social Work Hall of Distinction
- De Saisset Museum
- Entomology Research Museum
- Essig Museum of Entomology
- Euphrat Museum of Art
- Fowler Museum at UCLA
- Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art (California)
- Fullerton Arboretum
- Janet Turner Print Museum
- Hammer Museum
- Humboldt State University Natural History Museum
- Cantor Arts Center
- Jesse Peter Museum
- Lawrence Hall of Science
- Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
- Natural History Museum at Sierra College
- Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology
- Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art
- UC Santa Cruz Coastal Science Campus
- UCLA Meteorite Collection
- UCR/California Museum of Photography
- USC Fisher Museum of Art
- USC Pacific Asia Museum
Colorado
- Koshare Indian Museum and Dancers
- Louden-Henritze Archaeology Museum
- Mines Museum of Earth Science
- University of Colorado Museum of Natural History
Connecticut
- Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry
- Connecticut State Museum of Natural History
- Davison Art Center
- Fairfield University Art Museum
- Housatonic Museum of Art
- Ireland's Great Hunger Museum
- J. Robert Donnelly Husky Heritage Sports Museum
- Peabody Museum of Natural History
- William Benton Museum of Art
- Yale Center for British Art
- Yale University Art Gallery
- Yale University Collection of Musical Instruments
Delaware
District of Columbia
- American University Museum
- George Washington University Art Galleries
- National Deaf Life Museum at Gallaudet University
- Textile Museum (George Washington University)
Florida
- Alexander Brest Museum and Gallery
- Carnegie Library at FAMU
- Family Heritage House Museum
- Florida International Museum
- Florida Museum of Natural History
- Freedom Tower (Miami)
- Frost Art Museum
- Gillespie Museum
- Jacksonville University Life Sciences Museum
- John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art
- Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art
- Lowe Art Museum
- Mary McLeod Bethune Home
- Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville
- Museum of Florida Art and Culture
NSU ART MUSEUM
- Rollins Museum of Art
- Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts
- Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art
- University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum
- Wolfsonian-FIU
Georgia
- Michael C. Carlos Museum
- Georgia Museum of Art
- Georgia Museum of Natural History
- Georgia Southern Museum
- Oak Hill & The Martha Berry Museum
- Old Governor's Mansion (Milledgeville, Georgia)
- Robert C. Williams Paper Museum
- SCAD Museum of Art
- Spelman College Museum of Fine Art
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
- DePaul Art Museum
- Museum of Contemporary Photography
- Cuneo Museum
- Hull House
- Illinois Natural History Survey
- Krannert Art Museum
- Koehnline Museum of Art at Oakton Community College
- Loyola University Museum of Art
- Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art
- James Millikin House
- Renaissance Society
- Smart Museum of Art
- Sousa Archives and Center for American Music
- Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership
- Spurlock Museum
- University Museum (Southern Illinois University Carbondale)
- Oriental Institute (Chicago)
- William and Florence Schmidt Art Center
Indiana
- Brauer Museum of Art
- David Owsley Museum of Art
- Eskenazi Museum of Art
- Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology
- National Art Museum of Sport
- Raclin Murphy Museum of Art
Iowa
- Brunnier Art Museum
- Christian Petersen Art Museum
- The Farm House (Knapp–Wilson House)
- Figge Art Museum
- Harlan–Lincoln House
- Palmer Museum of Chiropractic History
- B.J. Palmer House
- University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame
- University of Iowa Museum of Natural History
- University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art
Kansas
- Gordon Parks Museum
- Lowell D. Holmes Museum of Anthropology
- Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art
- McPherson Museum
- Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art
- Old Castle Hall
- Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics
- Spencer Museum of Art
- Sternberg Museum of Natural History
- University of Kansas Natural History Museum
Kentucky
Louisiana
- Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum
- Louisiana Center for Women in Government and Business Hall of Fame
- Louisiana Museum of Natural History
- LSU Museum of Art
- LSU Rural Life Museum
- Meadows Museum of Art
- Newcomb Art Museum
- Ogden Museum of Southern Art
- Shaw Center for the Arts
Maine
- Bates College Museum of Art
- Bowdoin College Museum of Art
- Hudson Museum
- Northern Maine Museum of Science
- Page Farm & Home Museum
- Peary–MacMillan Arctic Museum
- University of Maine Museum of Art
Maryland
- Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture
- Evergreen Museum & Library
- Homewood Museum
- St. Mary's College of Maryland
- University of Maryland School of Nursing Living History Museum
- The Art Gallery at the University of Maryland
Massachusetts
- Amherst Center for Russian Culture
- Arthur M. Sackler Museum
- Beneski Museum of Natural History
- Barnum Museum of Natural History
- Busch-Reisinger Museum
- Davis Museum at Wellesley College
- Dumbarton Oaks
- Emily Dickinson Museum
- Fogg Art Museum
- General Artemas Ward House
- Harvard Art Museums
- Harvard Mineralogical Museum
- Harvard Museum of Natural History
- Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East
- Harvard University Herbaria
- List Visual Arts Center
- McMullen Museum of Art
- Mead Art Museum
- MIT Museum
- Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
- Museum of Comparative Zoology
- Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
- Pioneer Village (Salem, Massachusetts)
- Rose Art Museum
- Smith College Museum of Art
- University Museum (Harvard University)
- University Museum of Contemporary Art
- Warren Anatomical Museum
- Williams College Museum of Art
Michigan
See also: List of museums and collections at the University of Michigan- Dennos Museum Center
- Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum
- Finnish American Heritage Center
- Great Lakes Quilt Center
- Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia
- Kalamazoo Valley Museum
- Kelsey Museum of Archaeology
- Kruizenga Art Museum
- Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum
- Meadow Brook Hall
- A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum
- Sindecuse Museum of Dentistry
- Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- University of Michigan Museum of Natural History
- William L. Clements Library
Minnesota
- American Museum of Asmat Art
- Bell Museum of Natural History
- Glensheen Historic Estate
- Goldstein Museum of Design
- SMSU Art Museum
- SMSU Museum of Indigenous Americans
- SMSU Museum of Natural History
- Tweed Museum of Art
- Weisman Art Museum
Mississippi
Missouri
- Arthur F. McClure II Archives and University Museum
- Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum
- Museum of Art and Archaeology
- Museum of Contemporary Religious Art
- National Churchill Museum
- National Museum of Toys and Miniatures
- Ralph Foster Museum
- Rosemary Berkel and Harry L. Crisp II Museum
- Saint Louis University Museum of Art
- Samuel Cupples House
- St. Louis Mercantile Library
- State Historical Society of Missouri
Montana
- Montana Museum of Art & Culture
- Museum of the Rockies
- Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum
- SpectrUM Discovery Area
Nebraska
- George W. Frank House
- Great Plains Art Museum
- International Quilt Museum
- Lentz Center for Asian Culture
- Lester F. Larsen Tractor Museum
- Museum of Nebraska Art
- Sheldon Museum of Art
- University of Nebraska State Museum
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
- Geology Hall, New Brunswick, New Jersey
- New Jersey Museum of Agriculture
- Princeton University Art Museum
- Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University
New Mexico
- Blackwater Draw Museum
- Fleming Hall
- Meteorite Museum at the University of New Mexico
- Harwood Museum of Art
- Institute of American Indian Arts
- Maxwell Museum of Anthropology
- Mesalands Community College's Dinosaur Museum
- Museum of Southwestern Biology
- Silver Family Geology Museum
- University of New Mexico Art Museum
- Western Heritage Museum & Lea County Cowboy Hall of Fame
New York
See also: List of university art museums and galleries in New York State- Alfred Ceramic Art Museum
- American Merchant Marine Museum
- Anya and Andrew Shiva Art Gallery
- Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò
- Castellani Art Museum
- Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College
- Children's Museum of Science and Technology
- Cooper Union
- Fordham Museum of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Art
- Fort Schuyler
- Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center
- The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery
- Godwin-Ternbach Museum
- Graduate Center, CUNY
- Grey Art Gallery
- Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art
- Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture
- Institute for the Study of the Ancient World
- La Maison Française (New York University)
- Longyear Museum of Anthropology
- Mercer Gallery at Monroe Community College
- Memorial Art Gallery
- Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute
- The Museum at FIT
- The New School
- Parsons School of Design
- Picker Art Gallery
- Plattsburgh State Art Museum
- Plaza Art Gallery
- Pratt Institute
- Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art
- Science Discovery Center of Oneonta
- University Art Museum at University at Albany
- West Point Museum
- Yager Museum of Art & Culture
- Yeshiva University Museum
North Carolina
- Ackland Art Museum
- Duke Homestead and Tobacco Factory
- Morehead Planetarium and Science Center
- Nasher Museum of Art
- North Carolina State University Insect Museum
- Weatherspoon Art Museum
North Dakota
Ohio
- Allen Memorial Art Museum
- Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
- Dittrick Museum of Medical History
- Frank Museum of Art
- Karl Limper Geology Museum
- Kennedy Museum of Art
- McDonough Museum of Art
- Miami University Art Museum
- Richard Ross Museum of Art
- Springfield Center for the Arts at Wittenberg University
- University of Findlay's Mazza Museum
- William H. McGuffey House
Oklahoma
- A. D. Buck Museum of Science and History
- Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art
- National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
- Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
Oregon
- The Art Gym
- Hallie Ford Museum of Art
- Horner Museum
- Jensen Arctic Museum
- Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art
- Kathrin Cawein Gallery of Art
- Pacific University Museum
- Prewitt–Allen Archaeological Museum
- University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History
Pennsylvania
- Elmer H. Grimm Sr. Pharmacy Museum
- Frick Fine Arts Building
- Frost Entomological Museum
- Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia
- Kelso Bible Lands Museum
- La Salle University Art Museum
- Miller ICA at Carnegie Mellon University
- Nationality Rooms
- Palmer Museum of Art
- Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
- Robot Hall of Fame
- Salk Hall
- Schisler Museum of Wildlife & Natural History and McMunn Planetarium
- Stephen Foster Memorial
- University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
Rhode Island
- Annmary Brown Memorial
- Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology
- Naval War College Museum
- Rhode Island School of Design Museum
South Carolina
- Fort Hill (Clemson, South Carolina)
- Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art
- Hanover House (Clemson)
- Upcountry History Museum
South Dakota
Tennessee
- Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum
- Art Museum of the University of Memphis
- Belmont Mansion (Tennessee)
- Chucalissa
- Lynn H. Wood Archaeological Museum
- McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture
- President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library
Texas
- Blaffer Art Museum
- Blanton Museum of Art
- Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens
- Dishman Art Museum
- Dolph Briscoe Center for American History
- H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports
- Harry Ransom Center
- Institute of Texan Cultures
- J. Wayne Stark Galleries
- Lubbock Lake Landmark
- Mayborn Museum Complex
- Meadows Museum
- Museum of Texas Tech University
- National Ranching Heritage Center
- Old Stone Fort Museum (Texas)
- Panhandle–Plains Historical Museum
- The Pearce Collections at Navarro College
- Sanders Corps of Cadets Center
- Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum
- Texas Science and Natural History Museum
- Woodland (Huntsville, Texas)
Utah
- Brigham Young University Museum of Art
- Brigham Young University Museum of Peoples and Cultures
- BYU Museum of Paleontology
- Education in Zion Gallery
- Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art
- Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum
- Natural History Museum of Utah
- Southern Utah Museum of Art
- USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum
- USU Museum of Anthropology
- Utah Museum of Fine Arts
Vermont
Virginia
- Anderson Gallery
- Eleanor D. Wilson Museum
- Fralin Museum of Art
- Highland (James Monroe house)
- Institute for Contemporary Art, Richmond
- Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection
- Lee Chapel
- Longwood Center for the Visual Arts
- Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College
- McCormick Observatory
- Gari Melchers Home & Studio
- Muscarelle Museum of Art
- Pantops Farm
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
- Barlow Planetarium
- Chazen Museum of Art
- Thomas A. Greene Memorial Museum
- Grohmann Museum
- Patrick and Beatrice Haggerty Museum of Art
- L. R. Ingersoll Physics Museum
- Logan Museum of Anthropology
- UW–Madison Geology Museum
- Weis Earth Science Museum
- Wright Museum of Art
Wyoming
- Tate Geological Museum
- University of Wyoming Anthropology Museum
- University of Wyoming Art Museum
- University of Wyoming Geological Museum
- Werner Wildlife Museum
See also
- American Alliance of Museums
- Effects of the Great Recession on museums
- Museum Accreditation in America
- List of university art museums and galleries in New York State
- List of university museums in the United States
References
- Clark, Laine. "National Directory". University Art Museums & Galleries in Virginia. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
- "National Gallery buys George Bellows painting from Randolph College". Los Angeles Times. February 7, 2014. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
- "The Tang Museum's Classless Society exhibit examines ideas of social class and the American Dream". Skidmore College News. February 11, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
- James Morgan Hart, German Universities: A Narrative of Personal Experiences (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1874); quoted in Leo L. Rockwell, “Academic Freedom: German Origin and American Development,” Bulletin of the American Association of University Professors 36, 2 (Summer 1950): 225-236.
- "Alabama Museum of Natural History – University of Alabama Museums". Retrieved July 31, 2023.
- "About the Museum – The Evelyn Burrow Museum". Retrieved November 5, 2020.
- "Gorgas House Museum – University of Alabama Museums site". Retrieved July 31, 2023.
- "Warner Transportation Museum – University of Alabama Museums". Retrieved July 31, 2023.
- "Moundville Archaeological Park – University of Alabama Museums". Retrieved July 31, 2023.
- "Paul W Bryant Museum – University of Alabama | The University of Alabama". Retrieved July 31, 2023.
- "University of Alabama Museums – The University of Alabama". museums.ua.edu. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
- "Talladega College Holds Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Official Grand Opening of New Museum Named for Alumnus and Hampton University President Dr. William R. Harvey, Home of the Amistad Murals : Hampton University News". news.hamptonu.edu. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- "Louis Carlos Bernal Gallery | Pima Community College, Tucson, Arizona". www.pima.edu. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
- "About". Benton Museum of Art. Pomona College. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
- Vankin, Deborah (February 27, 2019). "Southern California's newest art museum will be called the Benton". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
- "Archaeology Museum - Trinidad State Junior College". trinidadstate.edu. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
- "- Oakton Community College". www.oakton.edu. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
- "Gordon Parks Museum – Fort Scott Community College, Fort Scott, KS". Retrieved November 5, 2020.
- Kennedy, Randy; Vogel, Carol (January 28, 2009). "Outcry Over a Plan to Sell Museum's Holdings". The New York Times. p. C1, NY Edition.
- "Who we are". Williams College Museum of Art. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
- Draper, David. "Meteorite Museum". Meteorite Museum. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
- "Mesalands Community College's Dinosaur Museum and Natural Science Laboratory". Mesalands Community College. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
- "Geology Museum". Retrieved April 23, 2024.
- "About the Mercer Gallery | Visual & Performing Arts | Monroe Community College". www.monroecc.edu. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
- "Plaza Art Gallery". www.ncc.edu. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
- ^ "Werner Wildlife Museum". Casper College. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
External links
Categories:- Lists of museums in the United States
- University museums in the United States
- Art museums and galleries in the United States
- Natural history museums in the United States
- Science museums in the United States
- History museums in the United States
- Lists of university and college buildings in the United States
- Lists of art museums and galleries