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You can take a break from pretending to take notes in the lecture hall this semester because chances are, you’ll learn more by visiting the university museum. Since the early years of college education in this country, university museums and galleries have scored major commissions, built collections that rival some of the world’s best museums, and become premier spaces for open-minded, experimental exhibitions. They’re all firmly dedicated to enriching students’ experiences, and best of all, they’re usually free. Check out our list of The 20 Best College Art Museums, and see if your school made the cut.
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20. Yale University Art Gallery
Location: Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
Founded in 1832, the Yale University Art Gallery is the oldest university art museum in the western hemisphere, often setting the standard for what a college museum should be. In addition to world-class collections of American decorative art, early Italian painting, and African sculpture, Yale offers year-round internships, curatorial opportunities, and educational programs for students. The potential for looking and learning is never ending.
19. The Wolfsonian
Location: Florida International University, Miami Beach, Fla.
The collection at the Wolfsonian dates from the height of the Industrial Revolution, so in addition to your typical paintings and drawings, their holdings include some of the best designed clocks, posters, radios, and phonographs. A rare book collection and archive as well as a museum, the Wolfsonian is one of the nation's most important headquarters for art research, providing grants and fellowships for faculty, grad students, and visiting scholars. The sun shines brightly at this Florida institution.
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18. Williams College Museum of Art
Location: Williams College, Williamstown, Mass.
The energy and experimental attitude bursting out of the Williams College Museum of Art is critical to the cultural fabric of Williamstown, an art oasis in far western Massachusetts. Known for their stellar collections of American art, modern and contemporary photography, and Indian painting, WCMA is also the site of endless curatorial and research opportunities for students and professionals alike.
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17. University of Mississippi Museum
Location: University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss.
At the museum of Ole Miss, you can view Southern folk art next to 19th century scientific instruments, or Greek and Roman antiquities next to artifacts from the Civil War. They balance their dedication to the local community with a commitment to expanding students' world views. Whether you come to see a football game or William Faulkner's House, the cultural campus of Ole Miss is a place like no other.
16. Spencer Museum of Art
Location: University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kan.
The University of Kansas' art collection was started in 1917 with the gift of a diverse personal collection of paintings, rugs, metalwork, and ceramics. Today, the university includes impressive holdings of European and American paintings and a renowned collection of Western and Asian prints, drawings, and photographs. But they never lost the eclectic flavor that started it all. In 2007, over 9,000 American Indian, African, and Australian objects were transferred from the university's museum of anthropology to their rightful place at the Spencer Museum of Art.
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15. Smith College Museum of Art
Location: Smith College, Northampton, Mass.
Best known for its 19th and 20th century European and American paintings and sculpture, the Smith College Museum of Art also boasts strong collections of Asian, African, and Latin American art, as well as two artist-designed restrooms. You'll get a great view no matter where you sit.
14. Rose Art Museum
Location: Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass.
Known for its visionary approach to liberal arts education, Brandeis also has a long history of visionary art collecting. When many major art museums were hesitating to buy modern paintings in the early 1950s, the college was scooping up works by artists such as Stuart Davis, Milton Avery, and George Grosz. Now housed in the Rose Art Museum, Brandeis's holdings represent one of the premier university collections of modern and contemporary art in the country.
13. RISD Museum
Location: Rhode Island School of Design, Providence
In 1877, the Rhode Island Women's Centennial Commission had to decide whether to throw their money behind a drinking fountain or an art school, and thankfully, they went with the art school. A center of creativity and collecting, RISD produces some of nation's top artists, and their campus museum works to inspire them and the surrounding community. Their exceptional collections of American decorative arts, Greek coins, Asian textiles, and Contemporary works in all media will quench your thirst for culture.
12. Princeton University Art Museum
Location: Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.
One of the oldest collecting institutions in the country, Princeton began collecting art before America was even America. Since their first paintings were destroyed during the American Revolution, they've continuously renewed their commitment to owning original works of art and innovative ways of teaching art history. Always learning from experience, their extensive holdings of Greek and Roman antiquities, Medieval stained glass, and Chinese porcelain are now housed in a fireproof building.
11. Mead Art Museum
Location: Amherst College, Amherst, Mass.
Student interests and lifestyles are at the heart of Amherst's Mead Art Museum, where the entire 18,000 piece collection is cataloged online, interns are paid, and the galleries are open until midnight four days a week. The Mead's diverse collections of Russian avant-garde art, American paintings, ancient Assyrian carvings, and more promise to hold the attention of even the most undecided major.
10. Institute of Contemporary Art
Location: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Andy Warhol, Laurie Anderson, Agnes Martin, Robert Indiana: you saw them here first. Since 1963, the ICA has boldly provided a platform for unknown artists who would become art world superstars. They do not have a permanent collection, which allows their exhibition spaces to be endlessly flexible and inspirational. Their bustling schedule of artists' lectures, DJ nights, and community conversations tap into the quirks of Penn's campus while keeping an eye on emerging and international movements.
9. Howard University Gallery of Art
Location: Howard University, D.C.
From its founding in 1867, Howard has been open to people of both sexes and all races. The University's forward-thinking attitude extended to their art collection, which has grown steadily since 1928. Howard now houses some of the country's most significant works of African-American art, as well as strong collections of Renaissance and Baroque paintings, European prints, and African artifacts from Alain Locke's personal collection. A masterpiece of diversity.
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8. Hood Museum of Art
Location: Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H.
Expanding beyond the walls of their galleries, some of the Hood's most important holdings include public artworks like major sculptures by Louise Bourgeois and Mark di Suvero and commissions by Ellsworth Kelly and José Clemente Orozco. The museum prides itself on teaching with original works of art, and their collections are accessible to students studying subjects from French to Physics. Their wall texts often include tidbits about how the museum acquired artworks and antiquities, even when the historical circumstances have been a little shady. Museums big and small have a lot to learn from this educational powerhouse.
7. Harvard Art Museums
Location: Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
The overachiever of university art institutions, the Harvard Art Museums comprises not one, but THREE separate museums, which are all important collections in their own right. You'll find European and American art at the Fogg Museum, Asian and Islamic masterpieces at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, and the only collection in North America dedicated to Germanic art at the Busch-Reisinger Museum. These museums will be united under one roof with the opening of the newly renovated Harvard Art Museums building in 2014. One museum to rule them all.
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6. Hammer Museum
Location: University of California, Los Angeles
The Hammer Museum is one of the country's most cutting-edge arts institutions, on campus or off. In addition to offering top-notch modern and contemporary collections, the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden, and the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, the Hammer continuously seeks out new talent through an active artist residency program and Made in L.A., a Los Angeles biennial formed in collaboration with nonprofit gallery LAXART. Many of their dynamic events and workshops are created by the Hammer Student Association, a UCLA student group that conceptualizes programming, implements design and marketing strategies, and publishes the annual interdisciplinary arts journal GRAPHITE. Academic rigor meets art world cool.
5. Bowdoin College Museum of Art
Location: Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine
Rich in history and tradition, the Bowdoin College Museum of Art is housed in a landmark building with a Renaissance-style facade, grand staircase, and bronze statues. Their visionary collection was started in the early 19th century, and now holds works ranging from Mediterranean antiquities to contemporary paintings. Beautiful inside and out.
4. Blanton Museum of Art
Location: University of Texas, Austin, Texas
The Blanton is the only art museum in Austin with an extensive permanent collection, uniquely positioning it as a cultural gateway between the university and the community. Their holdings grew swiftly throughout the 20th century, as they received generous gifts of American paintings, Old Master drawings, and Latin American modern and contemporary art. Because everything is bigger in Texas, the Blanton's museum complex (built in 2003) is one of largest found on the campus of any university, including spaces for their collections, temporary exhibitions, auditorium, café—and most notably—classrooms.
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3. Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
Location: University of California, Berkeley, Calif.
The experimental spirit of the 1960s lives on at the Berkeley Art Museum, where the collection includes works by groundbreaking artists such as Hans Hofmann, Helen Frankenthaler, and Jackson Pollock. Their MATRIX Program for Contemporary Art keeps the exhibition schedule fresh by introducing new, international artists to the Bay Area. As if their iconic Modernist building wasn't full enough, their Pacific Film Archive also boasts a world-class collection of early video art, avant-garde film, Soviet cinema, Japanese films, and much more. It's the California Dream of college museums.
2. Arizona State University Art Museum
Location: Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz.
The ASU Art Museum was founded in 1950 with a gift of American and Mexican artworks, demonstrating an early commitment to the study and preservation of art across cultural and geographic borders. Through their new "Global Arizona" initiative, the museum has formed partnerships in Cuba, Brazil, and Argentina, tackling societal issues through exhibitions and public programs. A self-described "laboratory," the ASU Art Museum can yield unexpected results.
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1. Allen Memorial Art Museum
Location: Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio
Oberlin is known as one of the most liberal of the liberal arts colleges, and their thriving cultural scene supports a top-notch museum including approximately 14,000 artworks, the Eva Hesse archives, and Frank Lloyd Wright's Weltzheimer/Johnson House. Their famous Art Rental Program allows students to rent original works of art, decorating dorm rooms with Picassos instead of posters. You might not only want to visit, but enroll.