About the Museum

Our Mission
The University of Virginia Art Museum is dedicated to creating an environment in which the largest possible share of its diverse constituencies, including members of the University community and the general public, can study and learn from the direct experience of works of art.

The museum promotes visual literacy as part of a broader, comprehensive education for all and seeks to enhance its visitors’ perceptions and understanding of world cultures throughout history and of art as an enduring human endeavor. To this end, the Museum shall acquire, preserve, study, exhibit, and interpret works of art of the highest quality in a variety of media that represent the world’s cultures from earliest times to the present.

Approved by BOV January 1999

The Permanent Collection
The University Museum maintains a collection of over 10,000 objects in support of our mission. UVAM exhibits American and European painting and sculpture of the 15th–19th centuries including art from the "Age of Thomas Jefferson" (1775-1825); art from the ancient Mediterranean; Asian art; and 20th century art. Highlights of the collection of 20th-century paintings, sculpture and works on paper include American figurative art and photography.

Temporary Exhibitions
Each year the Museum presents 10–12 temporary exhibitions drawn from the collections and sources nationwide. The collection of Old Master and later prints and photography, as well as ethnographic holdings—African, Native American, Oceanic, and pre-Columbian art—are presented in temporary exhibitions.

History
The Thomas H. Bayly Memorial Building, which houses the museum, opened its doors in March 1935. Designed by then-Dean of Architecture Edmund S.Campbell, the building was financed by a bequest from Evelyn May Bayly Tiffany in honor of her father, a University graduate. In its early years, the Museum received several important works of art, including 17th century French and Flemish tapestries, two Rodin sculptures, and Frederic Church's Natural Bridge, Virginia. The Museum was closed for the duration of WorldWar II and reopened in 1946, renewing a schedule of temporary exhibitions.

From the early 1960s until 1972, faced with academic space shortages, the University changed the building’s function to house art and architecture classrooms. In 1973, with completion of the new architecture school, the university extensively refurbished the Museum, reactivated its programs and appointed both a director and curator. Since reopening in 1974, the Museum has hired a core professional staff and built a broad collection with a number of special strengths, through gift and purchase, including "Age of Jefferson" American and European art, Old Master prints, contemporary art, Japanese woodblock prints, Indian paintings, as well as Pre-Columbian,African and Native American art.

A changing exhibition program complements the collections, enriches art and interdisciplinary initiatives at the University and in the community, and offers students opportunities to work with innovative artists. Public lectures, symposia and special events relate exhibitions and the collection to a broad and diverse audience. Docents design and present hundreds of individually tailored tours to schools and University students, seniors, community groups, and special needs populations.

In 2001, UVAM was awarded national accreditation by the American Association of Museums.