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Mission

The University of Colorado Art Museum (museum) provides a forum for exchanging ideas, inspiring collaboration and fueling imagination through art. The museum’s growing collection and diverse exhibitions and public programs promote, inspire and generate interdisciplinary scholarship and cultural expression. The museum mobilizes our strengths to support and enrich the academic and social missions of CU Boulder and to serve our communities in Boulder, statewide and beyond.

Vision

Our research vision
The museum creates scholarship, exhibitions and programming by identifying and leveraging collection strengths and the research and creative work of faculty, students and staff at CU Boulder. Our strengths include:

• A collection of artwork that generates interdisciplinary knowledge and serves as an integration point for research and collections on campus. Artwork on paper form the backbone of our collection and offer historical and contemporary perspectives that facilitate interdisciplinary research.
• Exhibitions and public programs that engage with campus research and provide opportunities for the production of scholarship and creative works.
• Museum professionals who support faculty and student arts-inspired research and creative works, and who generate museum-based scholarship that enhances national visibility.

Our education vision
The museum fosters an interdisciplinary, student-centered approach to learning through our collection, exhibitions and educational programming. The museum inspires cultural awareness, diversity, inclusiveness and a spirit of entrepreneurship, creating lifelong cultural advocates. Our strengths include:

• Object-based learning for students that connects artwork to campus curricula and promotes skills in close looking and critical thinking. Artwork studied is diverse in cultural, geographic and temporal origin.
• Professional development opportunities that prepare students through student exhibits; student curation; internships and student employment; informal engagement; and research opportunities.

Our community vision
The museum is a key partner and cultural resource for our community, reinforcing the social fabric of the °µÍø½ûÇø and the greater Boulder area. Our strengths include:

• Exhibits and programming that facilitate interaction and create opportunities that inspire and engage. Ìý
• A hub for campus departments, forming partnerships with faculty and students to foster connections among our campus community.
• A connector of campus collections that amplifies the importance of access and preservation of our collection for the people of Colorado and future generations.
• A community of museum professionals who work to enhance the standing of academic museums and collections nationally.

History

The museum has served the °µÍø½ûÇø for more than 70 years and continues to make significant contributions to the national and international arts community. Our 25,000-square-foot museum opened in 2010 and features 8,000 square feet of exhibition galleries, an education room and a study center classroom connected to our collection storage, making our collection accessible for direct object-based learning.

The museum’s collection was founded in 1939 as a teaching resource for faculty and has since grown into a collection of more than 9,500 artworks dating from prehistory to the present day. The collection represents global perspectives and is a catalyst for scholarly and creative research at the university. We welcome the campus community and the public to our exhibitions and public programs, which are always free of charge.