Museum History
Founded in 1974, the Smart Museum of Art is the art museum of the University of Chicago and is located on the University’s campus in Hyde Park on Chicago’s south side. The Museum’s mission is to promote understanding of the visual arts and their importance to human history. It fulfills this mission by providing direct experiences with original works of art and an interdisciplinary approach to its collections, publications, education programs, and its world-traveling exhibitions. The Museum also trains future teachers, artists, and museum professionals, involving a range of University students in all museum programs, including public outreach. As the only general arts museum serving Chicago’s south side communities, the Museum’s outreach focuses especially on engaging local students, teachers, families, and schools. Through all these activities, the Museum supports life-long learning among a wide range of audiences. In 2000, the Museum completed significant renovations to its facilities enabled by a $2 million campaign, including renovated galleries, redesigned collections storage space, and new education and public spaces.
The Smart Museum currently has a permanent collection of over 10,000 works of art. The Museum’s collection initially consisted of works of art given to the University since its founding. During the last two decades, the Museum has received a number of important gifts and collections, including Renaissance and Baroque paintings and sculpture, late 19th- and 20th- century sculpture and drawings, furniture by Frank Lloyd Wright, and a major collection of works by H.C. Westermann. It also began an acquisitions program that was enhanced by a $5 million bequest in 2000. Particular strengths of the collection now include: small-scale bronze sculptures from the Renaissance to the 20th century; German and Central European Expressionist graphics; 20th-century painting and sculpture, focusing increasingly on American figurative traditions and post-war art in Chicago; and East Asian art, especially ancient Chinese artifacts, Japanese and Chinese painting, and contemporary Chinese photography. Through recent efforts, the Museum has also brought key works by important African American artists to the collection.
Initially, the Smart Museum was associated with the University’s Art History Department. In 1983, it was defined as a distinct unit that serves the entire community. In the 1990s, it began a phase of expansion and outreach that has established the Museum as a vital cultural resource for Chicago and the broader region. For example, a multi-year grant from Sara Lee Foundation allowed the Museum to launch innovative educational outreach programs for local public schools. Expanded with further grants from Sara Lee, the MacArthur Foundation, the NEA, and others, these programs are now nationally recognized. Additionally, in 1992, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Museum launched a faculty-curated exhibitions program, an important resource that significantly enhances the Museum’s special exhibitions program and benefits both the university and the public community. We also increased collaborations with local cultural organizations. In the past year alone, the Museum has presented major exhibitions and related programs in collaboration with Anchor Graphics, The Art Institute, The Field Museum, the Hyde Park Art Center, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Oriental Institute. These and other innovative offerings have earned the Smart Museum recognition as a model for how university art museums – and by extension, universities generally – can work in creative, collaborative partnership with the broader public community.
The Smart Museum’s current programs are guided by a Five Year Strategic Plan adopted in March of 2004. In addition to further raising the museum’s profile and strengthening its collections, programs, and governing infrastructure, this plan outlines steps for the planning of a future expansion of the Museum’s facilities.