University

In March 2009, the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) completed a transformative expansion and restoration project that more than doubled its current size. The expansion of its galleries from 11,892 to 23,324 square feet means that many more works from its outstanding collections (more than 18,000 objects, with particular depth in European, American, Asian, and African art) are on view. This exciting development allows for many innovative uses for teaching and research. The reinstalled galleries deploy new interpretive strategies, offering a variety of voices, viewpoints, and narratives, and fostering connections across disciplines, geographies, and cultures.

The Museum’s Education Center features a 225-seat auditorium and enhanced programming; open storage offering visual access to an additional 1,200 works of art; object study classrooms; a library; and a commons area with extended hours.

• “Open Storage” Galleries
  Visible or “open” art storage is a vibrant new study tool designed to give visitors visual access to objects that would otherwise bide their time in deep storage, awaiting a future gallery rotation or the focused attention of a scholar. In areas of the Frankel Wing and Alumni Memorial Hall, visitors now may view nearly one thousand objects from the collections presented in secure, well-lit, glass-fronted cabinets—providing an opportunity for close viewing and visual comparison, as well as the thrill of slipping behind the scenes into a private treasure house of art. Areas of special depth include Chinese and Korean ceramics, Indian bronzes, Arts and Crafts ceramics, and glass by Louis Comfort Tiffany. For more information, please contact Orian Neumann at orian@umich.edu.


• Curatorial Research Center (CRC)
  Open to scholars, students, and the public at large, the Center—staffed to provide research assistance—contains books, archives, and digital resources concerning the Museum’s collections. The CRC will open in the fall of 2009.


• Object Study Classrooms
  Two specially outfitted object study classrooms provide university and post-graduate educators, scholars, or classroom groups of up to twenty people with the opportunity to study at close range works of art in the original. For more information, please contact Orian Neumann at orian@umich.edu.


• Helmet Stern Auditorium
  This state-of-the-art, acoustically superb space seats 225 for performance, dance, film, lectures, and symposia on an intimate scale. For a schedule of performances in the auditorium, please see the Program Calendar.