The Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota is the fulfillment of a dream first articulated by University president Lotus Coffman in 1934. Coffman noted,
"This is a dream of long-standing on my part....I would have every student at the University of Minnesota and every individual in this community, exposed as frequently as possible to the things that make life worth living, to the cultural inheritance of the human race."
True to Coffman's pioneering vision, access to the arts - intellectual, emotional, and physical - is the core of the Weisman's programming today. With a major donation from Frederick R. Weisman and with a striking new stainless steel and brick building designed by Los Angeles architect Frank Gehry, the museum serves a university community of more than 60,000 students, faculty, and staff, as well as the thriving arts community of the Twin Cities.
Best known for its collection of American art from the first decades of the twentieth century, the museum, early in its history, purchased works by artists such as Georgia O'Keeffe and Arthur Dove. A major bequest from the museum's first director Hudson D. Walker, makes its collection of works by American early modernists Marsden Hartley and Alfred Maurer the largest in existence. Milton Avery, Charles Biederman, Oscar Bluemner, Lyonel Feininger, Jacob Lawrence, Stanton MacDonald-Wright, B.J.O. Nordfeldt, and Max Weber, among others, are represented in the collection. A significant bequest from noted Los Angeles collector and philanthropist Frederick R. Weisman strengthens the museum's holdings in contemporary art. The museum's collection is also strong in traditional Korean furniture and American, European, and Asian ceramics, including a large collection of ancient Native American Mimbres pottery.
The Weisman Art Museum helps students develop an appreciation and understanding of art. With teaching as its central mission, the museum's special exhibitions and programs bring together scholars and students from a variety of disciplines to offer new perspectives on art and culture. In addition to exhibitions featuring the museum's permanent collection, changing exhibitions are regularly presented.