Welcome to the UK Art Museum

The University of Kentucky Art Museum, part of the UK College of Fine Arts, promotes the understanding and appreciation of art from diverse cultures and historical periods, providing meaningful encounters for audiences of all ages. Through our temporary exhibitions, educational programs, and permanent collection of approximately 5000 objects, we are a resource for the campus community and a cultural destination for citizens of the Commonwealth and beyond. Our Free Admission policy removes any financial obstacle that might stand in the way of opportunities for contemplation and connection.

We are proud to be accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, meeting standards for excellence and professional practices.

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Digital Learning Gallery

Dieter Roth, Untitled from 2 Times 5 Bats, 1978, offset lithograph and graphite pencil on paper. Collection of the UK Art Museum, gift of David Kinley.

Dieter Roth Prints

Dieter Roth was a German-Swiss Conceptual artist known for his use of non-traditional materials in making sculptures and installations. Cheese, sausage, and chocolate, among other items, would lend definite odors (not always pleasant ones) during the run of his exhibitions. Roth enjoyed blurring…

Tim Carpenter, Untitled from the series Illinois Traction, 2012, gelatin silver print. Courtesy of the artist.

Tim Carpenter: Still feel gone

In Still feel gone, Tim Carpenter brings together three distinct series of black-and-white photographs that document spare American landscapes and feature houses, roads, trees, powerlines, and other natural or built elements. Often working in central Illinois where he grew up, Carpenter draws the…

Spanish, Head of Christ (Fragment of Crucified Christ), circa 1600, carved and polychromed European limewood. Collection of the UK Art Museum, bequest of Gertrude E. Straus through Mr. and Mrs. Tony Zappone.

Christina A. West: Staring at the Son

Christina A. West is a mixed-media artist whose works often reference classical art and academic traditions of studying the model. We have invited her to adapt pieces from her Mere Mortals series (constructed wooden stages with wheels, plaster body fragments, plastic straps, and weights) and other…

Ron Isaacs, Verity, 2021, acrylic on birch plywood construction. Courtesy of the artist.

Ron Isaacs and Robert Shay: Ever Wonder

This exhibition brings together the trompe l’œil sculptures of two established artists who transform clay and plywood into tableaus of everyday items including clothing, branches, envelopes, and bowls of fruit. Their works are likely to be familiar to Lexington audiences, but Isaacs and Shay are…

IMAGE: Willie Cole, Shoonufu Female Figure (detail), 2012, bronze. Collection of the UK Art Museum, purchase: The Collectors Fund.

re:museum

The preposition “re” has a rich grammatical history dating back to its Latin origins, meaning “in reality” or “in fact.” Today, you’re most likely to see “re” on documents or emails, meaning “in regard to” and often interpreted as shorthand for “reply.”The re:museum exhibition employs “re” for its…

Rockwell Kent, Baker of the Bread of Abundance from the series Bituminous Coal Institute, circa 1945, oil on canvas. Collection of the UK Art Museum, on loan from the Department of Mining Engineering. Elinor Carucci, My mother wants me to forgive my daughter, 2016, printed 2021, archival pigment print. Collection of the UK Art Museum, purchase: The Robert C. May Photography Fund.

All in the Family

Co-curated by Stuart Horodner and Leah KolbPresented at the UK Art Museum (July 16 – November 23, 2024)and 2nd Story, 522 West Short Street, Lexington (July 16 – October 12, 2024) “One day you will do things for me that you hate. That is what it means to be family.”– Jonathan Saffron FoerThis…

Chris Verene, My Cousin’s Husband’s Brother’s Cousin’s Cousins, undated, C-print with hand-printed caption in oil, mounted on Sintra. Courtesy of the artist.

Chris Verene: Home Movies

Family dynamics and the relationship between generations have been Chris Verene’s subjects since he picked up a camera in high school in the late 1980s. Since then, he has consistently documented the lives of his relatives and friends in their hometown of Galesburg, Illinois.Verene has written, “…

Catherine Wagner, Torch Bearers, 2022–23, archival pigment print. Courtesy of the artist.

Catherine Wagner: BUILDINGS + HOMES + CLASSROOMS: perception and imagination

Absence and presence in the built environment have occupied Catherine Wagner’s practice for over thirty years. This exhibition includes examples of her early black-and-white works in the Museum’s permanent collection, including stage-like images of California landscapes and architecture in the mid-…

Hannah Smith, Messy, Messy Choices, 2024, 3-D modeled and printed resin, programmed Arduino Nano and LED circuit, and dyed cotton. Collection of the UK Art Museum, purchase: Collectors Fund.

Floor, Wall, Outlet: Sculpture and Works on Paper

This exhibition explores the ways that ideas become form, and it features a range of artists represented in the Museum’s permanent collection, some being presented to our audiences for the first time. Sculptures using materials including wood, plastic, metal, and rope are situated in distinct areas…

Henry Faulkner, Self Portrait, circa 1970s, oil on Masonite. Courtesy of John Davis.

Promised Gifts from the John Davis Collection

This selection of paintings, sculptures, and drawings is part of a larger promised gift by John Davis, a Lexington-based collector and former art dealer with a rich history of creativity and patronage. Davis is perhaps best known to locals as the man who created the glitz and glamour of…

Ross Bleckner, Flag, 1994, 11-color lithograph on paper. Collection of the UK Art Museum, gift of Marion Fugate.

Queer Views

This exhibition of works from the Museum’s permanent collection coincides with the Queer Art/Queer Archives Symposium co-hosted by the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville, taking place from September 20 – 21, 2024. The artists include Berenice Abbott, Ross Bleckner,…

Tarrence Corbin, The Saga and the Journey of the Ant Bully #2, 2000, acrylic on paper. Collection of the UK Art Museum, purchase: The Herman Lee and Nell Stuart Donovan Memorial Endowment and The Docent Art Fund.

re:museum ∙ RE:FRACT

The re:museum exhibition continues to evolve with updated artworks and informational displays, promoting a welcoming engagement with art and offering a peek behind the curtain at how our Museum operates. re:museum ∙ RE:FRACT maintains this education-forward approach while applying an additional…

Jay Bolotin, still image of the Carnival set.

Jay Bolotin: The Jackleg Testament, Part 2: The Book of Only Enoch.

This exhibition includes numerous drawings, prints, constructed sets and sculptures, and related ephemera that artist Jay Bolotin used to create The Jackleg Testament, Part 2: The Book of Only Enoch, a complex animated film that he was finalizing at the time of his death on May 14, 2024. The…

UK Art Museum announces Rachel Hooper as Curator

After an extensive and rewarding search process, the University of Kentucky Art Museum and the College of Fine Arts are pleased to announce that Rachel Hooper will start her new position as the Museum’s Curator on August 12, 2024.

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