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.

Mark Klett and Byron Wolfe, Site of a Dangerous Leap, Now Overgrown, 2008, digital inkjet print. Collection of the UK Art Museum, purchase: The Robert C. May Photography Fund.

Site of a Dangerous Leap

The title and spirit of this exhibition was inspired in many ways by a photograph made by Mark Klett with Byron Wolfe. An intrepid climber bounds from one rocky outcrop to another; caught in mid-air, his landing is uncertain. Klett started out as a straight photographer, but began marrying…

Image captions:   Amber Boardman, Pink March, 2017, oil on polyester. Collection of the UK Art Museum, gift of the artist.

re:museum

The re:museum exhibition is getting a re:fresh in 2023 with a new set of artworks and updated displays.  

re:museum centers the Museum and our permanent collection by exhibiting a combination of artworks, educational prompts, and other incisive displays. The artworks…

Alex Katz, Red Coat, 1983, color screenprint on paper. Collection of the UK Art Museum, purchase: Gaines Challenge Fund.

Among Women

On June 24, 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark piece of legislation that made access to an abortion a federal right in the United States. This action dismantled fifty years of legal protection for women and control over their reproductive health.  This was not a…

William Hogarth, Gin Lane, 1751, etching and engraving on paper. Collection of the UK Art Museum, purchase: Gaines Challenge Fund.

Sinners and Saints

Oscar Wilde said, “Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future,” acknowledging that we are all works in progress, and most of us struggle with both good and at least somewhat malicious impulses over the course of our lives. Sinners and Saints examines both the labels and the…

Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Untitled from the series Georgetown Street, circa 1955-56, gelatin silver print. Collection of the UK Art Museum, gift of the Ralph Eugene Meatyard Estate.

Ralph Eugene Meatyard: Georgetown Street

In the early 1950s, Ralph Eugene Meatyard and Van Deren Coke set out to photograph all the people, homes, and businesses on Georgetown Street in Lexington. Together they made 150 images and exhibited thirty of them in the Lexington Camera Club’s annual show in November 1956. The results are…

Faisal Abdu’Allah, Barber Chair, 2021, antique barber chair with leather and gold plating. Courtesy of the artist.

Faisal Abdu'Allah: The Chair

Faisal Abdu’Allah is a British-born, Wisconsin-based artist and barber, and his exhibition features work that looks at the act of barbering and its relationship to Black identity. It includes photographs in a variety of formats, including tintypes showing the tools of the trade (electric…

Janine Antoni, Loving Care, 1992, performance with Loving Care hair dye, Natural Black. Photographed by Prudence Cuming Associates at Anthony d’Offay Gallery, London, 1993. © Janine Antoni; Courtesy of the artist and Luhring Augustine, New York.

Intentions – Actions – Outcomes

Intentions – Actions – Outcomes mines the legacies of Fluxus and Conceptual art in the 1960s and 70s until today, as diverse artists question the nature of production, commodification, and reception; blur distinctions between disciplines of visual art, music, and dance; and use everyday…

Romare Bearden, Circe Into Swine from the Odysseus Suite, 1979, color screenprint on paper. Collection of the UK Art Museum, anonymous gift.

re:museum

The re:museum exhibition continues to evolve and re:fresh, with updated artworks and informational displays. 

re:museum centers the Museum and our permanent collection by exhibiting a combination of artworks, educational prompts, and other incisive displays. The…

Barbara Rossi, Armour Defeat, 1969, etching on paper. Collection of the UK Art Museum, gift of Kohler Foundation, Inc.

Barbara Rossi: Bodily Forms

In 2022, the Museum received a generous gift of Barbara Rossi works from the Kohler Foundation in Wisconsin, and several of these are included in this exhibition. The artist is associated with the Chicago Imagists, along with Roger Brown, Gladys Nilsson, Jim Nutt, Ed Paschke, and Karl Wirsum,…

Susan Silas, EYES WIDE SHUT from the series found birds, 2010, archival inkjet print on Hahnemühle photo rag. Courtesy of the artist.

Susan Silas: natural histories

Susan Silas is a New York-based artist who uses photography, video, performance, and sculpture to examine the aging female body and various states of being. Her exhibition combines works from several series over the past twenty-five years, drawing connections between animal and human, stillness…

Edward Fisk, Woman in a Red Hat, 1921, oil on canvas. Courtesy of the family of Edward Fisk.

Edward Fisk: Legacies

Join us in celebrating the art and life of the American modernist Edward Fisk, who left New York City in September 1926 for a more peaceful life in Lexington and a teaching position at the University of Kentucky. In Greenwich Village and Provincetown, Massachusetts, Fisk was at the heart of the…

Created 08/13/2021
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Last Updated 07/01/2022