Academic Resources

The Museum of Art and Archaeology provides curricular support to the faculty of the University of Missouri through its exhibitions, collections and programs. The staff of the Museum is ready to help faculty from all departments, by giving tours of the collections on display and by bringing out works of art from storage.

Teaching in the Galleries: The Permanent Collection

The Museum of Art and Archaeology is the only museum in Central Missouri with a comprehensive historical collection of Western art. Four permanent galleries provide a survey of most of the important cultural and historical movements in Western art history: the Saul and Gladys Weinberg Gallery of Ancient Art, the Gallery of Byzantine and Medieval Art, the Gallery of European and American Art, and the Robert and Maria Barton Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art. One gallery is devoted to the exhibition of non-Western Art, with a permanent display of objects from Africa.

University professors from a variety of diverse departments incorporate visits to the Museum into their class curricula. Professors may conduct self-led tours or arrange (with advance notice) to have a curator provide a tour targeted to their needs. Among the faculty who recently arranged tours at the Museum are professors from the departments of Art, Education, Textile and Apparel Management, Classics, History, Art History and Archaeology, and Theater.

The Museum’s staff is happy to work with faculty members of all departments to determine how the permanent collection can serve their students. We also encourage professors to assign projects and papers related to works on permanent display. Please be aware, however, that objects assigned for student papers may not be on exhibition for the duration of the assignment. It is important to check with Museum staff before assigning particular objects. Also, some students may need help locating the assigned objects. If asked, the Museum is willing to place colored dots near assigned objects to make them easier to find. Please remind students preparing assignments of the Museum’s hours, especially that the galleries are closed on Mondays.

For more information about using the permanent collection as a resource, please contact Arthur Mehrhoff, the Museum academic coordinator.

Classical Mythology 1060-WI
Prof. David Schenker
Class visit to the museum
April 2005

Classical Mythology 1060-WI
Class visit to the museum
April 2005

Teaching in the Galleries: Temporary Exhibitions

The Museum installs two major temporary exhibitions a year, and one or two smaller shows. These exhibitions provide visitors with opportunities to see works usually housed in storage, as well as objects on loan from other museums and collectors. Exciting recent exhibits include Testament of Time: Antiquities of the Holy Land; The Art of World War II: Works from Missouri Collections; The Art of the Book: Manuscripts and Early Printing; Wit and Wine: Ancient Iranian Ceramics; The Shadow of Olympus: Gods Heroes and the Historical Continuum; and The Infinite and the Absolute: Belief and Being in the Art of Southeast Asia. The exhibition schedule is planned several years in advance. The Museum offers special, curator-led tours of the exhibits to university classes with advance notice. Please contact the main office, 882-3591, to find out about our upcoming exhibitions.

Curator-led class visit

Teaching in the Galleries: Scheduling a Tour

University faculty wishing to schedule a visit to the Museum should contact the main office at 882-3591 at least two weeks in advance. This applies to both self-led and curator-led groups. Since the galleries are small, it is important to make sure that your tour does not coincide with that of another group.

Teaching with Art from Storage

Since only about 4% of the Museum’s permanent collection is on display in the galleries at any one time, the Museum is willing to provide access to artworks housed in storage. The extensive collection provides a one-of-a kind resource to the university community. Undergraduates are introduced to actual objects that add a tangible dimension to their studies, and graduate students can use the museum as a “laboratory” that provides the opportunity to conduct primary research on original art and archaeological objects. The staff is eager to collaborate with university faculty members to determine how works in the collection might play a didactic role in support of their classes. Please contact Cathy Callaway, Associate Museum Educator, Arthur Mehrhoff, Academic Coordinator, or Benton Kidd, Associate Curator of Ancient Art, for information about access to works in storage. Below is a brief description of some of the collections available.

Ancient Art
The collection of ancient art contains many objects that document the daily lives of people who lived thousands of years ago. Numerous works from the Near East, Egypt, Greece, and Rome include an extensive collection of coins, pottery fragments, and household objects. The departments of Classics, History, and Archaeology regularly arrange to show these works to their students. The collection has the potential to support even more research and study, and Museum staff is happy to assist any interested university faculty member who would like access to these primary research materials.

European and American Art
Many artworks in the museum cannot be on permanent display because of their sensitivity to light. The Museum’s European and American collection includes light-sensitive works on paper by some of the most important artists from the Renaissance to the Modern period. These works range from early religious manuscripts to political propaganda prints from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Some of these images served aesthetic purposes, while others functioned as social, political, and religious tools. Professors from the Honors College and the departments of Romance Languages, Fine Arts, History, Religious Studies, and Art History have all arranged special showings of prints and drawings that relate to their course curricula. The collection has the potential to be used even more extensively, and the Museum welcomes inquiries from all departments.

Non-Western Art
While only a select group of objects from the Museum’s non-Western collection is currently on display, students learning about the cultures of Asia, Meso- and South America, Oceania, and Africa will find extensive materials in storage relating to their studies. Although the Museum does not have a curator in these areas, professors in Religious Studies and Art have arranged showings of non-Western objects to their students, and the Museum is willing to provide all interested faculty with access to these fascinating artworks.

A graduate seminar on pottery from ancient Greece

Light-sensitive works brought out
from storage for a university class

Visiting assistant professor Monique Fowler-Paul
teaches her class Introduction to African Art with objects brought out from storage and set up in the Cast Gallery.

Conference Support

The Museum of Art and Archaeology is one of the University’s premier cultural attractions, and the staff is willing to work with the organizers of professional and scholarly meetings to provide their attendees with special docent- and/or curator-led tours. With advance notice and financial support, the Museum can also provide brochures or booklets relating objects in the collection to conference themes. For example, the Museum recently produced a special booklet on seventeenth- and eighteenth-century portraiture for the Johnson Society of the Central Region’s meeting at the University of Missouri. The booklet catalogued a portion of the temporary exhibition Fashioning Identities: Portraiture through the Ages on display in the winter and spring of 2005.

Exhibits Tailored to Complement Classes

One case in the Museum’s Weinberg Gallery of Ancient Art is designated for small changing exhibits that complement University classes. Recent class-related exhibitions include a display of objects related to the Greek symposium (developed in conjunction with an Honors College course on the ancient world) and an exhibit on ancient technology (organized to complement a course taught in the department of Art History and Archaeology). Faculty members are invited to submit proposals for small exhibits of ancient art that would enrich their classes. If a proposal is accepted, the curator will work with the professor to organize the exhibit. Please contact Benton Kidd, Associate Curator of Ancient Art, at least six months in advance to discuss proposals.