Arts & Culture

UK Art Museum Reopens With New Art, New Hours

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 2, 2015) — The University of Kentucky Art Museum announces a bold reinstallation of the permanent collection opening 10 a.m. today (Wednesday), Sept. 2, with walls moved into new positions to establish intimately scaled rooms for considering aspects of portraiture, abstraction, landscape and the theme of mortality. A separate space will celebrate works from the largest gift in the museum's history, the George and Susan Proskauer Collection.

An architectural redesign and collection transformation has not occurred at the museum in over 15 years. "In combination with our new free admission policy, we must act with increased curatorial range and inform our audiences about these amazing artworks with enthusiasm and pride. We are committed to showing more of what we have, as well as redefining the interpretive function of the museum with distinctive tours, wall labels, and publications," said Director Stuart Horodner.

Curator Janie Welker has overseen the reinstallation and worked with Horodner to develop the design strategy and areas of focus. The thematic rooms will offer unique combinations of traditional and radical works in diverse media by local, national and international artists. This presentation of the permanent collection should help direct the experiences of viewers and encourage more visits because of the frequent rotation of works on view.

In addition to the new art on display, the UK Art Museum has new hours for patrons to view the work. The museum is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday, and noon-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Admission to the UK Art Museum's exhibitions is free to the public.

The mission of the UK Art Museum, part of the UK College of Fine Arts, is to promote the understanding and appreciation of art to enhance the quality of life for people of Kentucky through collecting, exhibiting, preserving and interpreting outstanding works of visual art from all cultures. Home to a collection of more than 4,800 objects including American and European paintings, drawings, photographs, prints and sculpture, the UK Art Museum presents both special exhibitions and shows of work from its permanent collection. 

MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu