Mead Art Museum

About Us

Welcome to the Mead Art Museum, which holds the art collection of Amherst College, among the most selective and most diverse liberal arts institutions in the United States, founded in 1821 and committed to the education of its 1,600 students. The Mead serves Amherst's educational mission by helping to make its 16,000-object collection relevant to teaching and research across the disciplines through special exhibitions, events, publications, and class visits. The Museum serves a wider public by bringing any curious visitor into contact with original works of art and with leading thinkers drawn from the Amherst campus and beyond, always free of charge and in a facility that is fully accessible.

The Mead occupies its original building opened in 1949 (renovated in 1999-2001) established with funds bequeathed by architect William Rutherford Mead, Amherst College Class of 1867. Eight galleries feature regularly changing installations and special exhibitions spanning a wide range of historical periods, national schools, and artistic media. Highlights of the permanent collection include American and European old masters, an English Baroque room, ancient Assyrian carvings, Russian modern art, West African sculpture, Japanese prints, and Mexican ceramics. Visitors may see works not currently on view in the William Green Study Room.