UND Art Collections

The mission of the UND Art Collections is to facilitate the use of the University's collections of art for education, research, and community cultural enrichment in ways that forward the University's mission and goals.

UND Art Collections oversees the curation, display, and preservation of approximately 30,000 pieces of art and art-related objects by regional and internationally known artists. Artists in the collections include Salvador Dali, Audrey Flack, Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, Andy Warhol and many others. The extensive collections contain paintings, photography, sculptures, pottery and ceramics, Chinese papercuts, drawings, jewelry and metalwork, fabrics and textiles, furniture, multi-media work, artist books, as well as artist and gallery ephemera.

The Living Museum and Beyond

The Art Collections are displayed in a number of ways across the UND campus. The most visible is through the Living Art Museum, putting works of art in the hallways, classrooms and buildings we use every day.

Works are also exhibited at the UND Art Collections Gallery at the Empire Arts Center in downtown Grand Forks, showcasing the art to the community. Additional campus galleries managed by UND Art Collections are located on the main level of the Memorial Union (the MUG), the second floor of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, the second floor of Skalicky Tech Incubator, and in the east atrium of Columbia Hall. There is a full listing of Living Art Museum buildings on the UND Scholarly Commons.

The Collections

UND's artworks are divided into multiple collections. Some collections make reference to academic departments (Department of Art and Design Study Collection) or funding source (artwork purchased by the Myers Foundations). Other collections are identified by the names of donors such as:

James R. Carley Collection of American Folk Pottery
Douglas E. Erickson Collection of Chinese Clothing and Art
Chester Fritz Collection of Asian Art
Prints by Honoré Daumier from the Lilly Jacobson Collection
James Smith Pierce Collections

Notable Artists

Notable artists in the collections include (among others):

Ben Shahn (American, 1898–1969), important figure in the social realist movement of the 20th century.
Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904–1989), Spanish surrealist.
Roy Lichtenstein (American, 1923–1997), American Pop artist.
Robert Rauschenburg (American, 1925–2008), artist in the Neo-Dada movement.
Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987), American artist among the leaders of the pop art movement.
Helen Frankenthaler (American, 1928–2011), painter of abstract expression and post-painterly abstraction.
Jasper Johns (American, b. 1930), artist in the Neo-Dada movement.
Audrey Flack (American, b. 1931), exponent of photorealism and the feminist movement.
Sam Gilliam (American, b. 1933), important painter in the Washington DC Color School.
Frank Stella (American, b.1936), contributor to minimalism and several other trends.
Elizabeth Murray (American, 1940–2007), late 20th century abstractionist.
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (American, b. 1940), contemporary Native American artist.