exterior of the university museum behind trees in early autumn colors

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About Our Museum

First opened as a natural history museum in 1874, the University Museum at Southern Illinois University Carbondale has evolved into a teaching museum that represents the humanities, the sciences and the arts. While our focus is on southern Illinois, our humanities collection includes ethnographic materials that allow us to share the world with a diverse campus and a region that is isolated from urban centers. With roughly 70,000 objects in our care, the University Museum captures and illuminates the human story, opening a window on who we are and where we came from.

Museum Hours

The University Museum will be closed to the public from 5/13 - 6/13 in conjunction with the SIUC Spring 2023 Intersession.

Tuesday - Friday: Noon - 4pm
Saturday: 1pm - 4pm
Sunday & Monday: Closed

Free and open to all.

The University Museum is closed to the public during all SIU breaks and holidays.

Public metered parking available across from the Student Center and beside Woody Hall.

Exhibits

North Hall

Mitchell Gallery

  • Women's Voices 3: Make/Believe
    February 7th – May 13th, 2023
    An annual juried exhibition featuring to works of 36 female artists from the Southern Illinois region.
    Reception: Saturday, February 11th, 4:30pm - 7:00pm, University Museum North Hall

Continuum Gallery

  • Natural Talent: The Carvings of Fred Myers
    January 17th – May 13th, 2023
    From an early age Fred Myers displayed a natural affinity for the art; a talent that was encouraged by many in his life. A talent that would serve him well throughout his life. With his focus on the human form and the daily life of those around him, Myers developed into a exemplar of the Regionalism movement in American Arts.

Atrium Gallery

  • Curators' Choice: Carolyn Plochman & Maude Craig
    January 17th – May 13th, 2023
    The University Museum’s collection hosts several works from many extremely talented artists that call our region home. The Curators have gone through the Museum’s collection of fine art to select two such individuals.

South Hall

  • Southern Illinois Gallery
    Our Region
    Ongoing
    Our Region is an exhibition of Southern Illinois history, featuring artifacts from the University Museum and Center for Archaeological Investigations collections.

  • Lutes Gallery
    European Painting, Sculpture, and Decorative Arts
    Ongoing
    This exhibition highlights paintings, sculptures, tapestries, and furniture from Renaissance Europe selected from the collection of Carl W. Lutes.

  • Saluki Gallery
    Visual Translations: The Works of Cheonae Kim
    January 17th – March 11th, 2023
    While at first glance the repeated geometric patterns may mesmerize the viewer, these patterns hold a much deeper meaning for Kim. Many of her works are maze-like to represent the complexity of the human mind. Although abstract, these three rhythmic and dynamic visual compositions function as portraits for the artist.

    MFA Shows
    March 28th – May 13th, 2023
    The University Museum is proud to host a series of Graduate Student exhibitions from the SIUC College of Art & Design.

  • West Gallery
    Vogel at SIU
    January 24th – July 29th, 2023
    The renowned Vogel Art Collection began taking shape since the early 1960, and over the decades developed into one of the most remarkable American collections formed in the twentieth Century. In an effort to bring the works in their collection to the public, the Vogel’s began their “Fifty Works for Fifty States” project. To honor their legacy the University Museum is proud to present the works of art graciously donated to SIUC.

  • Hall of Art
    Distinguished Alumni: Fred Brown
    January 17th – May 13th, 2023
    Born in Georgia and raised in Chicago's South Side, Brown settled in a loft in Soho during the New York Art Renaissance of the 1970s and 1980s. Brown’s paintings of the early 1970s were large, bold abstractions based on the abstract expressionist tradition of the art department at Southern Illinois University. By the late 1970s and into the early 1980s, Brown gradually included figural elements, a change that coincided with his creation of some landscape paintings reminiscent of folk art.

  • Study Gallery
    Huichol: Balancing Hybridity
    January 24th – May 13th , 2023
    n the modern world, there is a constant struggle to preserve the Indigenous cultural identity in Latin America. MFA students Martha Osornio and Sarah-Anne Winchester have dived into the archives to select collection pieces as examples of hybridity within Huichol culture.

  • International Gallery
    Taking Flight
    January 24th – July 29th, 2023
    Selected from the University Museum’s international collections, this exhibition includes objects from various cultures highlighting how our feathers friends have captured the imaginations of artists and artisans throughout the decades.

the closing reception for women's voices 3: make/believe will be held on may 6, 2023, from 1-4pm at the general john a. logan museum at 1613 edith street, murphysboro, il, 62966. there will also be an artist talk with gues artist mary pachikara on may 8, 2023, from 2-3pm in the women's voices gallery, at the logan museum, during which she will speak on what inspires and motivates her to create.

peripheral visions: capturing the numinous inside and out, an mfa thesis exhibition by jodi ruffner, will be on display from april 11-29, 2023, with a reception on friday, april 14, from 6-9pm.

huichol balancing hybridity, an exhibition by martha osornio ruiz and sarah-anne winchester, will be on display from january 24 - may 13, 2023. there will be a reception on april 27, 2023, from 6-9pm.

The University Museum's online collections have moved to a new home. Our digital exhibitions and recorded artist's talks can be found on the Resources page through the main navigation menu.