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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

Tuesday - Friday: 10am - 4pm
Saturday: 1pm - 4pm
Sunday & Monday: Closed

Free and open to all.

Visitors must follow COVID-19 response measures.

  • Masks are required at all times.
  • Attendance is limited to 25 persons per hall.
  • Guests must maintain social distancing (6 feet) from other visitors.

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

advertisement for the upcoming Rocked and Rolled exhibit at the University museum. Use the hashtag #siucmuseumrocks on Facebook or Instagram to show off your concert memorabilia from your time at SIUC--be they ticket stubs, posters, t-shirts, or concert photos

Exhibits

North Hall

  • Rocked and Rolled
    August 17 – December 11, 2021
    Rocked and Rolled features geological specimens and art inspired by music. This exhibition is organized by the Illinois State Museum.

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.

  • West Gallery
    Natural Wonders
    August 17 – December 11, 2021
    Natural Wonders features selections from John James Audubon’s Birds of America and highlights differences between print editions and versions.

  • Saluki Gallery
    Traditional Beauty
    August 17 – September 25, 2021
    Traditional Beauty features stunningly beautiful articles of clothing made in a traditional manner by the Guatemalan people.

    MFA Student Exhibition
    October 5 – October 30, 2021
    This exhibition highlights works by Jessica Edmond and Emma Paterakis, students from the graduate program at the School of Mass Communication and Media Arts.

  • Hall of Art
    Stitches in Time
    August 17 – December 11, 2021
    Stitches in Time features selections of quilts from the University Museum’s Historic Textiles Collection.

  • Study Gallery and International Gallery
    The Scholar’s Studio
    August 24 – December 11, 2021
    This exhibition features the recent donation of Chinese calligraphy and scroll paintings given to the University Museum by Dr. and Mrs. Cho-Yee To.

Digital Exhibitions & Artist Talks

  • The Land That I Love
    Farming in Southern Illinois is rooted in the lives of the farmers who care for the land. The farms are more than crops and soil; they are Southern Illinois' heritage and its future.

  • Midwestern
    Drawn from his time intentionally lost on the backroads of the states he knows best, Justin Hamm’s work, visual and verbal, is equal parts inspection of the American mythos and testament against the worn-out adage that the Midwest is merely "flyover country".

  • The Art of Darkness
    Tim Atseff engaged in dual careers as an artist and as a journalist. Now, he has returned to his creative roots painting with an urgency that matches our times and time itself.

  • William H. Thielen
    An interview with the artist about his current exhibit "Double Whammy" and about his life in art

  • Conversation 2.0
    African art from the Reginald Petty African Art Collection and works of Edna Patterson-Petty

selected images from the digital exhibitions and artist talks videos