Georgia Museum of Art

The Georgia Museum of Art in Athens is part of the University of Georgia. It is an academic museum and the official art museum for the state since 1982. The museum houses a few permanent collections like the American Paintings between the 19th and 20th centuries. They also have European and Asian works, the Samuel H. Kress Collection and decorative southern art. The Kress Collection is a study of Italian Renaissance paintings. Asian art is another large display they offer.

The museum was opened in 1948 as part of the old library of the university's north campus. It was located in the basement. It was opened to the public on certain occasions. As the museum began to grow its collections it was essential to have a new building and to open the museum to the public fulltime. It was placed in the Performing and Visual Arts Complex. The complex was 79,000 square feet and the museum offers more than 8,000 objects on display. Today there is a new building built in 1996. It is much larger and is able to hold numerous exhibits including temporary donations. The gallery is open 12-5pm Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. It is open Thursday 12-9pm and Sunday 1-5pm.