The UAlberta Story
"The UAlberta story, as told through art, provides us with a unique perspective on the diversity of our community and the value we place on art as a means to connect and unite us all. In this online exhibition, you will see works of art from Japan, works from some of Canada's leading print artists, one from the university's former Head of the Department of Fine Arts, and a selection of powerful Indigenous art that reflects an artistic tradition on these lands that dates back thousands of years."
- President Bill Flanagan
The University of Alberta Museums Art Collection (UAMAC) began collecting as early as 1912, and since then has grown to more than 7,000 diverse works of art. UAMAC had its official founding in the 1950s through a donation of approximately 200 works of art from Emma Read Newton, the wife of the university’s fourth president, Dr. Robert Newton. The founding of the Department of Art and Design in 1945 further contributed to the expansion of the collection.
Additional community and university support, such as a grant from the Clifford E. Lee Foundation, allowed for the development of a Print and Drawing Study Room in 1981. The expanded Print Study Centre was built in the Fine Arts Building in 1996. In 2001, the university designated printmaking as a research centre of excellence, further directing the collecting focus to prints and works of art on paper. Today, UAMAC includes historical to contemporary works of art from local, national, and international artists, and ranges from public art located throughout campus, to the Mactaggart Art Collection.
