The Krannert Art Museum (KAM) is a fine
art museum
An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership, be accessible to all, or have restrictions in place. Although ...
located at the
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...
in
Champaign, Illinois
Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in ...
, United States. It has of space devoted to all periods of art, dating from
ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...
to contemporary photography
The museum's collectionof more than 11,000 objects can be accessed online and includes specializations in 20th-century art,
Asian art, and
pre-Columbian
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...
art, particularly works from the
Andes
The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
.
In addition to collection galleries, the museum features 6 to 10 special exhibitions each year from national and international museum collections as well as exhibitions of art by contemporary artists, faculty and graduate and undergraduate students .
History
The museum was designed by architect Ambrose Richardson and opened in 1961.
An addition to the museum was completed in 1988. This addition, the Kinkead Pavilion, was the creation of Larry Booth and Associates. The building incorporates contemporary Egyptian art decorative elements in an overall
post-modernist design. The museum is named for benefactors
Herman C. Krannert and his wife
Ellnora Krannert in recognition of Ellnora's interest in the arts. With over 132,000 visitors annually, the museum supports scholarship through the Fred and Donna Giertz Education Center.
In 2012, the Krannert Art Museum opened a newly redesigned gallery of
African art
African art encompasses modern and historical paintings, sculptures, installations, and other visual cultures originating from indigenous African diaspora, African communities across the African continent. The definition may also include the ar ...
entitled Encounters: The Arts of Africa. A renovation of additional main floor galleries was completed in 2017. In 2019, the museum opened Art Since 1948, a long-term collections installation focused on KAM's collection of modern and contemporary art.
Collections
Major collections of the museum include the Trees Collection of European and American Painting, Harlan E. and Theresa E. Moore Gallery of Decorative Arts, the Olsen Collection of Ancient Andean art, Encounters: The Arts of Africa, Art Since 1948.
The museum is a unit within the
University of Illinois College of Fine and Applied Arts.
See also
*
Champaign County Museums Network
References
External links
*
*
Museums in Champaign, Illinois
Art museums and galleries in Illinois
University museums in Illinois
Institutions accredited by the American Alliance of Museums
Buildings and structures of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
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