Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art
Overview
The University of Oklahoma’s Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art has over 20,000 items in its permanent collection. The museum’s permanent collection includes French Impressionism and 20th-century American painting, sculpture, and traditional Native American art. It also contains contemporary Asian art, photography, ceramics, contemporary art, and graphics from 16th century through the present. [1]
Histories
Oklahoma University Museum of Art was established in 1936 by Oscar Jacobson, an OU art professor. He became the museum’s first Director and held that position until his retirement in 1950. [a]
As the collection grew, a new building, called the Fred Jones Jr. Memorial Art Center, was constructed in 1971. It was renamed in 1992 the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. David Boren, the current president of OU, arrived at OU in 1994 with his wife Molly Shi Boren. They began a campaign for expanding the museum’s collection.
The museum received a gift from the Weitzenhoffer Collection for French Impressionism in 2000. The museum was expanded with the addition in 2005 of a new wing. Construction began in 2003. Hugh Jacobsen, a Washington, D.C.-based architect designed the new “hut-like” wing that doubled museum size. [3] The new addition was named after Mary and Howard Lester, both of San Francisco. [citation needed]
The Eugene B. Adkins Collection was stewarded by the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in 2007 and the Philbrook Museum of Art in 2008. In 2009, the University built a new level on top of the existing structure to display the OU portion. The new 18,000-square-foot wing houses collections that were acquired in the last 15 years. It was opened to the public in October 2011. Rand Elliott designed the addition, which is called the Stuart Wing in honor of a gift from The Stuart Family Foundation. Renovations were made to the 1971 building, as well as the addition of the Eugene B. Adkins Gallery and administrative offices. The museum’s total exhibition space measures approximately 40,000 square feet (3.700 m2). [citation needed]
Ghislain d’Humieres was the Wylodean Director and Bill Saxon Chief Curator from 2007 to 2013. From 2007 to 2013, Ghislain d’Humieres was the Wylodean Director and Bill Saxon Chief Curator. Mark White was appointed the Wylodean, Bill Saxon Director and Eugene B. Adkins curator in 2015. White resigned in April 2020. [4]