The IU Art Museum has been ranked as one of the best university art museums in the country by Architectural Digest.
Though the list does not have a numerical ranking, the museum was ranked as one of the top 15 university art museums in the country, Abraham Morris, manager of public relations and marketing at the museum, said in an email.
“The building itself is truly a work of art, and you really can’t appreciate it fully until you step inside,” Morris said.
Morris said the museum was chosen based on the architectural significance of the building and the museum’s art collection. The building, designed by I.M. Pei in the early 1980s, is home to more than 45,000 pieces of art. The list references pieces in the collection by Monet and Picasso, a set of Marcel Duchamp’s 1964 “Readymades” and the museum’s collection of ancient jewelry.
“The encyclopedic nature of our collection allows visitors to see art from across the world and across the ages all in one visit,” Morris said. “It is rare for a university art museum to have as comprehensive a collection as we do.”
Other museums included on the list are those at University of California at Los Angeles, Harvard University, Yale University and the Rhode Island School of Design. It is also one of the few Big Ten Universities to be ranked on the list, along with the museums at Michigan State, the University of Minnesota and Northwestern University.
This is not the first time the museum has been recognized. The museum, which is the second largest art museum in the state, was also recently recognized by CollegeRank.net as one of the “50 Most Amazing College Museums,” Morris said, and it also received the 2015 Visit Bloomington Tourism Award for “Best Attraction.”
“When people think of artistic and cultural centers they think of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles; but thanks to Indiana University's sustained support of the arts and the city's robust arts community, you can enjoy the culture of a large metropolitan area without all of the big city hassle right here in Bloomington,” Morris said. “It is one of the things that makes Indiana University and this town truly great, and we are proud to be a part of that.”
Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission to the museum is free.
