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About
Our Mission
The Yale University Art Gallery collects, preserves, studies, and presents art in all media, from all regions of the globe and across time. The museum’s exceptional collection—numbering over 300,000 objects—is the core of its identity. It sustains and catalyzes all we do.
Founded in 1832, the Gallery is the oldest university art museum in America. Today, it is a center for teaching, learning, and scholarship and is a preeminent cultural asset for Yale University, the wider academic community, and the public. The museum is open to all, free of charge, and is committed to engaging audiences through thoughtful, creative, and relevant exhibitions, programs, and publications.
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Strategic Plan
New Voices, New Perspectives
Beginning in 2020, the Gallery’s staff reflected together on our remarkable past and our exciting future. We set goals to strengthen our work over the next five years, guided by the values of commitment, inclusivity, integrity, innovation, and preservation.
![Outdoors, many people sit at a long table covered in bright pink fabric. The people are sewing smaller geometric shapes to the pink cloth. Passersby walk alongside the participants on the sidewalk.](/sites/default/files/styles/max_800x800/public/2024-07/2024-ag-doc-2722-0045-pub.jpg?itok=CAOvVTBh)
Views of the Gallery
![Visitors in the American art galleries.](/sites/default/files/styles/max_800x800/public/2023-02/2023-ag-doc-2078-0011-pub.jpg?itok=OVwQVcON)
![Visitors in the Modern and Contemporary art galleries.](/sites/default/files/styles/max_800x800/public/2023-02/2023-ag-doc-2157-0022-pub.jpg?itok=UOVkiEvU)
![Visitors in the Ancient Art sculpture hall.](/sites/default/files/styles/max_800x800/public/2023-02/2023-ag-doc-1858-0010-pub.jpg?itok=J6oJT5rD)
![Young boy and his family work on art-making activities during a visit to the Gallery.](/sites/default/files/styles/max_800x800/public/2023-02/2023-ag-doc-1843-0125-pub.jpg?itok=6E74O8G8)
![Couple in front of Monet's landscape painting of Port-Domois, Belle-Isle, with man taking a photo of the work.](/sites/default/files/styles/max_800x800/public/2023-02/2023-ag-doc-1858-0002-pub.jpg?itok=PtXNAU-Z)
Annual Reports
Related Content
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Director’s Letter
Read a message from Stephanie Wiles, the Henry J. Heinz II Director.
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Visit
The Gallery is free and open to the public from Tuesday through Sunday.
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Architecture
Learn about the three historic buildings, designed by four architects, that house the Gallery’s collection.
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Wurtele Study Center
A state-of-the-art educational and research facility that offers access to over 42,000 objects in the collection.