The Bates Museum of Museum of Art is a preeminent cultural center on campus, supporting the mission, values, and aspirations of the college.

Using exhibitions, collections, educational programs, and staff, the Museum leads and collaborates in interdisciplinary teaching and learning at Bates. We make the most of our intimate size and academic environment to create hands-on learning experiences, interactions with artists and scholars, and direct engagement with works of art. We take creative approaches to integrate art into college and area school curriculum.

We invite you to view our exhibitions, attend and participate in our programming, and become involved with the Museum!

Dan Mills, Director
Lecturer in the Humanities

Mission

As a teaching museum at a liberal arts college, the Museum of Art and its exhibitions, collections, stewardship, and interpretation bring a world of ideas to campus that enhance the vitality of the intellectual and cultural life of Bates, the surrounding communities, and beyond.

The Museum fulfills its mission by:

Exhibitions: Serving as a laboratory for thought-provoking exhibitions, art production, critical discussion, and scholarship;

Collections: Acquiring and providing stewardship to artworks of global significance that strengthen the collection and support the museum’s educational mission;

Educational Programming: Developing and implementing a wide variety of art-based, interdisciplinary programs that are integral to the education of Bates students, and within the broader community, include a special emphasis on K-12 students;

Scholarship: Supporting creative, rigorous, and original scholarship; and

Leadership Development: Providing professional training through career-focused internships, and cultivating leadership through formal engagement with the museum as scholars, artists, educators, and interns.