New faculty and others who have yet to work with the museum staff are encouraged to contact us if you would like to discuss how we may be a resource for you and your students. We have developed programs including exhibition tours, collection seminars by material/discipline, and can participate in or support conversations on a variety of art/interdisciplinary topics. We are also open to developing something with you.  Email the Education Curator to learn more. 

Prior to the start of each semester, museum staff look at what exhibitions and events we have planned with special attention given to what courses will be taught at that time.  The Winter 2024 Museum and Curricular Connections document, includes exhibitions, programming, and permanent collection highlights, and the courses listed in the document seem to us to be particularly relatable to the museum’s exhibitions and collections. Regardless of whether or not your course is on the list, let us know how we can support your teaching if you see a connection! 

Viewings of exhibitions can be dynamic additions to your courses, with students able to experience dramatic installations of thematically related artworks. The curators can be on-hand to lead discussion about the exhibition, or to merely assist with scheduling your visit, at your preference. To assist you, the Education Curator will need your name; the course/s you want to bring and the number of students enrolled; the exhibition/s you would like to explore; and the dates and time of day you are most interested in.

Viewings of collections can be dynamic additions to your courses, with students able to see artworks up close, often without any intervening glazing. The curators can be on-hand to lead discussion about the objects or to merely assist with presenting collections while you guide the conversation, at your preference. 

Please fill out this form to request a visit time.

To support teaching and learning at Bates, the Museum of Art’s permanent collection of over 8,000 objects is now available and searchable online. Please keep in mind, the database is not complete; it is an ongoing project.

Some of the collection’s strengths include the Marsden Hartley Memorial Collection, modern and contemporary works on paper, select holdings of pre-modern prints, contemporary Chinese art (particularly photographs), Pre-Columbian art, African art, and works by Maine artists and artists of national and international significance working in Maine.

If you are conducting research and would like to request more information about object records, please contact our Assistant Collections Manager/Registrar, Corie Audette, at caudette@bates.edu.

Click here for more information about features and use of our online database.

To view the Museum’s online collection, please visit museum.bates.edu.

Funded by the Synergy Fund, the Bates Museum Faculty Scholar Course Release Grant Program creates opportunities for Bates faculty to bring new and interdisciplinary perspectives to the understanding and use of the museum’s permanent collection, and to integrate the collection into their scholarship and teaching. The program accomplishes this by providing a course release for one semester so that a faculty member can devote a concentrated period of time to research the museum’s permanent collection, and a $750 stipend for grant-related expenses (travel, publications, etc).

Tenured or tenure-track faculty, and ongoing lecturers are eligible to apply.

The museum’s program of events and activities can provide a perfect way for you to add depth or breadth to a class you are teaching. If you plan to include a museum event on a course syllabus, please contact the Education Curator to discuss details so that we can be best prepared to make this resource as useful as possible.

Faculty input is critical to the museum’s success. If you have an idea for an event that will link the museum to your research, teaching, or other professional, please let us know by contacting the Director or Education Curator.