Mead Art Museum

The Mead Art Museum houses the art collection of Amherst College, spanning 5,000 years and encompassing the creative achievements of many world cultures.

Stearns Steeple Repair – Mead Courtyard and Galleries Temporarily Closed

The Mead Art Museum galleries are currently closed; please contact Michael Kunichika at mkunichika@amherst.edu directly with questions or concerns regarding access to other areas within the building.

COVID-19 Information

Please check the latest information on building access and protocols on the COVID-19 website.

COVID-19 Website

Explore the Mead's Current Exhibitions

A silhouette figurine in a dress is set on a red background. It casts a shadow, and its arms are bent upward at the elbow.

Liliana Porter: Two Realities

This exhibition foregrounds Argentinian-born, U.S.-based artist Liliana Porter’s decades-long consideration of “two realities”— “virtual reality” (a depiction of a thing) and the “real thing.”

Learn more!

Oil drawing of the face of a young man looking directly at the viewer. The bottom left corner of the cream background is splattered with grey dots.

5th Annual Black Art Matters Festival Student Showcase

The Black Art Matters Festival is an affirmation and celebration of Black student artists and creators. The festival exhibition opens on March 24, 2022.

Learn more!

Undergraduate Teaching and Learning at the Mead

Photograph of an Amherst College professor and the Mead Art Museum's Head of Education with three students teaching and learning in the galleries of the Mead. — Darryl Harper and Emily Potter-Ndiaye teaching in the galleries at the Mead

Open for Amherst College Classes

The Mead connects people, art, and curricula. Using the museum as a site for learning across disciplines and topics, Mead educators work with Amherst faculty to develop assignments, projects, and programs to deepen learning objectives. Our portfolio ranges from one-time visits to entire course partnerships, and we work well with a range of disciplines, from American Studies to Chemistry to History of Art.

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MEAD SEEDS

An Education Blog by the Mead Education Team

MEAD SEEDS is a home for updates on new and/or in-progress research, educational, and creative initiatives. Posts range from personal narratives to research notes. Check out the blog at the below link!

Explore the Blog

Black Lives Matter at the Mead

Recently, @BlackAmherstSpeaks shared a post on Instagram of a student who experienced racism within the Mead Art Museum. In the comments, another visitor shared an experience in which people from their tour group were racially profiled in our space. You can read the post here.

We believe Black Lives Matter and appreciate the labor of the folx running @BlackAmherstSpeaks and the bravery of the students and alumni who shared their experiences publicly. We offer a sincere apology to the individuals who shared their experience and anyone who has experienced racism within the Mead.

The Mead is committed to creating a museum environment in which every visitor feels welcome and comfortable. Our goal is always to create an environment in which Black and Indigenous people of color can engage with art and ideas. Clearly, the experiences @BlackAmherstSpeaks shared indicate that we have more work to do. We need to listen and take action to evaluate and ensure that our protocols make everyone feel welcome in the Mead, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, geography, citizenship status, neurodiversity, religion, or other identities or any combination of these identities.

Among other concrete plans, we intend to:

Develop, with input from students, alumni, staff, security, and colleagues, an anti-racism action plan across the Mead, including, but not limited to continued anti-bias training for staff, student lobby attendants, and security
Consult with our colleagues in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion for advice on the best way to audit our protocols
Provide all Mead staff with training in visitor experience and on the content in our exhibitions and programs, so they are prepared to create a welcoming experience
Create an ongoing forum that invites feedback from BIPOC about experiences of racism, racial profiling, and other factors that contribute to feeling welcomed
Launch and maintain an anonymous Google form to create opportunities for audience feedback on their experiences at the Mead

We encourage you to follow and share your experiences with @BlackAmherstSpeaks. We also welcome your direct feedback. You can email mead@amherst.edu, direct message @meadartmuseum on Facebook or Instagram, or submit anonymously using the google form linked here. Our Education team will review all feedback and share it with the broader staff in a way that ensures anonymity.