Kennedy Museum of Art’s collections include more than 8000 objects drawn from a broad range of cultures. Notably, the Museum possesses a unique and culturally significant collection of Southwest Native American arts. This extensive collection includes nearly 700 weavings, primarily Navajo, and examples of Zuni, Hopi and Navajo turquoise and silverwork jewelry. Additionally, collections include a renowned post-1945 print collection, a growing photography collection, 20th century art, ceramics, and a notable collection of African art which includes textiles, sculpture, jewelry, and ceremonial items from central and western Africa.
Faculty, students, and scholars interested in accessing the collections should contact Kennedy Museum of Art staff at least three weeks in advance prior to their visit. Special viewing arrangements can be made for University classes as well. To schedule a visit please submit a Collections Access Request Form to Lisa Quinn, Registrar, quinnl@ohio.edu .
Prints
Kennedy Museum of Art’s print collection includes more than 1600 works, by artists such as Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenburg, Roy Lichtenstein, Jennifer Bartlett, Helen Frankenthaler, Chuck Close, Shusaku Arakawa, Susan Rothenberg, Josef Albers, Elizabeth Murray, Jim Dine, Jenny Holzer, Yvonne Jacquette, Andy Warhol and many more.
Photography
Kennedy Museum of Art holds a diverse collection of more than 650 photographs, from the masterful pictorialist work of Clarence H. White to the iconic jazz portraiture of Herman Leonard. Other highlights include the work of photojournalist James Karales, who covered the civil rights struggle and the Vietnam conflict for Look magazine, a series of portraits of the Navajo code talkers made in the early 1980s by Kenji Kawano.
Ceramics and Sculpture
Kennedy Museum of Art's ceramics collection contains over 100 works ranging from traditional Pueblo pottery to contemporary sculptural vessels and forms. This collection is an exciting area of growth for the Museum due in part to donations from many of the notable ceramic artists who come to Ohio University’s School of Art + Design as visiting artists.
Southwest Native American Arts
Thanks to the generosity of Ohio University alumnus and Museum namesake Edwin L. Kennedy, Ohio University possesses a unique and culturally significant collection of Southwest Native American art. Kennedy Museum of Art’s Edwin L. and Ruth E. Kennedy Southwest Native American Collection includes textiles and jewelry items of predominantly Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni origin. The collection spans the entire history of Southwest Native American jewelry and textile production.
African Art and Culture
Consisting of more than 400 objects, the Museum's African art collection includes textiles, masks, sculpture, jewelry, costumes, and ceremonial items from Nigeria, Liberia, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, and Zaire.