University Museums Mission
The University Museums seeks to enhance the educational and scholarly mission of the University of Delaware through the exhibition, online presentation, study, preservation and growth of its unique collections in 20th and 21st century American art (with particular strengths in the Brandywine School, African American art, and photography), minerals and pre-Columbian ceramics. The University Museums enriches cultural life beyond the campus through presentation of the work of recognized artists, and through outreach programs to selected audiences, including K-12 students, educators and historically black colleges and universities.
Mechanical Hall
Following an award winning renovation, Mechanical Hall reopened in 2004 as the home of the Paul R. Jones Collection of African American Art. This gift to the University by the Atlanta collector Paul R. Jones has served as a point of departure for a growing collection of African American art, as well as related faculty and student initiatives.
The African American art collection at UD today includes the founding Paul R. Jones gift, an impressive survey of prints from the Brandywine Workshop in Philadelphia, and important photographs by P.H. Polk. The gallery in Mechanical Hall offers changing exhibitions of African American Art and related topics. In addition to gallery space, the building houses a print room for the use of those studying objects in the collection.
Built in 1898, Mechanical Hall is on the National Register of Historic Places. Its purpose changed throughout the twentieth century, serving as an engineering building, an athletic training center, a residence for GI’s returning to school after World War II, and a ROTC building.
The Mineralogical Museum
The Mineralogical Museum in Penny Hall originated with the gift of the Irenée du Pont, Sr. collection in 1964. A significant part of this collection was purchased in 1919 by Mr. du Pont from George Kunz, Vice-President of Tiffany & Co, and had been on display in the Tiffany showroom in New York City.
A grant from the Crystal Trust enabled the University to move the collection from the University Library to a new facility in Penny Hall in the early 1970s. Mrs. David S. Craven, a niece of Irenée du Pont, for many years provided annual funds for acquisitions and for care of the collection, which has grown in size and in quality over the years with the support of David A. Byers, Frederick A. Keidel, Alvin B. Stiles and other generous donors.
The Mineralogical Museum supports the programs of the University, provides educational resources for regional schools and attracts mineral enthusiasts. The Museum was renovated in 2009 and displays approximately 450 specimens with a focus on crystallized minerals, including gem minerals, classics from early European and American localities and specimens from significant recent discoveries.
The Old College Gallery
The Old College Gallery is housed in Old College, a National Historic Register building constructed in 1834, on the north campus of the University of Delaware in Newark. Following renovation, Old College Gallery reopened in fall 2010 at the home for the University of Delaware art collection.
Highlights on view include significant works by Brandywine School artists Howard Pyle, Stanley Arthurs, Frank Schoonover, and N.C. Wyeth; Pre-Columbian and Southwest Native American ceramics and American sculpture and painting of the 20th century. A select collection of Russian icons from the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is also on view.
In addition to the permanent exhibition, the Old College Gallery features changing exhibitions, focusing on works from the Permanent Collection as well as loan exhibitions. Recent and upcoming exhibitions include: Andy Warhol:Behind the Camera; Natural Histories: Recent work by Virginia Bradley; Recent Gifts and Acquisitions and Gertrude Kasebier.