Collection Study Center

Home of the Museum’s Permanent Collection

Collection Study Center

The Museum’s Collection Study Center (CSC) is unique within the WSU system. While the new Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU places the arts at the heart of the student experience, the Collection Study Center provides an equally important portal for academic research and professional training through personalized access to the important works in WSU’s permanent collection. This new space, with open collection storage, viewing galleries, classroom areas, and expert collections staff will provide students opportunities to engage in academic research and courses, interdisciplinary collaborations, and professional training to further their chosen career goals.

Scope of the Collection

The Museum’s Collection was founded on a “collection of collections,” private holdings of late-19th and early-20th-century American painting representing the evolving taste and passion of individual collectors and entered the WSU public collection intact through gifts. Highlights include works of art by William Glackens, Worth Griffin, Z. Vanessa Helder, George Inness, and John Sloan.

The Collection is strong in contemporary art, especially British, European, and American prints, drawings, and photography since the 1970s. Highlights include works by many renowned artists, including Jim Dine, Helen Frankenthaler, Eva Hesse, Jasper Johns, Jacob Lawrence, Robert Motherwell, Robert Rauschenberg, Ed Ruscha, Cindy Sherman, Andy Warhol, and Carrie Mae Weems.

Small but significant holdings of contemporary Native American art include works by Rick Bartow, Joe Feddersen, Ric Gendron, James Lavadour, and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. Contemporary glass and ceramic art are also represented. Art commissioned expressly for the Museum by Northwest artists Trimpin, Jeffry Mitchell, and Marie Watt round out the Museum’s contemporary holdings, and indicate a nascent but important collecting direction.

Search the Collection

Search our permanent collection here.

Visit the Collection

The Collection Study Center is available for tours by appointment only. To schedule a tour during open hours, please contact our Collection Manager Ann Saberi at amsaberi@wsu.edu.

Community Access | With the Collection Study Center, we have seen heightened community access and utilization of the collection. Previously this type of outreach was restricted to class groups as we lacked the infrastructure to promote our shared resource more fully. Currently we open the CSC by appointment only, but as the program grows, it may be possible to staff the collections area to maintain regular hours, providing access to the collection and student-curated exhibitions.

Faculty Partners | Additionally, the curatorial team welcomes orientation workshops geared to campus faculty partners.The goal of these orientations is to help faculty find ways to utilize collection access to support their curricula and teaching goals. Many departments on campus have voiced their enthusiasm for adapting object-based learning strategies into their pedagogy.

LOCATION | The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU is located in the Crimson Cube (on Wilson Road across from Martin Stadium and the CUB) on the WSU Pullman campus. For more information please contact the museum at 509-335-1910. The museum is currently open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 AM to 4 PM, and closed Sunday and Monday.