COLLECTIONS OVERVIEW

The UAM collections have brought the University and Long Beach area recognition from both the professional art community and international public. The museum collections of site-specific outdoor sculpture, works of art on paper, and the Gordon Hampton Collection of American painting and prints, feature examples of the work of the most important contemporary masters. Presented as major exhibitions, offered for examination by students and scholars, and circulated to national institutions, the UAM collections are a permanent, regional visual resource and archive of contemporary culture.

Explore the collections online via the UAM Collections Kiosk, where you can search for artists, browse different media and even make your own community portfolio of your favorite pieces from the collection.

Site-Specific Outdoor Sculpture Collection
The site-specific outdoor sculpture collection was begun in 1965 with the International Sculpture Symposium, the first to be held on a university campus in the United States. Supported by innovative partnerships with local industry, the international roster of invited artists generated nine major monumental works sited across the 322 acre CSULB campus. Since 1965, the collection has grown from nine to twenty-one works.

Gordon Hampton Collection of Mid-20th Century American Painting
Thanks to the generosity of the Gordon Hampton Foundation and the Hampton family, the UAM has received the largest gift of artwork in the history of the museum. The Hampton collection includes painting of such second-generation Abstract Expressionist artists as Lee Krasner, Michael Goldberg, Al Held, Milton Resnik, and Adolph Gottlieb. The works are installed at the law firm of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter and Hampton. This arrangement is a unique public/private partnership that has greatly enhanced opportunities for audiences to enjoy the collection.

UAM Works on Paper Collection
In 1979 the UAM began to regularly acquire works on paper with modest acquisition funds augmented by university allocations, grants, and private donations. These works are a documentary record of the university's arts involvement, and a source of delight to community members and K-12 students and teachers, enabling them to frequently examine "old friends" and to develop, in particular, a better understanding of the art of our time.