University of Michigan Spectrum Center

A wing is under renovation until I believe October 2026 - something about flooring replacement in the historic wing. That takes out almost all European AND American art from the golden period of about 1870-1920+ Apparently the collection is quite strong there and all presently off view. What's left is one neat installation, one silly (watch people eat), a smattering of contemporary, a Picasso or two, and Asia/India, et al. A lot of the modern is color saturation stuff - wall high paintings where someone 'explores' white. Never got it. I'd almost give a 2 star vs. what I hoped to find, except that the University itself is very picturesque to walk around and this little section of Ann Arbor really entranced me - even if street parking is a challenge (I'm stubborn that way)

The museum is free and one of the best university art museums I have seen…especially if you enjoy modern and contemporary art. The cafe is not tempting, alas. We thought of eating there but walked to Zingerman’s instead.

I really enjoyed the art, but I almost didn't get to experience it because I use a wheelchair. My husband and I came on Valentine's Day. On the website they warn that the elevator is not always in use, so I called ahead and was told that it was working that day. I was so excited to find accessible date night plans and we drove 40 minutes to get there, and I was very disappointed when the person at the front desk told me the elevator was out of service and I would not have access to the museum, except for a small area with some old newspapers. When I told her that we had called ahead, she said that it went out of service 15 minutes ago and there was nothing she could do. To be frank, I felt it was a bit inappropriate how much this staff member tried to convince me that "it's okay!" and to be excited about being able to access maybe 5% of the museum. I realize she was probably uncomfortable, but it's not my job to tell her it's okay, like I'm totally content not being able to access any of the art. It's not okay to discriminate against disabled people and you can't really sugar coat it. When I realized I would not be able to access the museum, I nearly immediately went home. Another staff member noticed us and told me he would be right back, and a moment later he told me he would move the sign and we could use the elevator. I am very confused on if the elevator was ever truly out of service, because at the front desk she was firm that there was absolutely nothing she could do, but it seems the other staff member just moved a sign out of the way. I'm glad he did, because I enjoyed the museum a lot and it was totally accessible otherwise. The elevator appeared to be working perfectly fine, I'm not sure why I was initially going to be turned away.

The University of Michigan Museum of Art is located on central campus and is a beautiful, huge, newly renovated place to take a break and spend some time. If you're traveling with your family like me, be sure to pick up the art scavenger hunt which engages kids and brings five of their pieces alive. There are lots of nice places to sit, admission is free, and it would be a great place to study. If you're looking for a quiet place with a high ceiling and lots of light the art museum is for you. I used to love coming here as a student. It was super fun coming back and seeing all the improvements two decades later – and enjoying it with my family.

It had been more than a year since my last visit to UMMA, and this visit did not disappoint! New exhibits to see and some gallery refreshes too. Having heard Machine Dazzle's presentation in the Penny Stamps lecture series in March, I wanted to see his Ouroboros installation. So I grabbed a friend who hadn't been to UMMA in years and came to the museum. We started with Ouroboros, and were quite taken by it for its whimsy and its reuse of trash within the context of life cycles and waste and rebirth. Beware: this installation is not for appropriate for all ages. Moving throughout the museum...two buildings with multiple levels, we explored the other exhibitions. The Angkor Complex: ​Cultural Heritage and Post-Genocide Memory in Cambodia exhibit is disturbing yet we see some beautiful art has come of it. Future Cache is a memorial to the Native American tribespeople living in the northern Lower Peninsula losing everything when their land and homes were destroyed by fire set by local authorities. We visited every gallery and found something of interest in each. Of notes were the Tiffany pieces that once stood in a New York City mansion, saved from demolition, now on permanent display; the designs are stunning! Another return visit creating new memories with a friend!

Excellent collection housed in beautiful building constructed next to an older building Wayfinding is a bit difficult as you work your way through the collections. Enjoyed the superb exhibit exploring the legacies of slavery. The permanent collection is wide-ranging and especially strong in modernism and contemporary art.

A relative recommended this museum while we were visiting Ann Arbor and we were glad we went to see it. The museum is nicely arranged in two main sections -- an original building and a modern one. The collection that is displayed is manageable to see in several hours and have time to read the information about the works. There are a number of paintings by well known artists in the original building including several that I didn't recall seeing or hearing of before, so they were interesting to see. In the modern building, there was a fascinating sculpture made of musical instruments. The Korean ceramic and art collection was also very impressive. Over all, we had a very enjoyable afternoon at the museum. Parking was easy using the meters right in front of the building but that may have been because classes weren't in session when we were there.

Fantastic free art gallery located at the heart of the University of Michigan campus. A great way to spend an afternoon just pursuing the spaces of this gorgeous gallery. There are stairs connecting the various floors but there are also elevators and everything is disability accessible. Bathrooms are located on the very bottom floor (don’t be fooled by the closet area next to the coat racks at check-in!) This is also where the Study Cases are located and, in my opinion, some of the best artwork in the gallery: the Inuit carvings are striking and hauntingly beautiful. I only had a very short time to visit, a little over an hour, but I was able to see quite a bit in that time. I focused my attention on the Chinese and Korean art galleries, as well as the Modern and Contemporary Art. I was pleasantly surprised to find FOUR Picassos on display! My favorite exhibition was UMMA’s Vertical Gallery, with art by Andrea Carlson. In Andrea Carlson’s Future Cache, a 40-foot-tall memorial wall towers over visitors, commemorating the Cheboiganing (Burt Lake) Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians who were violently burned from their land in Northern Michigan on October 15, 1900. Written across the walls above and around the memorial, a statement proclaims Anishinaabe rights to the land we stand on: “You are on Anishinaabe Land.” To say I was thrilled to see Ojibwe written on a huge vertical wall in the middle of a public space is an understatement! Presented alongside the typography are paintings of imagined decolonized landscapes and a symbolic cache of provisions. This installation challenges visitors to reflect on how they have benefited from the legacies of colonization, to consider where they stand, and where to go from here. It also seeks to foster a sense of belonging for displaced Indigenous peoples fighting for restitution. I definitely recommend everyone come visit this exhibition: on view from now until June 2024.

The morning was blustery and cold, and we thought the museum might be closed for the holidays, but happily it was open and we thought it was wonderful. We enjoyed all the Native American exhibits and the museum is full of interesting things, beautifully curated and displayed.

Varied and well-curated exhibits. Excellent descriptive labels. Very manageable if you are pressed for time; we did not complete the entire museum but would definitely go back for a second visit.