The Brigham Young University Museum of Art In Provo, Utah0

A Wonderful Boutique Art Museum in Provo, Utah

Nestled away near the mountains on the Brigham Young University campus in Provo, Utah is the top-rated Brigham Young University Museum of Art (BYU-MOA). This museum offers a lot of wonderful art exhibitions.

The Brigham Young University Museum of Art is a world-class art museum located in Provo, Utah. The museum exhibits artwork from many well-known artists. The Brigham Young University Museum of Art is one of the largest and best-attended art museums in the Mountain West.

If you are in the Provo, Utah area, this is an art museum that is worth visiting. The museum admission is usually free and the museum offers a unique experience to all that visit.

The Brigham Young University Museum of Art – Provo, Utah

The Brigham Young University (BYU) Museum of Art is located on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. This museum is the primary art museum of Brigham Young University.

The BYU Museum of Art is one of the top University-based Art Museums in the United States. It is also one of the most highly attended Art Museums in the Mountain West of the United States.

BYU Museum of Art – History

In 1959 Brigham Young University received a donation of art from the American social-realist sculptor and artist Mahonri Mackintosh Young. He was the grandson of Brigham Young, the second President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and also the namesake for Brigham Young University. After the donation of Mahonri Young, other donations of art also came to the University.

During this time Brigham Young University did not have a Museum and so the works of art were stored at the Harris Fine Arts Building on the BYU campus. Brigham Young University understood that storing valuable works of art in the Harris Fine Arts building was not a viable long-term solution. A plan was put in place to build a world-class museum of art on the campus of Brigham Young University to properly display its vast collection of valuable artwork.

In 1991 the ground was broken for the new BYU Museum of Art. The Brigham Young University Museum of Art was formally open in October 1993.

BYU Museum of Art – The Design Phase

The BYU Museum of Art was designed by the Los Angeles architect James Langenheim. James Langenheim was the initial architect who designed the concept of the iconic mid-century modern space-age structure at the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California.

The design of the BYU Art Museum Building is considered a work of art. The building’s outside triangular shape and windows gives a constant change in form and light. On most days you can see the Utah Wasatch mountain range and surrounding area reflected in the art museum windows.

The BYU Museum of Art also had some top-rated museum lighting and exhibition design from LeMar Terry and Stuart Silver. Both Terry and Silver were top in their fields in lighting and museum exhibition design.

LeMar Terry helped revolutionized the field of museum lighting and was the founder of the International Association of Lighting Designers. During his expansive career, Terry worked on lighting for many diverse projects as Sesame Street – to the Statue of Liberty – to the Epcot Center at Disneyworld.

Stuart Silver, a former lighting and design director at the Metropolitan of Museum Art (MET) in New York City also worked with the BYU Museum of Art on their exhibit and lighting design. During his time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, Silver was credited for his innovative work in the MET museum exhibition and lighting design.

This is why for a University-based art museum the lighting and exhibits at the BYU Museum of Art are very sophisticated and similar to what you would see at any top-rated art museum anywhere in the world.

Terry and Silver, along with other experts from the Smithsonian, the Getty Museum and the National Gallery of Art, helped with the design of the BYU Museum of Art. The objective for all was to design a world-class art museum on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

Some facts about the BYU Museum of Art:

Here are some facts about the BYU Museum of Art.

Four Story Museum – The museum is a four-story modern building with more than 102,000 square feet (9,476 Square Meters).
Extensive Museum Services and Facilities – The Museum has over ten exhibition galleries, an auditorium, classrooms, a small theatre, a print study room, a gift shop, and a cafe. The Cafe overlooks a sculpture garden and reflecting pool. You can find out more about the MOA Cafe by clicking here. These extensive museum facilities put the museum on par with many other boutique art museums in the United States and around the world.
Purchase prints online – If you want to purchase some of their art prints, you can buy them online by clicking here.
High Student attendance – The museum has worked closely with Brigham Young University to make the museum part of some of the student course work.
Master’s Degree Programs – The university has a master’s degree in Art History and Curatorial Studies that has a formal collaboration with the museum and the university’s College of Fine Arts and Communications. This collaboration ensures the BYU students obtain valuable hands-on experience at the BYU Museum of Art.
Museum Teaching Staff – The Museum personnel teach several courses at BYU in both undergraduate and graduate programs.
Community and Education Outreach – The BYU Museum of Art has a massive community outreach program that hosts an array of educational programs for all ages, from K-12 to university, family, and the wider community audience. You can find out more about their education programs by clicking here.
MOA Family Programming – There is a BYU Museum of Art family programing at home that has some suggestions for art that you can do with your children at home. You can find out more by MOA Family Programming at Home by clicking here.
BYU Museum of Art App – The BYU Museum of Art also has an app that you can download from the Apple App Store or as an Android App. This app will tell you all about the different art that is on display at the museum. This app is a great way to be able to see their exhibits. You can download the Apple App by clicking here and the Android App by clicking here.
Virtual Tours – The museum will sometimes offer virtual tours of their exhibits. You can visit their website to find out if they have any virtual tours, click here to find out more.

BYU Museum of Art Collections

The Museum has an extensive collection of over 17,000 works of Art. This is a very large collection so they have never had space to permanently display all their works of art at once. Because of this, they have a lot of rotating exhibitions.

BYU Museum of Art Exhibitions

The BYU Museum of Art has some wonderful exhibitions. Many times they will curate work from top museums around the world for their exhibits. It is because of their ability to bring in so many wonderful exhibits to the Provo, Utah area that the museum continues to draw visitors from not only the university but throughout the mountain west.

You can find out more about the museum’s current exhibition including any past and upcoming exhibitions by visiting their website exhibitions page by clicking here.

BYU Museum of Art Collections

The BYU Museum of Art includes some works of art from artists are Rembrandt to the American iconic painter of Norman Rockwell. They also have a large collection of work by the Danish artist Carl Bloch.

Here are some of the highlights from the museum’s very extensive collection:

Rembrandt (1606-1669) – The museum has 26 Rembrandt etching.
Carl Bloch (1834-1890) – The museum has quite a few original Carl Block paintings and etchings. To find out more about Carl Bloch you can read our blog 18 Facts About The Artist Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834 – 1890) by clicking here.
Japanese Woodblock Prints (1603 -1919) – The Mahonri M Young estate gave the university some very old Japanese block prints. The prints were originally purchased by the American Impressionist artist Julian Alden Weir (1852-1919). Mahonri M. Young married his daughter.
Maynard Dixon (1875 – 1932) – The BYU Museum of Art has one of the largest collections Maynard Dixon’s works of art. Maynard Dixon was a Western American artist that focused on painting scenes and people from the western United States.
C.C.A. Christensen (1831-1912) – C. C. A. Christensen is a Danish-born artist who is known for his paintings about historical events from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Minerva Teichert (1888-1976) – Minerva was an American artist who painted a lot of western scenes and scenes from the scriptures. You can learn more about Minerva by reading our blog Who Was The Western American Artist Minerva Teichert (1888-1976)? by clicking here

You can view the museum’s full collections you go to their collections page on their website by clicking here.

BYU Museum of Art – Visitors Guide

If you are in the area of Provo, Utah and would like to visit the BYU Museum of Art here are a few things to remember:

Admission – The admission to the museum is always free as is the entrance to most exhibits. For some special exhibits, they may charge a special admissions fee. To find out more, you can call the museum at +1-801-422-8287 or check their website by clicking here.
Museum Hours – The museum is open at night on Monday, Thursday, and Friday nights (10 am to 9 pm) and will close early on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. (10 am to 6 pm) It is always closed on Sundays and public holidays. To find out more about the museum hours please click here.
Parking – One of your major concerns when visiting the BYU Museum of Art is parking. BYU is a large campus and parking is heavily regulated, especially before 5 pm on the days the university is in session. There are free visitor parking spots for the museum at the north entrance on North Campus Drive. If you have any questions you can call the museum at +1-801-422-8287 or check out the information on their website but clicking here.

The BYU Museum of Art is on the campus of Brigham Young University which is associated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so no smoking or drinking of alcohol is allowed anywhere on the campus including the museum. If you want to find out more about the museum etiquette please read their rules by clicking here.

Visiting the BYU Museum of Art is worth a visit. This is a top-rated museum that offers its visitors some wonderful exhibits. It is a place where you can go to the museum for lunch at the Cafe and then spend the afternoon browsing their many interesting collections. You can finish the day by shopping at their small museum shop they have on-site.

Who Was The Christus Statue Artist Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844)?

Bertel Thorvaldsen was a Danish artist, who was born into poverty in Copenhagen Denmark. He was accepted to Denmark’s Royal Danish Academy of Art at a young age. While he was at the academy he won an award which gave him a stipend to travel to Italy to further his art education. His first real artistic break came when he received a commission for the famous Jason statue. This commission led to his success in Italy and all throughout Europe. He has many statues in major cities around Europe. Thorvaldsen returned to Denmark in 1838 as a national hero. He was commissioned to sculpture the Christus statue at the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen. There is the Thorvaldsen Museum in Denmark that has a large collection of his artwork.

To find out more about Bertel Thorvaldsen you can read our blog on 25 Facts About The Christus Statue Artist Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844) by clicking here.

What Are Some Other Virtual Art Museum Tours?

Stuck at home and getting tired of watching Netflix? Why not try to go on an actual virtual tour to see some of the world’s greatest art museums right from your home? Now you can tour some of the world’s greatest art museums and galleries right from your own home. There are art museums all over the world, who are offering free virtual tours of their collections.

To find out more about some of the virtual tours you can take, you can read our blog on 11 Virtual Art Museum Tours That Will Cost You Nothing by clicking here.