Funding Priority

Ensure Access for All: Unrestricted Support

We are committed to remaining free for all. Gifts of unrestricted support give us the ability to allocate funds to the areas of greatest need. Your gift not only furthers our mission, but also gives us more flexibility to create innovative educational materials, provide state-of-the-art interpretation resources, initiate public outreach and more.

Ackland Art Museum

More Ackland Art Museum Funding Priorities

Arts
Break New Ground: Facilities
With such a large collection in just over 10,000 square feet of gallery space, we are bursting at the seams! More space will mean the ability to display more works of art and to increase research and conservation efforts while offering more dynamic, flexible programmatic and educational spaces and public amenities. We want to provide our community with the greatest ease of access and latest innovations that updated and reimagined spaces can offer.
Arts
Lead the Conversation: Endowed Positions
Our curatorial team works tirelessly to research and display our collection. Our educators use the collection to inform all visitors — from UNC classes to K-12 students to the general public. Continuing to recruit motivated talent will ensure that the breadth of our collection and expertise is represented in the galleries. An expanded staff offers innumerable possibilities for scholarship, collaboration and discovery.
Arts
Become a Destination: A Celebrated Collection
The Museum’s permanent collection consists of almost 19,000 works of art, featuring North Carolina’s premier collections of Asian art and works of art on paper (drawings, prints and photographs), as well as significant collections of European masterworks, 20th-century and contemporary art, and North Carolina pottery. To become a true destination for local, national and global audiences, the Ackland must continue to expand its permanent collection to represent the entire world’s scope of visual creativity and diversity. Our acquisitions committee works diligently to acquire global art that will enhance our offerings and help us become a truly encyclopedic museum.
Arts
Create an Experience: Programs and Initiatives
We foster a broader understanding of the world by creating dynamic experiences that cultivate new ways of seeing. Art is the supreme form of communication; it creates empathy, appreciation and understanding. We strive to continue building on existing programs to expand our work, attract new audiences, and push the boundaries of tradition with new and innovative offerings.

Explore Stories

Arts

Rare Rembrandts and other Dutch Drawings

Take a peek at the Peck Collection’s first major exhibition

An engraving of two indigenous people of North Carolina by Theodor de Bry

Arts

Michael N. Joyner ’77 Donates Collection of Rare Engravings

Michael N. Joyner ’77 donates collection of rare engravings depicting North Carolina’s original inhabitants to the Ackland Art Museum.

A member of the Hamel family stands inside a sculpture outside of the Ackland Art Museum

Arts

Carolina’s Jewel

The Ackland Museum fosters a comfortable and family-friendly environment.

Hanging posters promoting the Ackland Art Museum

Arts

Building a Foundation

"Being a fellow at the Ackland was an invaluable experience."

Painting at the Ackland Art Museum

Arts

Teaching while learning — the student guide experience

"Teaching others about art while also still learning new information never gets old."

The Barzin Family

Arts

‘A place that has given us so much’

“It is an incredible gift to be able to view and learn about art in such an accessible venue.”