Georgia Museum of Art (University of Georgia)

The Georgia Museum of Art on the campus of the University of Georgia at 90 Carlton St in Athens, Georgia, is the official state art museum of Georgia and the oldest art museum in the state, founded in 1945. It occupies a purpose-built building on the eastern edge of the UGA campus, approximately 70 miles northeast of Atlanta, and holds a permanent collection of approximately 18,000 works — among the most significant holdings in the Southeast for an institution of its size.

The collection is strongest in American paintings from the 18th through the 20th centuries, with particular depth in Southern regionalist works, the Hudson River School, and American Impressionism. The Samuel H. Kress Collection of Italian Renaissance and Baroque paintings, donated in the 1960s, provides European depth and includes works by Italian masters not otherwise represented in the region. The museum also holds strong holdings in works on paper — drawings, prints, and photographs — and decorative arts including American silver and furniture.

The building contains eight permanent collection galleries and several temporary exhibition spaces. An average of 14 exhibitions per year are mounted, many originating from partner institutions across the United States. The Talmadge Powell Sculpture Terrace, an outdoor terraced space at the building's rear, displays rotating sculpture installations and provides views over a wooded ravine on the UGA campus periphery — an unusual setting for a campus museum.

Admission is free, making the Georgia Museum of Art one of the few fully free art museums in Georgia. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, with extended Thursday evening hours until 9 PM, and Sunday afternoons. It is significantly less crowded than Atlanta's major art institutions, providing a calm environment for sustained engagement with the collection. UGA home football game weekends in autumn cause significant traffic congestion and hotel price surges in Athens — visiting mid-week or avoiding football weekends is strongly advisable.