The origins of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG)’s Weatherspoon Art Museum (WAM) date back to 1941, when the school was known simply as Women’s College. It was founded by Gregory Ivy, the first head of the college Art Department, as a teaching gallery serving the school’s art curriculum.
In over half a century the gallery has grown to become a fully professional art museum with a national reputation of excellence in its collections and exhibitions. The Museum’s collection includes nearly 6,000 works, focusing on modern and contemporary art, representing all significant movements in visual art throughout the 20thcentury. Highlights of the collection include works by Willem de Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg, Alexander Calder, Robert Henri and Andy Warhol; other major holdings include the Dillard Collection of Art on Paper, the Etta and Claribel Cone Collection (including works on paper by Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso), and the Lenoir C. Wright Collection of Japanese Prints.
The Weatherspoon features over fifteen exhibitions per year of contemporary art, including works by nationally and internationally renowned artists, collections dealing with current social and cultural issues, small exhibitions of emerging artists, and selections from the Museum’s permanent collection. The work of UNCG students and faculty is also featured regularly, as well as exhibitions by guests of the Falk Visiting Artists Program.
Educational programs at the Museum include docent tours; gallery talks, lectures, and symposia; and hands-on workshops. Other events include film and video series, after-hours social events, and Community Days.
Weatherspoon Art Museum Information
- Public Transportation: Good (steps from GTA bus 2 at Spring Garden Street/Tate Street and a 3-minute walk from bus 11 at Lee Street/Tate Street)
- Handicapped Accessibility: Good
- Hours: Tuesday–Friday 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Thursday open until 9 p.m., Saturday–Sunday 1 p.m.–5 p.m., closed Mondays
- Admission: Free
- Tour: Free guided tours are available to groups of six or more guests and are typically 50-minutes. Please schedule guided tours 3-weeks in advance. The Noon @ the Spoon Tour is a 20-minute docent or curator led tour offered the second Tuesday of each month
- Membership: Individual memberships are $35–$49 (Students $15; Artists, Educators, Seniors $25, Couple/Family $50–$99). Member benefits include recognition in the Weatherspoon’s Annual Report; invitations to members-only events and programs, the Annual Meeting and Members’ Night, Art on Paper Preview Party, adult courses, and gallery talks by the director and curators; mailed announcements of exhibitions, opening receptions, Community Days, and special educational programs; a one-year subscription to ARTicles, the Weatherspoon’s quarterly newsletter; reciprocal membership through the Southeastern Reciprocal Membership Program; a 10% discount in the Museum Store; and discounts on special Weatherspoon ticketed events and programs.
