$200,000 Grant Will Create Archive of University Art Museum’s First 50 Years

Two students view an archive of materials in a white study space with a sign that reads Romare Bearden & Ralph Ellison: From the Archive on the wall behind them.

UAlbany students view works from Romare Bearden & Ralph Ellison: From the Archive. Records from the museum’s first 50 years will be preserved in a new public archive. (Photo by Darcie Abbatiello, University Art Museum)

By Michael Parker

ALBANY, N.Y. (July 15, 2026) — The University Art Museum has preserved nearly six decades of exhibition history. Among its records is the original typed manuscript of an essay by groundbreaking author Ralph Ellison, commissioned for a landmark 1968 exhibition of works by Romare Bearden, one of the most influential Black artists of the 20th century. Now, a $200,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation’s American Art Program will help the museum preserve that rare piece of Ellison’s literary legacy — along with decades of art history — and make the materials more widely accessible through a new public archive.

The museum will create a centralized, professionally maintained space for its records and purchase archival storage systems, furniture and equipment. The grant will also support a part-time professional archivist for two years to organize the collections, create guides to the materials and make them available through a searchable digital database.

The museum has also received support from UAlbany’s offices of the President and Provost for the project.

“We are deeply grateful to the Henry Luce Foundation for supporting this important project,” said Corinna Ripps Schaming, director and chief curator of the University Art Museum. “For nearly six decades, the museum has presented ambitious and influential exhibitions by artists who have shaped contemporary art and culture. This archive will preserve that history and make it newly accessible to students, scholars, curators, artists, and the public, while opening new possibilities for research, teaching, and future exhibitions.”

Notes by Ralph Ellison for his essay accompanying the University Art Museum’s 1968 Romare Bearden exhibition. (Photo by Gil Gentile, University Art Museum)

Since opening in 1967, the museum has presented 593 contemporary art exhibitions. Its records include materials from its inaugural exhibition of paintings and sculptures from the Nelson A. Rockefeller Collection, along with artist correspondence, photographs, exhibition plans, catalogues, posters and audio and video recordings.

The archive will also serve as a research and teaching space supporting exhibitions, discussions, student digital projects and new scholarship based on its holdings. It will be free and open to classes, researchers and the public.

“The Luce Foundation’s American Art Program is proud to help the University Art Museum at UAlbany develop its Museum Archive, a rich resource for students, scholars, and members of the general public alike,” said Randall Griffey, program director for American Art at the Henry Luce Foundation. “This is a critical step for the institution to better fulfill its mission and commitment to its various communities.”

This is the second Henry Luce Foundation grant awarded to the museum. In 2018, the foundation supported the creation of the Collections Study Space, which houses more than 3,500 works from the University at Albany Fine Art Collections. Together, the study space and new archive will provide greater access to the museum’s art collections, records and history.