Bates College Museum of Art

The museum was founded in 1955 as the Treat Gallery in the newly constructed Pettigrew Building at Bates College. Norma Berger, the niece of Marsden Hartley, a notable Maine artist, donated a large collection at the founding of the museum. In 1986, the gallery moved to the new Olin Arts Center and adopted its current name. After the renovation and installation, the new and expanded space enabled the museum to organize major scholarly exhibitions of contemporary and historic artists. ==Collections and notable exhibitions==

As of 2023, it holds over 8,000 objects, including select and growing holdings of contemporary Chinese art, pre-Columbian art, Japanese woodblock prints, and African art. In addition to the original Marsden Hartley Memorial Collection, the museum contains works by many other notable artists. The museum has focused on collecting works of Maine artists. == Teaching and education ==

The Bates College Museum of Art also offers curricular involvement with both the college and surrounding communities. The college uses the museum's exhibitions and collections to "teach writing skills and visual literacy." In 2015, the Museum developed the Thousand Words Project, a series of videos aimed at elementary through high school students and teachers, which promotes the use of art to improve literacy and writing skills. == Gallery ==

File:Mount David by Coombs-Delbert-Dana 1901.jpg|Mount David 1860, painted in 1901 by Delbert Dana Coombs. Mount David is a low mountain on the western edge of the Bates Campus File:Intellectual Niece, 1939-1940.jpg|Intellectual Niece, 1939–40, by Marsden Hartley == See also ==