Fort Lauderdale, FL – June 23, 2020 – NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale today announced the launch of the first phase of its new online collection catalogue that offers unprecedented access to over 2,000 of the 7,500 objects in its permanent collection. Now accessible on the NSU Art Museum website, nsuartmuseum.org, the online collection is part of the Museum’s efforts to enhance its digital resources and make them widely available to the public, scholars and students.

“With our new online collection we are opening our doors even wider and inviting the world to explore the exceptional scope and depth of NSU Art Museum,” said Bonnie Clearwater, director and chief curator. “During the 1970s, the founders of the Museum sought to represent South Florida’s diversity in the art works collected and exhibited. The collection continued to grow with this goal in mind.”

Today, NSU Art Museum is known for its significant collection of Latin American, contemporary art with an emphasis on women, Black and Latinx artists, and African art that spans the 19th to the 21st-century, as well as works by American artist William Glackens, Danish artists who resisted German occupation during World War II and the international Cobra group of artists that emerged in the war’s wake.  The Museum draws from its collection for exhibitions exploring issues that resonate with the South Florida community and contribute to productive discussions that address identity, inequalities and injustices, encourage empathy and compassion, and inspire wonder.

The online site features a searchable database of a wide variety of media, along with curator notes, exhibition histories and bibliographic information. Visitors can submit their own search criteria or choose to browse among works displayed. They can also send queries directly from object pages to NSU Art Museum’s curatorial department. The Museum’s curatorial staff will continue adding entries to the online collection catalogue over the next two years.

NSU Art Museum’s online collection is made possible thanks to support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Sansom Foundation, Stanley and Pearl Goodman, Linda Marks, and Joan and Stephen Marks.

Image credits (l to r): William J. Glackens, Sledding in Central Park, c. 1912. NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale; bequest of Ira D. Glackens. Philip Guston, Afloat, 1975. NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale; gift of Musa Guston. Mickalene Thomas, Portrait of Mama Bush 1, 2010. NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale; promised gift of David Horvitz and Francie Bishop Good. Wifredo Lam, Sans titre (Untitled), 1959. NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale; promised gift of Pearl and Stanley Goodman.

About NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale

Founded in 1958, NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale is a premier destination for exhibitions and programs encompassing many facets of civilization’s visual history. Located midway between Miami and Palm Beach in downtown Fort Lauderdale’s arts and entertainment district, the Museum’s distinctive 83,000 square-foot modernist building, which opened in 1986, was designed by renowned architect Edward Larrabee Barnes and contains over 25,000 square feet of exhibition space, the 256-seat Horvitz auditorium, a museum store and café. In 2008, the Museum became part of Nova Southeastern University (NSU), one of the largest private research universities in the United States. NSU Art Museum is known for its significant collection of Latin American, contemporary art with an emphasis on women, Black and Latinx artists, and African art that spans the 19th to the 21st-century, as well as works by American artist William Glackens, Danish artists who resisted German occupation during World War II and the Cobra (acronym for Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam) group of artists that emerged in the war’s wake.  The Museum draws from its collection for exhibitions exploring issues that resonate with the South Florida community and contribute to productive discussions that address identity, inequalities and injustices, encourage empathy and compassion, and inspire wonder.  Two scholarly research centers complement the collections: The Dr. Stanley and Pearl Goodman Latin American Art Study Center and the William J. Glackens Study Center.

Exhibitions and programs at NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale are made possible in part by a challenge grant from the David and Francie Horvitz Family Foundation. Funding is also provided by the City of Fort Lauderdale, AutoNation, Community Foundation of Broward, Funding Arts Broward, Broward County Board of County Commissioners as recommended by the Broward Cultural Council and Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture. NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale is accredited by the American Association of Museums.