The state’s prime destination to view regional culture as well as artwork from around the world.
The Utah Museum of Fine Arts is the state’s flagship art museum. Admire art collections from around the world spanning over 5,000 years. Exhibits cover a range of subjects and eras, from medieval European knights, to the pharaohs of ancient Egypt, to Asian sword fighters.
This cultural center started out in the early 1900s as a one-room gallery for local artists. By 1951, it had expanded to house about 800 works of art and was renamed the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA). The museum relocated to the Marcia & John Price Museum Building on the campus of the University of Utah in 2001.
The UMFA is now a world-class museum. The gallery’s permanent collection features nearly 20,000 works of art —,ancient artifacts through modern and contemporary art.
Start in the main lobby to purchase tickets and pick up a map. Free guided tours are available for groups wanting to explore the UMFA’s permanent collection. The gallery also hosts exclusive exhibitions, which change regularly.
Admire oil paintings, jewelry, photographs, vases and sculptures created by artists from all over the world. Get a glimpse of local history with the Art of Utah and the West exhibit. It features stark landscapes and paintings of Indian warriors. The collection of Egyptian antiques is popular, as is the Art Since 1945 exhibit, with colorful pop art and vivid photographs.
Have a hot drink, sandwich or homemade punch at the café, which has indoor and outdoor seating. Browse the gift store to find art-related gifts and souvenirs.
The UMFA is located on the University of Utah campus, about two miles (three kilometers) east of the downtown area. A TRAX light rail service connects the university to downtown. It’s free to park in the university’s visitor parking lot, but spaces are limited. There’s a public parking lot nearby where you have to pay to park on weekdays, but it’s free on the weekends. The museum is closed Mondays and public holidays.
