Collections | Fleming Museum of Art | The University of Vermont(title)

The Collections at the Fleming Museum of Art include over 24,000 works of art and cultural heritage objects, that originate from all over the world and represent over 5,000 years of human history.

Collections Information

Opening in 1931, the Fleming combined several collections of fine art, geology, archeology, anthropology, and an extensive collection of Vermontiana for public display and educational research. Prior to the Museum’s construction, parts of the Collections were housed by various departments within the University of Vermont as early as 1827. 

The Collections have grown and shifted over time, as new works are acquired and we continue to explore what it means to cultivate and steward a teaching collection. Below you are welcome to browse our online gallery and review some important notes regarding the Collections and our ongoing provenance research. 

Avel De Knight's "Biosphere" from the Fleming's Collections

Browse the Collections

View records for over 20,000 works from the Museum’s permanent Collections. This research tool allows students, educators, scholars, and the public to browse our art and cultural heritage objects, the majority of which are not displayed in the galleries.

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Notes on the Collections

Early Collecting Practices

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Especially within the Museum's founding collections, many objects entered the Museum’s care through European and American colonial pathways. Some objects are known, or believed, to have been acquired through unfair trade practices, removed without permission, or taken during military activities or colonial projects. Research into these objects is ongoing, if you have any information or questions regarding specific works, please reach out to fleming@uvm.edu.

Online Collections Gallery

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Originally published in 2020 to provide online access to objects for academic courses, Museum staff and student interns continue to add and update entries regularly. We are working on providing more high-resolution images and improving the recorded data to better reflect our current cataloging standards.

How is the Fleming Museum responding to NAGPRA?

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What is NAGPRA? 

NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) is a federal law enacted in 1990 and administered by the National Park Service that requires museums to identify Native American human remains and cultural items in their collections. And the law provides a process for federally recognized Indian tribes, Alaska Native corporations, and Native Hawaiian organizations to request the return of those ancestors and cultural items.

What are the new NAGPRA regulations? 

In January 2024, new NAGPRA regulations were enacted. Museums must now consult with the above-mentioned communities to obtain consent before exhibiting, accessing, and researching cultural items and defer to them when consulting about items and return requests.

About NAGPRA at the Fleming Museum of Art 

Since 1990, the Fleming has followed NAGPRA regulations by reporting culturally affiliated human remains and cultural items to the appropriate communities. The Museum has also responded to claims for information and repatriation from tribal representatives.

We are currently reviewing the new NAGPRA rules to determine how they will impact museum practices moving forward. We plan to remove items that may fall under the new guidelines from display in our Native American Gallery. They include objects of the Plains tribes that were collected by a U.S. military officer (1879—82), pottery made by unrecorded Pueblo artists, and a carving made by a Native artist of the Northwest Coast.

Our Commitment 

In our ongoing NAGPRA work, as in our day-to-day activities, we embrace the values of building trust and maintaining transparency. Your feedback is always welcome and can be shared by email at fleming@uvm.edu.