The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art is an art museum on the campus of Auburn University, and is the only accredited university art museum in Alabama. Opened on October 3, 2003, the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art contains six exhibition galleries within its of interior space. In addition to the galleries, the museum facility includes an auditorium, cafe, and museum shop. Outside the main building, the grounds encompass of land, featuring an English-inspired formal area and woodland landscape, outdoor sculpture, and landscaped walking paths around the lake. In spring of 2013, the American Alliance of Museums recognized the museum as an accredited museum. Accreditation is the highest industry standard for educational exhibitions and programming, operations, and collections stewardship. Approximately six-percent of the nation's museums are accredited. The museum is named after Jule Collins Smith, the wife of Albert Smith, who graduated from Auburn University in 1947. Smith donated $3 million to the project as a gift to his wife, in honor of their 50th wedding anniversary.
In addition to its exhibitions of works in the permanent collection, Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art . Past exhibition highlights include Face to Face: Artists’ Self-Portraits from the Collection of Jackye and Curtis Finch Jr., John Himmelfarb: TRUCKS, Rembrandt, Rubens, Gainsborough and the Golden Age of Painting in Europe, Shared Vision: The Sondra Gilman and Celso Gonzalez-Falla Collection of Photography, Tamarind Touchstones: Fabulous at Fifty Celebrating Excellence in Fine Art Lithography and Art Interrupted: Advancing American Art and the Politics of Cultural Diplomacy. Each year, the museum presents the 1072 Society Exhibition, featuring potential acquisitions to the permanent collection. Out of the Box: A Juried Sculpture Exhibition is a biennial competition that began in 2013 in celebration of the museum’s tenth anniversary. The program continues in its goal of presenting engaging and educational works of art to the university audience and broader community, as well as actively pursuing the growth of the permanent collection of outdoor sculpture. As a part of the university, the museum partners triennially with the College of Liberal Arts for the Auburn University Department of Art and Art History Exhibition. The museum participates in the North American Reciprocal Museums program, the program, and the . The museum holds memberships in the American Alliance of Museums, the Southeastern Museums Conference, the Association of Art Museum Directors.
