“We hope that many students, faculty, staff members, and Yale alumni, along with the general public, will take full advantage of all the galleries, programs, and classrooms available in the Kahn and Swartwout buildings this school year.” 		  As we welcome the Yale Class of 2011 and our returning students to campus, the Gallery staff and I are ready to begin another academic year of engaging exhibitions and educational programs. We hope that many students, faculty, staff members, and Yale alumni, along with the general public, will take full advantage of all the galleries, programs, and classrooms available in the Kahn and Swartwout buildings this school year. I say this because we are now poised to begin the second phase of the Gallery’s major renovation project: the expansion of the 1928 Edgerton Swartwout building and the 1864 Street Hall. Work will begin in the summer of 2008.

In early 2008, the American arts galleries will close in order to pack objects for the nationally touring exhibition Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: American Art from the Yale University Art Gallery; the remaining objects will be stored, with a limited selection available for study and research in the Kahn building’s classrooms. In the spring of 2008, a select number of works from the ancient art collection will be moved to the Jan and Frederick Mayer Lobby in the Kahn building, and by summer the sculpture hall and the Swartwout building will close. When the new Jeffrey Loria Center for the History of Art, designed by Charles Gwathmey, M.ARCH. 1962, becomes available for classes and faculty next fall, renovations will begin on both the Swartwout and Street Hall buildings. The renovations will create more galleries and classrooms, and better serve the Gallery’s collections and educational mission.

One of the most significant aspects of the next phase of renovation will be the creation of the Nolen Center for Art and Education. The Nolen Center will reside on the ground floor of Street Hall, fittingly the first home of Yale’s School of Fine Art founded in 1864, which originally combined teaching and exhibition space.

With significant fiscal resources now available for staff and programmatic support, the Gallery will boldly advance its teaching mission. We plan to expand interaction with audiences, allowing them to learn directly from the myriad of outstanding artworks that reside in the Gallery’s renowned collections.

Many of the newest treasures gifted to, promised to, and purchased for the Gallery will be highlighted in this fall’s exhibition Art for Yale: Collecting for a New Century. This display of more than 300 outstanding artworks is a testament to the generosity of our many loyal donors and the discerning eyes of our superb curators, who so actively work together to fortify our collections, further our educational initiatives, and enhance the experience of all our visitors.




Jock Reynolds
The Henry J. Heinz II Director