Museum Guide News

The Art Museum of Southeast Texas has a permanent collection consisting of nearly 1,700 objects. Artworks within the collection include paintings, collages, textile works, large and small sculptures, drawings, photographs, decorative arts, folk art, and mixed media objects. There is something for everyone!

AMSET began acquiring works in 1950 and continues to add artworks through donations and museum purchases. Over the past decade, a concentrated effort has been placed on narrowing the focus of the permanent collection to assemble a cohesive but integrated body of artwork. Areas of concentration include 19th – 21st c. modern and contemporary North American and Mexican art with a focus on this region.

The permanent collection includes the recently acquired John G. Fairey Collection of Mexican Folk Art, which numbers 474 objects. Our permanent collection represents over 430 artists, including: Robert Rauschenberg, John Alexander, Maude Carron, Dixie Friend Gay, Carlomagno Pedro Martínez, Angélica Delfina Vásquez Cruz, James Surls, Mary McCleary, Billy Hassell, Celia Eberle, Johnnie Swearingen, Burgess Dulaney, Keith Carter, David Cargill, Felix “Fox” Harris, David Bates and Jesús Moroles. https://amset.org/permanent-collection/

We are thankful to the Institute of Museum and Library Services for funding two grant projects to professionally photograph the John Gaston Fairey Collection of Mexican Folk Art.

Presently we are pleased to present Delilah Montoya: Activating Chicana Resistance as its Fall 2026 Main Galleries exhibition. Activating Chicana Resistance is adapted from a larger exhibition curated by Josie Lopez, PhD at the Albuquerque Museum in 2026. The exhibition features artworks selected from seven major bodies of work Montoya made from the 1990s through the 2010s For decades, the artist has explored identity, place, community, gender, and political resistance. 

We encourage you to check us out online before your make your visit. We look forward to welcoming you!  https://amset.org/