Permanent Collection
Permanent Collection
Permanent Collection at RUMOCA
The Rowan University Museum of Contemporary Art collection consists of more than 450 objects (with over 300 records available for public viewing) with particular emphasis on the works of American women artists who were active in the pivotal period of the 1970s and 1980s. The collection features a number of nationally and internationally recognized artists, including Louise Bourgeois, Audrey Flack, Nancy Holt, Alice Neel, Sylvia Sleigh, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, and Betty Woodman. A central component of the museum’s permanent collection is The Sister Chapel (1974–78), a historic collaborative installation created by thirteen contributors at the height of the women’s art movement.
The museum's permanent collection was established in 2008 by Andrew D. Hottle, Professor of Art History at Rowan University. Through his efforts, the Sylvia Sleigh Collection was donated in 2011 and formed the foundation of the permanent collection. Consisting of over 100 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, and photographs by women artists, it was amassed by Sylvia Sleigh (1916–2010), a pioneering feminist painter. She acquired the works as a way to support women and honor their achievements, regardless of whether they were critically acclaimed or financially successful. Sleigh's philosophy of emphasizing quality over commercial success has served as a guiding principle for the museum's ongoing acquisitions. The collection has continued to grow through generous donations from artists and collectors.
A rotating display of works from the collection can been seen at RUMOCA at Westby Hall. For the Spring 2026 semester, we will be showcasing highlights and new acquisitions. Featuring 17 artists working across the ‘60s - ‘00s, the works address social commentary and women’s experiences, through representational, abstract, and conceptual pieces across a variety of mediums. Curated by Andrew D. Hottle, PhD, the display focuses on sampling the depth, origins, and ongoing development of our world-class collection.
Collection curator, Dr. Andrew D. Hottle, was the featured guest on episode 152 of Katy Hessel's The Great Women Artists podcast to discuss The Sister Chapel artist Sylvia Sleigh. The Sylvia Sleigh Collection is the foundation of the Museum's permanent collection. Comprised of 100 works, it was amassed by Sleigh as a way of supporting women artists and honoring their achievements, regardless of whether they were critically acclaimed or financially successful.
Art on Loan
Three paintings by Sylvia Sleigh (Portrait of an Actor: Sean Pratt, 1994; Simona Morini and Fred Tuten, 1966-67; and Lilith, 1978) will be traveling overseas to the Museum of Modern and Contempoirary Art, Geneva, Switzerland to be featured in the upcoming exhibition, Sylvia Sleigh, running June 4 to October 25, 2026.
Alice Neel’s Bella Abzug–The Candidate, part of The Sister Chapel, traveled to Los Angeles as part of an exhibition at David Zwirner. At Home: Alice Neel in the Queer World, curated by Hilton Als, highlighted the artist’s career-long commitment to depicting the human condition and her practice of painting people from many walks of life. The exhibition ran September 7 - November 2, 2024. Click here to visit the exhibition website.
Portrait of an Actor: Sean Pratt, 1994 by Sylvia Sleigh opened Framing the Female Gaze: Women Artists and the New Historicism, a new exhibition at the Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx, NY. Curated by Bartholomew F. Bland, Patricia Cazorla, Georgette Gouveia, and Deborah Yasinsky, the show explored how women artists today focus their gaze on both women and men. The show ran from October 10, 2023 through January 20, 2024. Click here to visit the exhibition website.
Sylvia Sleigh’s Lilith, a component of The Sister Chapel, made a rare trip overseas for an important exhibition at the Hamburger Kunsthalle in Hamburg, Germany. The exhibition, Femme Fatale: Gaze–Power–Gender, curated by Dr. Markus Bertsch, opened on December 9, 2022, and continued until April 10, 2023. Click here to visit the exhibition website.
Two works were on loan to The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Cecile Abish’s Boxed Monuments 3 (1969) and Paula Tavins’s Untitled (1973), both from the Sylvia Sleigh Collection, were on view in 52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone. The show commemorates a historic exhibition, Twenty-Six Contemporary Women Artists, which was curated by Lucy Lippard and presented at The Aldrich in 1971. Click here to visit the exhibition website.
Collections Management Policy
The Rowan University Museum of Contemporary Art Collections Management Policy articulates the professional standards and practices by which the proper development, management, preservation, and use of the collections held by the Rowan University Museum of Contemporary Art is ensured.
The Collections Management Policy is a comprehensive written statement that:
● Sets forth the mission of the Museum;
● Explains how this mission is pursued through the permanent collection;
● Articulates the Museum’s professional standards regarding objects in its care;
● Serves as a guide to personnel in carrying out their collection related responsibilities,
and;
● Provides the public with information about what objects and information the Museum collects and preserves and how the Museum performs these functions.
Rowan University Museum of Contemporary Art Collections Management Policy
Contact Information
Contact Mary Salvante or Dr. Andrew Hottle, with questions regarding Rowan University Museum of Contemporary Art's permanent collection.
Mary Salvante
Director & Chief Curator, Rowan University Museum of Contemporary Art
salvante@rowan.edu
Dr. Andrew Hottle
Professor of Art History
hottle@rowan.edu
