100 for 100: Spencer Collection Centennial Celebration

This campaign has concluded, but if you would like to still make a gift to support the Spencer Museum of Art, please click here.

Help us celebrate our collection’s centennial with a contribution to support the next 100 years of art at KU.

One hundred years ago in June 1917, Sallie Casey Thayer donated her art collection to the University of Kansas "to encourage the study of fine arts in the Middle West." The University established a museum to share Thayer’s collection with students and the community. Eventually, this museum would assume the name you recognize today—the Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art.

The global breadth of Thayer’s founding gift set the tone for future growth and development of the Museum’s collection, which today represents cultures across six continents and 5,000 years of human history. Likewise, Thayer’s goal for her collection to serve an educational purpose is reflected in the Spencer Museum’s mission to support and contribute to teaching, learning, and research at KU, and to serve communities of learners across Kansas and beyond.

We will be sharing an in-depth look at Thayer’s founding gift with a major exhibition, Civic Leader and Art Collector: Sallie Casey Thayer and an Art Museum for KU. The exhibition, along with a dynamic series of educational programs for all ages, will be part of our #SpencerArt100 celebrations for the collection’s centennial. We’re also sharing 100 Ways to Love Your Spencer!

Become a Centennial Supporter during this campaign and be included in a special event honoring our past and celebrating our future, or make a gift of any size.