Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art

This was an amazing art museum. I particularly liked the Native American pottery exhibit. The reason why I’m giving this review a four star is because of the security guard. I understand that it’s important to keep an eye out on anybody suspicious, but there’s no need to stomp on your foot and glare at me. I felt something was off the moment I greeted the security guard and they ALL gave me the silent treatment. I went on my day to explore the museum. Right when I was done with taking photos, one security guard kept eyeing on me and created a very intimating atmosphere. I don’t think I want to go back.

I love this museum! It is located on the beautiful OU campus in Norman Oklahoma . I visit it one to two times a quarter because it has rotating exhibits. It also has the only Van Gough in the state of Oklahoma.

Visiting the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art was a great experience. Located at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, it is easy to get to and has a friendly atmosphere. The building is modern and attractive. Inside, the art collection is impressive. The American art section, featuring works by Georgia O'Keeffe and Allan Houser, stood out. The Native American art collection was also very interesting and gave a good look into their culture. The contemporary art pieces were unique. The museum does a great job of educating visitors. There are informative plaques and interactive displays that help you understand the art better. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable, ready to help with any questions. The gift shop is nice too, with a good selection of art-related items and souvenirs. From Tuesdays to Saturdays, it is open from 10 AM to 5 PM and on Sundays it's open from 1 PM to 5 pm. The museum is closed on Mondays.

There were a lot of cool pieces, and the few staff we encountered were very nice. I couldn’t carry my backpack through, but my companion could take her belt bag. The staircases were beautiful and everything was very clean and well laid out. Cool museum to check out on humid or colder days if you’re looking for something free to do inside. I’d love to go back again when they change the exhibits.

The museum has some truly amazing works of art. I was particularly impressed by the first wing on the left after entering through the main entrance. The synesthesia exhibit was neat and I was thankful for the line/crowd control to keep the inside from being so chaotic. However, as someone who has visited hundreds of museums and who frequents them quite often, I was taken aback by how smothered I felt by one of the security personnel. At certain points following our every step closely to where it made myself and my teenage child feel very uncomfortable. For that reason we will most likely not be back.

I went to a study hours event there, and it was the perfect opportunity to roam around for a bit. The place is bigger than I expected, with many great spots to sit down and contemplate the art exhibit. People at the front desk are friendly and helpful. I will come back to check it out.

One of our favorite art museums we've found here. Great use of space and a big variety. I loved the fully decorated rooms to display things. Friendly welcome. Plus free!!!

My special thanks to Clara Rosenthal Weitzenhoffer for her Impressionist Collection, which she donated to Oklahoma University. It was the largest gift of French Impressionist art ever made to a public University in the United States. And my pleasure also for the Portrait of the Art Dealer Alexander Reid, Sitting in an Easy Chair by Vincent Van Gogh❤️

We had a return visit to Norman after many years. This museum was on our list and we were glad not to miss it. The outdoor sculptures caught our eye, but I wondered where the Jimenez mustang was only to find it installed in a gallery inside. First on my list was the Frankoma exhibit. Wonderful. I learned about the few pieces I have. Then the exhibit of the art of the Southwest and the Weitzenhoffer Collection displayed in recreations of their rooms. Well done university museum.

Outstanding art museum for a university campus. Collection rivals a mid-size city or small large city museum. The second floor dedicated to western art is quite impressive. Worth noting: from the photographs, the art museum is getting reviews on this page for the natural history museum which is a few blocks away. It, however, is also fantastic and needs to better promote that it has the largest dinosaur fossil on exhibit in the United States. Bottom line: both museums are exceptional. Staff are fantastic. If I only had time to visit one, it would be the art museum but that is only due to personal preference. If you have time, stop in on both.

Great "hidden gem" of an art museum. We were visiting OU and friends pointed it out to us. We took our kids the next day and we all enjoyed the exhibits. The impressionist exhibit was in the setting of a home.

Between the architecture and the collection, the Fred Jones Jr. Museum in Norman is pretty wonderful! The permanent collection and the special exhibits are beyond my expectations. It's so nice to have a University that opens the doors to it's art museum for free! Plus, if you look across the street, there is also parking. This is something that everyone should add to the "to do" list! You'll be so happy that you made the trip.

Absolutely wonderful. High quality art and atmosphere, and so cool to see somewhere that still lets you do anything for free nowadays. Definitely worth stopping by on a free day, usually very quiet and you get to take your time at any exhibit that interests you.

i took mt residents to visit and the older white security guard was very rude and made my residents and staff feel very uncomfortable. the three lady's at the front were wonderful.

The art museum is great and filled with a variety of art that can captivate a variety of people. They are open from 10 am to 5pm Wednesday - Sunday and are closed Monday and Tuesday. I had went for a gate way to belonging project where I had to find art that made me feel empathy and look at things from different perspectives or just see different cultures. The people there can guide you to whatever art you may be looking for and may show you similar art to what your wanted category. The people are nice and it is also free parking. This is why I give it 5 stars.

If you're in the mood for amazing classical art the likes of which aren't normally seen in Oklahoma sprinkled in with some casual racial profiling and the razzle dazzle of being followed, this is the place for you. I personally found it to be tiresome, and despite my love of classic art, having a staff member follow my girlfriend and I around the museum didn't create the perfect, starlit loving night you may expect. It took away from our enjoyment and I don't know that we'll be back.

Great (Free) museum on campus at OU. Currently has "Factory Obscura" exhibit that our 3 year old grandson loved. Nice place to view their exhibits and permanent collection. Free parking just north of the museum on Boyd st.

This museum has been on my list for years yet every time I passed through Oklahoma my schedule prevented me from visiting. That was my loss. I made this museum my priority so I drove hours from Texas and it was worth the trip. The Fred Jones Museum of Art is known for its collection of French impressionism and American western art. What I often enjoy at regional museums is that I'm often pleasantly surprised by works I would never see at major museums in large cities. Such was the case here. From a Renoir study to a very primitive Edouard Vuillard to a black & white Thomas Moran landscape, I know I'd never see these in the permanent galleries at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Viewing lesser works of an artist can provide special insight and appreciation. The interconnected pavilions here allow a wonderful amount of natural light into the space and it makes a difference when viewing the paintings on the walls. It's easy to linger in these galleries. I was cautious entering the building housing western art because works in this genre often cross from the overly romantic to outright kitsch. However, there was little of that here. An incredible array of landscape paintings are on display. A few works resonated with me. The first, R Browned McGrew's painting, 'Hosteen', of a native American elder looking out toward, perhaps, a landscape. The realistic portrayal captures the man's dignity. The second, Alvin James', 'Koshare (Paiyakyamu or Hano Clown)', is a painted wood figure of a clown looking up to the sky with his tongue sticking out. The muted colors and thrust of his body upward make this small piece compelling. It's taken me too many years to visit this museum but, now that I finally got here, I plan to return whenever I can.

OU's art museum is pretty legit. I'll admit, I'm not a huge art fan, but this place has a little bit of something for everyone. If you like Native American art, you'll love this place, as it seems to make up 1/4 of the museum's collection. There are 3 floors in all, so it's a decent sized museum (but not incredibly huge and overwhelming). It might've taken 1.5 hours to go through it all? Best part: free admission for all!!

Fantastic exhibits and a fine collection of art. If you're in Norman then make sure you stop in. Admission is free with donations accepted.

I truly don't know how I never visited this museum until this past weekend. Definitely glad I didn't go on a game day Saturday or it would have been much less accessible. My husband and I arrived at about 11 am Saturday morning and seemed to be the only patrons there, so it was just us and the gallery attendants. It was so cool to have the place to ourselves. OU is lucky to have such a nice museum with several interesting exhibits, and it's all free! We don't have have any free museums that I can think of in the city, so this is great. The students may not even realize what a gem they have here, but I'd recommend anyone to check it out if you haven't been before. You will not be disappointed!

I attended OU but only actually walked the entirety of this museum about a year about I graduated. It was at this point that I realized what an amazing gem OU had on campus and how impressively the museum had it all on display. I plan to make this part of my regular rotation for a number of reasons, but free admission is definitely a plus.

An excellent museum. I wish I'd gone sooner . . . . I enjoyed the self guided audio tours through the museum's app. Parking across the street was free. Admission is free so why not go and explore. I only visited the first floor but I intend to return to explore the lower floor and rotating exhibits. The museum is very clean and open.

Some interesting and inspiring works of art marred by over-zealous museum security. I have travelled all over the world including the Vatican, the Louvre and visited most museums and galleries in London (where we are from) without the over-reactions exhibited (pun intended) by the museums security. You are not America's last line of defence and my son touching the plinth of a exhibition box will not tarnish, ruin or damage the art in the plexiglass above it. He did not and nor would I allow him to, touch the art or artifacts. I did however hold his hand the rest of the time and your intervention made him cry. We should be encouraging children's interaction and viewing of art. This was the opposite. I think some training is really in order. I live and work in Norman now and would like to visit again, but this definitely soured our family experience.

A wonderful treasure trove of fine art, antiquities, and much more. A real gem.

I took my 15 year old daughter to the Museum of Art at OU today, in which she has been wanting to go for the past few months. We finally made it this Saturday & it was a stressful, uncomfortable experience! The behavior exhibited today was disgusting & very inappropriate, unprofessional and inconsiderate to me & my daughter....I am beyond furious that the entire staff with the exception of maybe one or two staff at the museum was welcoming and not only following us around but everyone else adequately and not overbearing and rudely. We had no pocketbook or suitcases in which I felt as though they were insinuating we were trying to take something or ruin something or not suppose to be there. When you do that to a parent that's not fine but I can deal with it! But once you have an innocent child feeling disrespected etc it is not okay and hurts me to the core. When all she wanted was a pleasant, stressfree experience while enjoying artistry that she loves abundantly. The entire staff needs to be trained-on courteousness & on a whole needs to be changed! Please excuse all errors and brevity

If you are a student of OU then admission is free. I'm not sure what the price is for non student. It's a small museum but it's pretty interesting to spend an hour or so walking around the exhibits. I really like the Contemporary art display

In my opinion the best art gallery in the OKC area. It's free and has a lot art from different periods including French impressionism, American western, Native American, and Early Chinese art. The museum is 3 floors and takes about 1.5 hours to see everything at a casual pace.

I highly recommend "Enter the Matrix: Indigenous Printmakers" for its selection, and the explanation of prints and printmaking schools, and "James Surls" for a lifetime of nature-inspired metal, wood, and stone sculpture. "Immortales:The Hall of Emperors of the Capitoline Museums, Rome" was a very special opportunity to learn some ancient Roman history too.

I love this place! My kids seem to appreciate art more since visiting there once a month. It's really awesome that it's free admission on Sundays for kids. The exhibits are always spectacular. You need to go there even if you think you hate art.

If you're visiting Norman/OKC, this is a spectacular museum and art gallery! So many cultural pieces represented, and the staff, including reception and security, are above satisfactory. Very welcoming, helpful and courteous. The building itself is lovely and I stayed in here for hours searching, learning and experiencing one of the finer points of OU!

Excellent collection of impressionist and southwestern art. The buildings architecture is also impressive. Enjoyed the visit.

Lovely museum located on the Oklahoma University campus. Great variety of exhibits on Asian, American, Native American, & European art. Admission was free.

First and foremost, I would like to express my genuine appreciation to the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art for hosting such a wonderful exhibit- the Immortals was truly breathtaking. Though we had an incident there today Sunday, January 31, 2016 that even now, several hours later, still disturbs me. My son who is an OU alumni and his wife drove in from out-of-town today specifically to visit the museum. Accompany us were my wife and our eight children, varying in ages between two and twenty; two of whom will be attending OU this fall. As you can see, we are big OU supporters and Norman residents. When we arrived today we were greeted by what seemed to be a cheerful counter clerk who asked us for our zip code. Upon giving it to him, he noticed that I was carrying a water bottle. He immediately informed us that we were not allowed to take food or drink into the museum (obvious enough). Then he noticed that our two-year old daughter had a tippy-cup with water in it, to which he that needed to remain at the counter as well. At that point I simply said in an inquisitive manner, "But she is a baby and the cup will stay in her mother's purse." That's when everything changed. His immediate response, in front of my wife and children was, "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You are being argumentative!" What??? He said it again, "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You are being argumentative!" I said, "Okay, I'll leave the water here." To which he said, "It's too late- leave." My wife and I stood there dumbfounded. I said, "I would like to see your manager." So he called the manager. While waiting for the manager, he stood behind the counter making silly, goofy faces at us. I just stood there staring at him, not believing what was happening. Then he said, "You can stare at me all you want, but it's not going to help." At that point, I just looked down and waited for the manager to arrive. When the manager arrived, I explained to him what had happened and he was gracious enough to not only let us in, but explain where the drinking fountains were in case we needed them. Sad to say, but this incident affected me the entire duration of my visit. So much so, about 30 minutes into the visit, I found the manager and told him again how astonished I was that this had happened and that I was glad he showed up. It is now almost 7:00 pm and I am still very bothered by this event, enough so that I felt I had to write. If there was something in my mannerism that caused this young man to behave so rudely, I am truly sorry. Quite frankly though, I am truly offended. Even my son, the OU graduate, apologized to me for the behavior of this young man. The more I think about it, the more I feel like I was being discriminated against because of my race, or my sexual orientation. I sincerely hope that they will speak with this young man and offer him training or guidance on how to treat guests.

Really cool and it was free (I'm a student at OU so you might want to double check). It's a lot bigger than we thought it was. Spent about 2 hours here and didn't see everything we could have.

i feel so lucky to live two blocks from this place. i went to OU in the early 2000's and have gotten to watch the museum grow tremendously since then. the collection is varied and impressive. you can see the whole place in a half a day, but if you rush you could get around the exhibits in under an hour. wouldn't recommend that tactic though cause you're going to miss out. my favorite piece is "vincent" by van gogh, but they have some great works by pissarro, lichtenstein, gauguin, and countless others. jack levine's piece "the white horse" really is something incredible and i can't recommend that one enough. also there are signed awards to members of the weitzenhoffer family from presidents roosevelt, and truman that you can see which is a lot of fun. if not from norman and visiting town it is a must see. if you're a local and haven't been then you can't complain there's nothing to do in this town!!!

The best free art gallery I have ever been to hands down. The exhibits were fantastic and the gift shop was just as good. Tuesday is free concert series for part of the year. The parking needs to be better. But for a free art museum worth the struggle.

I arrived at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK, and was greeted by a friendly young lady. When I arrived, I was wearing a black shirt and had my messenger bag (one strap - very much like a purse) over my shoulder with the bright red bag against my black shirt. There was great contrast and my bag would have been hard to miss. After the young lady explained the location of the exhibit, I walked across from reception and placed a five dollar bill in the donation box. I then proceeded to the exhibit. While I was viewing the exhibit, a surly-looking security guard with either a goatee or handlebar mustache walked past me twice. Again, I had my bright red messenger bag over my shoulder. The security guard said nothing. A few minutes later, I approached him to ask if photos were permitted. He told me no. I continued to view the exhibit. About 2 minutes later, a younger male security guard told me I would have to leave or take my bag to the reception desk if I wanted to continue viewing the exhibit. I told him that neither the lady at reception nor the other security guard, who was in my line of sight and I pointed out for the young security guard, explained to me that my bag was not permitted. The young security guard said that they must not know the rules. I turned to leave and saw a couple of female patrons with purses. I turned back to the young security guard and asked if ladies were allowed to carry their purses in. He told me yes. I said that that was not fair. I then explained that if I had to leave because of my bag, that he should ask the women to leave or check their purses at reception. He said he would not do that because those were not the rules. I told him the rule was ridiculous and explained that I thought it was a form of discrimination. I went upstairs and asked the young lady to retrieve my five dollar donation, as I did not want to donate to an institution that discriminated based on sex. She stood mute. A gentleman wearing a sports coat and tie approached, and the young lady motioned him to me. I told him that I wanted my five dollar donation back, as I did not wish to donate to an institution that discriminated. He said he had no control over the donation box. Anyone who looks can see that the plexiglass lifts up off of the wooden base. He very easily could have lifted it and retrieved my five dollar donation. I even explained where in the box my five dollar bill landed. I said that the young lady at reception saw me place the donation in the box. She did not deny it. Also, there are cameras in the entry at reception, so he could have easily viewed footage of my entry, which by this time, had only been approximately 15 minutes earlier. He told me I would have to call Monday and speak with Joyce, whoever she is. And then he walked away. The young lady took my information, as I asked her to leave a message with Joyce to contact me on Monday. As she took my information, I noticed a computer monitor on the reception counter. There were instructions and other information showing on the screen. I saw one image, which read that for security, the museum administration prohibited several items from being taken inside, including "backpacks" and "large purses." My bag, a bright red messenger bag with ONE strap (like a purse) is not a backpack. It does not have two straps that one wears over both shoulders with the container part of the bag worn on the back - hence, backpack. My bright red messenger bag, while similar in size to a purse, would likely not be considered large by most standards. Furthermore, if museum administration is going to prohibit something it describes as "large," then the administration needs to explain or otherwise define "large." Maybe I received this treatment because my skin is not as white as most white people (I am Hispanic); maybe because I wear a beard and the security guard thought I was Muslim; maybe because I wore shorts and my tattoos were exposed; maybe because my hat sat a bit askew atop my head; maybe because men aren't supposed to carry bags that resemble women's purses, or maybe I received this kind of treatment due to a combination of all of these things. Who knows? I will say that it was deplorable that I was told to leave or check my bag while there were at least two women who I saw with purses that were likely larger than my messenger bag. If a man cannot carry a messenger type bag that is not a backpack, then ALL types of bags should be prohibited, including women's purses. This has to be the most ridiculous rule I have ever had the displeasure with which I was compelled to conform. If that is how museum staff treat patrons, then I will never go back there. Strangely, I believe the young lady at reception and the surly security guard knew that my bag was not in violation. They were both privy to the encounter I had with the young security guard, yet said absolutely nothing. This place is an effing joke.

A gem in the middle of Norman! The community is fortunate to have such a varied and well curated collection available. My favorite part is the recreation of the home with all of the art in its original positions.

This museum is incredible. Such wonderful exhibits. Impressionist art, Native American art and artifacts, southwestern art. contemporary art. FABULOUS. The building itself if unique and strikingly beautiful and alson easy to get around in. love it. love it. love it.

It's one of the best second-tier art museums in the country.