About Us:
The Nesbitt Art Gallery on the campus of the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma was established in June 1997 as the USAO Art Gallery and rechristened in May 2012 to honor the family of Charles and Margôt Nesbitt, its most generous patrons. Charles Nesbitt (1921-2007) served as Oklahoma's 9th Attorney General (1963-67). Margôt Nesbitt served for many years as Reverend Canon for St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Oklahoma City before her retirement.
Pieces in the gallery's Permanent Collection include limited edition, original prints by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and James Whistler among others. Will Soule’s famous prints of captured American Indian chiefs imprisoned at Fort Sill are in the collection, along with rare photographs of the Oklahoma Land Run and Oklahoma City's birth.
The Nesbitt Gallery has the particular mission to promote the visual arts of the Central Oklahoma Region with a special concern for the expressions of the diverse cultures and the role that educators have played in forming those expressions. While its permanent collection is weighted to support this mission, it also contains other works of art both of historic and contemporary significance.
The gallery plays host to the Seven State Biennial, a highly competitive art competition held at USAO. Taking place every other year, the Biennial supports more than 300 submissions from more than 100 artists and awards more than $11,000 in prizes.
