Fancy Outings and Classroom Activities: The Yale University Art Gallery

Source: https://admissions.yale.edu/bulldogs-blogs/keenan/2025/03/31/fancy-outings-and-classroom-activities-yale-university-art-gallery Parent: https://admissions.yale.edu/bulldogs-blogs/category/new-haven

by Keenan in

#Academics, #Campus Life, #New Haven on 03.31.2025

For me, college has been a time of great exploration of all kinds, especially academically. During the Fall Semester of my Sophomore Year, I took my very first Art History course. Though I had absolutely no familiarity with the subject, and to be honest, I was terrified, I was very intrigued with entering the beautiful and stereotypically pretentious world of art at a university famous for its artistic streak.

I ended up falling in love with the class and American Art to 1900 is now safely one of my very favorite classes I have taken at Yale. More than just academic fulfillment, though, the course introduced me to the Yale University Art Gallery - a highlight of Yale’s campus and the oldest university art museum in the western hemisphere.

I had never in my first two semesters in New Haven (nor the trips I took before accepting my offer) been to the Art Gallery. Before, I had always been a person who didn’t have any particular interest in art or museums. As a Yale student, however, it is difficult for you to avoid the Art Gallery entirely. Many classes across departments often find creative ways of getting students to explore the resources and attractions that Yale has to offer. While Art History classes will often take you to the YUAG (Yale University Art Gallery), as discussion sections will often be held there, I have had friends in many other classes that one might not expect making trips to the Gallery (including Spanish and a course in the History of Science).

The Gallery has collections spanning the globe and its history. More than just a gallery, the YUAG is also a burial site. Beneath the Gallery, American artist John Trumbull is buried. Though some may not recognize him by name, all know his work. In the years during and following the American Revolution, as the nation was building the government we now know for better or worse, Trumbull took it upon himself to depict the history in the making, creating many paintings of revolutionary and foundational figures in American history. A couple decades later, Trumbull would be commissioned to make huge recreations of four of these paintings to be hung in the Capitol Rotunda where they reside today. At the YUAG, you can view the smaller originals that includes The Declaration of Independence, The Resignation of General Washington, The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, and The Surrender of General Burgoyne at Saratoga.

Though you may be like I was and think art is for pretentious snobs, there’s a lot you can learn and enjoy from looking at these pictures. They’re as much artifacts as they are canvases. Like Yale at large, visiting the YUAG is more than just a fun adventure to enjoy beautiful sights; it’s a journey through history.