When the Nasher Museum first opened in 2005, Museum Director Kim Rorschach envisioned it as a major new center for the arts with an increased focus on modern and contemporary art. Contemporary art made up a small fraction of collection of 13,000 works, however. The young museum began to acquire work from living artists connected with the first exhibitions.

Today, the Nasher Museum’s growing permanent collection includes some of today’s best contemporary art, with a focus on work by artists of African descent.

Other major strengths in the collection include European medieval art, European and American paintings, Outsider art, classical antiquities, African art and ancient American (Pre-Columbian) art. In 2015, in celebration of Nasher10, the museum’s first decade, Nasher Museum Director Sarah Schroth oversaw a comprehensive and dynamic reinstallation of these collections. Eight galleries in Wilson Pavilion are dedicated to specific collection areas highlighting many of the museum’s masterworks while illustrating a history of human creativity. This work is featured within The Collection Galleries in Wilson pavilion.