The Lilley Museum of Art is Nevada’s only free museum of art that collects and exhibits art from all time periods and cultures. We are a teaching museum; the collection of over 5,000 objects and the exhibitions the museum organizes are meant to be a learning resources for students and the local community. The Lilley supports the educational mission of the University of Nevada and enhances the cultural life of the Nevada community by providing inclusive programming, stimulating and diverse exhibitions, and research and teaching opportunities in a transcultural collection.

The Lilley's collection is very strong in self-taught and folk art, ancient Chinese art, Native American art, works on paper and art works from the Great Basin and Northern California. Our Native American art collection includes over 2000 works and is the largest of its kind in the state. All the art works in the collection are owned by the people of Nevada and held in stewardship for them as a free learning resource by The Lilley and the University. 

The Lilley is composed of two galleries, one dedicated to its permanent collection display and one to temporary exhibitions. The temporary exhibition program focuses heavily on contemporary art with occasional exhibitions of historic art. At any given time, just a portion of the collection is on view, but visitors with scholarly research inquires can request to see objects from the collection.