Paul R. Jones Museum

The Paul R. Jones Museum is the University of Alabama’s downtown art museum, located on Gary Fitts Street near 23rd Avenue in the center of Tuscaloosa. It presents rotating exhibitions drawn from the Paul R. Jones Collection, one of the most important collections of African American art assembled by a private collector, along with lectures and events that connect the work to the community.

The collection is named for Paul Raymond Jones, who was born in 1928 and grew up in the Muscoda mining camp near Bessemer. He studied at Howard University and hoped to attend law school at the University of Alabama, but in 1949 a Black student could not enroll there, so he continued his education elsewhere and built a long career in public service. He led Birmingham’s Interracial Committee, worked with federal agencies during the civil rights era, held regional leadership roles with the Minority Business Development Agency and served as deputy director of the Peace Corps in Thailand.

Jones began collecting in 1960 after noticing how rarely African American artists appeared in museums, galleries and auction houses. Working on a middle class budget, he started with prints and moved on to original paintings, drawings, sculpture and photographs, often buying several pieces from emerging artists and inviting friends to his home to see them. He eventually donated his holdings in two major parts, one to the University of Delaware and thousands of works to the University of Alabama’s College of Arts and Sciences, to preserve the legacy of the artists he championed.

The collection includes work by many significant American artists, among them photographer Carrie Mae Weems, and the museum’s exhibitions draw on it to explore themes of history, memory and identity. The university also makes the collection available online, so visitors can browse many works before or after a trip. The museum hosts a speaker series and other public programs throughout the year that bring artists and scholars to Tuscaloosa.

Because it sits in the downtown core rather than on the main campus, the museum is easy to fit into a walk among downtown restaurants and shops. It takes part in Tuscaloosa’s First Friday events, when galleries and businesses stay open into the evening, and its staff work with university classes and community groups who use the collection for study.

The museum is open Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm, and on First Fridays it stays open until 8pm. Admission is always free. Free parking is available in the four story Tuscaloosa Intermodal Facility parking deck at the corner of 7th Street and 23rd Avenue, within walking distance of the museum. Current exhibitions and upcoming talks are posted on the museum’s website.