History of the Museum

The University of South Australia's new Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art celebrated its opening on 11 October 2007 with the exhibition Wonderful World, a project expressing the scope and sophistication of Australian contemporary art practice, and demonstrating the cultural ambition of the Samstag Museum of Art.

The Samstag Museum of Art has evolved to its new identity through several different stages of development since its establishment as the College Gallery c.1977 (SACAE) at the Underdale campus. In 1991 the College Gallery was renamed the University of South Australia Art Museum to coincide with the establishment of the University of South Australia and in 1998 the Museum relocated to the city west campus. Following its opening in October 2007, the Samstag Museum of Art and its antecedents will have been in operation for over thirty years.