Samstag Museum of Art is South Australia’s largest contemporary art gallery. Its establishment, in 2007, reflects Adelaide University's determination to make a dynamic contribution to the intellectual and cultural life of South Australia and to the Australian tertiary education sector.

Samstag presents a changing exhibitions program of contemporary visual art, and art of the past that has relevance for us today. The program is intended to be of broad interest and educational value to a wide public community.  The Museum additionally manages  the University's Art Collection and administers the prestigious Samstag Scholarships on behalf of the American-based Trustee of the estate of Gordon Samstag.

Samstag has been named in honour of two distinguished American benefactors to Australian culture, whose remarkable bequest provides opportunities for Australian artists to study overseas, through Adelaide University.

Mission

Bold, creative and responsive to developments in the contemporary visual arts, Samstag is a leading university art museum known nationally for its outstanding artistic programming and support of creatives working with moving image. Samstag aims to stimulate, challenge and engage its audiences with a program of diverse and innovative exhibitions, publications and public activities.

As a founding member of the University Art Museums of Australia group (UAMA), we invite all our students, staff and visitors to the University to experience the creativity, innovation and excitement of many great Australian and international artists through Samstag.

History

Samstag Museum of Art celebrated its opening on 11 October 2007 — at that time, part of the University of South Australia — with the exhibition Wonderful World, a project expressing the scope and sophistication of Australian contemporary art practice, and demonstrating the cultural ambition of Samstag Museum. 

Samstag has evolved to its new identity through several different stages of development since its establishment as the College Gallery c. 1977 (South Australian College of Advanced Education) 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. In 2007, the University Art Museum was renamed the Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art to honour the significant contribution to visual arts education in Australia made by the late Anne and Gordon Samstag.

Following the amalgamation of the University of South Australia and the University of Adelaide, Samstag Museum of Art became part of the new Adelaide University in 2026.

Sustainability

Samstag acknowledges that there is an environmental impact to its work. It is taking steps to implement a more sustainable approach to materials and processes where possible.