The Permanent Collection is featured in four galleries devoted to selections from the KIA's outstanding permanent collection of over 3,000 paintings, graphics, photography, sculpture and ceramics. The collection's emphasis is on American art, but also includes strong holdings of American and European prints as well as fine examples of ethnographic art from around the world. Artists represented in the collection include Mary Cassatt, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Ed Paschke, Helen Frankenthaler, Pablo Picasso, Kirk Newman, Franz Kline, Howard Hodgkin, Dorothea Lange, Chuck Close, Roger Brown, Peter Voulkos, Richard Diebenkorn, Ansel Adams and Jack Beal.
Temporary exhibitions feature shows of art-historical importance and diverse media.
One of the strengths of the KIA's Permanent Collection are the great examples of prints and drawings from some of the most well-regarded artists of the past 200 years. Artists from the German Expressionist movement, including Emil Nolde and George Grosz to American master Thomas Hart Benton and Mary Cassatt, will be exhibited. Folk Art Traditions in America consists of 85 outstanding selections from The Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vermont, home to one of America's premier collections of folk art. Tickets for Folk Art Traditions in America are on sale now. An audio guide for the exhibition is offered at no extra charge.