The Tyler Museum of Art boasts a permanent collection of over 1200 works. Since the Museum opened in 1971, the permanent collection has seen periods of great advancement, including a gift of Mexican folk art from Laura and Dan Boekman. Today, the Laura and Dan Boeckman Collection of Mexican Folk Art is one of the largest collections of its kind in the United States. Other works of art continue to be gifted to the Museum and others have been selected for purchase with funds donated by benefactors. Such individuals – and in some case, organizations and foundations – have become vital partners in forming the collection and in defining the Museum’s character and purpose.

The strength of the Collection includes paintings, photographs, sculpture, and prints by some of Texas’ best known artists. Such artists include Sedrick Huckaby, William B. Montgomery, Karl Umlauf , Vernon Fisher, James Surls, Ancel E. Nunn, Terry Allen, Skeet McAuley, and Keith Carter. Artists from other regions include Josef Albers, Al Held, Robert Motherwell, Clayton Pond, and Edward Zucca.