The Kennedy Museum of Art is an integral part of the educational, research, and public service missions of Ohio University. The purpose of the Kennedy Museum of Art is to enhance the intellectual and cultural life of Ohio University and the region through quality national and international exhibitions, collection-based research, and diverse formal and informal learning opportunities. The Kennedy Museum of Art exercises its public trust by focusing its collections on those works of art that it has the resources and capabilities to house, preserve, study and exhibit.

As an academic museum with a teaching mission, the Museum provides Ohio University students, faculty and staff, as well as the greater community, with engaging and thought provoking encounters. Exhibitions, programs and events are designed to acknowledge that art is best experienced when presented in a contextual and interdisciplinary environment. To that end, the Museum serves as a learning laboratory for Ohio University, community schools and visitors.

The permanent collections form the core of exhibitions and programs. The collections include: Southwest Native American textiles, ceramics and jewelry; American paintings; drawings and photography; contemporary prints; ceramics and sculpture. Selected works within the collections have been featured in important national and international exhibitions.