In a press statement released yesterday, the Rose Art Museum announced the acquisition of 41 contemporary works. Peter Norton, a computer programmer and philanthropist who founded the Peter Norton Family Foundation in 1989, is donating the works. According to the press release, the artwork is from Norton’s personal collection and the donation aims to “deepen the integration of the visual arts in higher education, foster creative museum practice, and engage audiences with contemporary art.”

The Director of the Rose Art Museum, Chris Bedford, explained in the press release that the additions would grow the museum’s interaction with the academics and public discourse. As well, because the pieces are drawn from Norton’s own collection, they reflect themes of “racial and sexual identity and [push] the boundaries between media and genres.”

The contemporary collection contains works from different mediums, including films, prints, paintings and sculpture, from 33 artists. According to the press release, highlights of the gift include a permanent installation by Mark Dion called “Treasure Chest” that will open in the fall of 2015, three mixed-media works by Jason Rhoades that will be shown in a solo exhibition in the fall of 2015 and five figures sculpted by Lisa Yuskavage named The Bad Habits: Asspicking, Foodeating, Headshrinking, Socialclimbing, Motherfucker, 1996. The gift also includes two films: a video instal- lation by Omer Fast and a five- minute film, My Favourite Track, from Gillian Wearing. Fast’s film previously played in an exhibit by the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, while Wearing’s film Bully is already on display at the Rose.

Other notable artists include Kara Walker, who is known for her exploration of themes of race, sexuality and identity. Walker is also known for her installations of black silhouettes in various poses that emobolize slavery and racism in America. Other artists, including Tim Hawkinson, Robert Gober and Mike Kelley, have had their works displayed at major museums across the world such as the Whitney, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, Tate Modern and the Museum of Modern Art.

—Jessie Miller