The University of Kansas art museum in Lawrence grew from Kansas City collector Sallie Casey Thayer’s 1917 gift of more than 7,000 works from Asia and Europe to promote fine arts study in the Midwest. Established in Spooner Hall in 1928, it later outgrew that space and was transformed in 1978 by Helen Foresman Spencer’s major support for a new building, after which it was renamed in her honor. Its collections now exceed 48,000 objects, strengthened in 2007 by the transfer of more than 9,000 anthropology objects. Recent renovations have expanded galleries, study centers, and research spaces, reinforcing its role as a major academic and public art institution in Kansas.