Named for its benefactor, the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art was founded in 1982 through an insightful and generous gift from the Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation. The Museum’s 23,000 square foot, four-level purpose-built facility was designed by architect Edward Larabee Barnes. Emphasizing 20th- and 21st-century American art with an emphasis on art in the American West, today the collection consists of over 5,000 artworks. The museum’s collection development and growth have been supported by the Marie Eccles Caine Foundation, Kathryn C. Wanlass Foundation, Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation, Janet Quinney Lawson Foundation, and Frederick Q. Lawson Foundation along with many individual donors.

The Museum organizes temporary exhibitions and numerous public events, all free of charge, to provide educational opportunities for USU undergraduate and graduate students as well as K-12 and community groups. These include class meetings, artist talks, curator talks, film screenings, educational activities, and tours designed to interpret, present, and foster learning about visual art. NEHMA also leads programs such as its Museum + Music Series and Family Art Days that are geared to bring together families, the community, and University.