The Middlebury College Museum of Art, an integral educational and cultural component of Middlebury College, aims to enhance the educational opportunities at Middlebury and is closely linked to the departments of the History of Art and Architecture and Studio Art. As such the Museum's collection is diverse and broad in scope, with works ranging from ancient European, Near Eastern, and Asian art to contemporary paintings, prints, sculpture, and photography.

Works on paper, notably contemporary photographs, are a primary focus. Among the 1,500 examples are works by Rembrandt, Honore Daumier, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Willem de Kooning, Man Ray, Southworth and Hawes, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, and many others.

European and American paintings from the 17th through 19th centuries are another strength of the collection. Highlights include Dutch and Flemish works by Jan Coelenbier and Govaert Flinck, and French and American paintings by William Bouguereau, Pierre-Etienne-Theodore Rousseau, Jasper Cropsey, Frederic Church, and John F. Kensett. Jules Dalou, Medardo Rosso, Hiram Powers, and Frederic Remington are but a few artists represented among the Museum's nearly 200 primarily 19th century sculptures.

Enriching the collection is a small but choice selection of Asian, Near-Eastern, and Ancient objects. Features include a 9th century BCE Assyrian relief, red and black-figure Greek vases, Roman marble sculpture, a XXVI dynasty Egyptian sarcophagus, Chinese ceramics, and Japanese woodcut prints.