The Bates College Museum of Art is recognized for bringing a world of ideas to the college and surrounding communities through a dynamic exhibition program which includes art from around the globe, and for a robust educational program that integrates art into the curriculum of the college and area schools, and into the cultural and social life of Bates, Lewiston/Auburn, and well beyond.

The museum's collections comprise more than 7,000 objects. Among them is the Marsden Hartley Memorial Collection, which is an essential part of the cultural heritage of the State of Maine and consists of over 400 artworks and objects, including the world's largest collection of Hartley's drawings, several of his early oil sketches, works by other artists, and his personal effects. Other strengths of the permanent collection include modern and contemporary drawings, prints, and photographs; contemporary Chinese art; shamanic art from Southeast Asia; pre-Columbian and African objects; and works by artists of regional, national, or international significance with connections to Maine.