DMA seeks to create a truly encyclopedic collection through housing collections that encompass nearly every human culture in history. The 20,000 objects in the collection are balanced both geographically and historically. The museum has important collections of European and American paintings; prints, and sculpture; postwar American art; decorative arts; Asian; ancient American; African; classical; Egyptian; and American Indian art.

Arts of the Americas: Comprising approximately 3,700 ancient American works from Mesoamerica, Central America, and South America, this collection includes works in stone, ceramics, gold, and textiles, representing the Olmec, Maya Veraguas, Calima, Chavin, Paracas, Moche, Masca, Sican , and Chimu cultures.

300 pieces of Native North American art.

The American art collection spans the colonial period to World War II, and includes paintings, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts. Important collections include the 18th- and 19th-century decorative arts, American silver from the colonial era to 1930, 19th-century landscape paintings, and 20th-century modernist paintings.

Arts of Europe: With approximately 5,000 works, the European collection spans the Cycladic period to the mid-20th century. Highlights of the collection include ancient Greek and Etruscan gold jewelry, 18th-century paintings, early modern paintings and sculpture, Wendy and Emery Reves Collection of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings and drawings, European furniture, and Chinese export porcelain.

Art of Africa: Collections include ancient Egyptian sculpture; sub-Saharan sculpture from Zaire, northern Angola, and West Africa; Kuba textiles; beadwork from West Africa and Zaire; and Ethiopian crosses.

Arts of Asia and the Pacific: Collections hold Japanese paintings, sculp

Education and teaching resources, Teacher workshops and credit courses, Student tours, Classroom projects, Public programs, Humanities programs, Educational workshops/programs, Educational exhibitions, Adult tours, Adult programs, Lectures/symposia, Community outreach, Student and adult art classes, Family Days, Films, Concerts

The DMA's education department is divided into traditional school adult, family, and community outreach program departments as well as special programs in technology. The school programs department posts a variety of information online through TENET (Texas Education NEtwork on Internet for Texas teachers K-12). The school programs department also has teacher packets, tour information, and a calendar of events available for teachers. This department is eager to share information on the Internet, as well as to discuss ideas and concepts for programming. Innovative programs include those for architecture students and talented and gifted high school students.

The family and community programs department has the Go van Gogh(r) outreach project, which offers one-hour programs in classrooms. The programs consist of a slide show and related art activity and are thematic and age-specific. The outreach department also creates educational exhibitions (e.g. exhibitions for the blind) that are accompanied by related, hands-on activities led by well-known artists, brown bag lectures, adult workshops, and family activities. The Gateway Gallery features interactive family exhibitions and programs.

Curators at the DMA are interested in sharing speakers with different institutions and perhaps creating a lecture circuit in Texas.