Marjorie Barrick Museum
 Location in Nevada
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| Established | 1967 |
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| Location | 4505 Maryland Parkway UNLV campus, Paradise, Las Vegas NV USA |
| Coordinates | 36°06′28″N 115°08′15″W / 36.107696°N 115.137393°W |
| Type | Contemporary Art |
| Website | barrickmuseum.unlv.edu/ |
The Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art (MSM; formerly known as the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History) is a museum located on the main campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), established in 1967. The museum was originally instituted as a natural history museum with a focus on the natural history and environment of Nevada and the broader Southwestern United States. In December 2011, the Barrick joined the UNLV College of Fine Arts and became the anchor of the Galleries at UNLV. The six galleries and one museum that make up the Galleries are each entities in their own right linked via a common administration. The Marjorie Barrick Museum (the Barrick), is a well-known venue for engaging exhibitions and events and promotes engagement with the visual arts among a broad community including UNLV students, faculty, and staff; the greater Las Vegas community; and the national and international art community.
The founding of a natural history museum at the university—then an institution only a decade old, known as Nevada Southern University—began with a collection of specimens from the Desert Research Institute (DRI), the Nevada System of Higher Education's graduate research institute. In September 1967, the DRI opened a small museum facility in premises across from the university's grounds, as part of an expansion of DRI's activities into southern Nevada. The museum was created under the direction of archaeologist Richard H. Brooks, assistant research professor at the university and a researcher (later director) of the DRI-affiliated Nevada Archaeological Survey. Its exhibits consisted of DRI's local collection of living desert animal specimens and Native American artifacts.
In 1969 the university took over the management of the museum from DRI. Brooks remained as director of the university-affiliated museum, and during his tenure, the museum's funding was established and further permanent exhibits acquired. The most significant acquisition occurred in 1979, when a private collection of pre-Columbian art was donated by a former UNLV alumna, Mannetta Braunstein, and her husband Michael. These pieces would form the basis of a broadening collection of Mesoamerican and Aridoamerican cultural artifacts, acquired through other donations and further additions from the Braunsteins' purchases in Latin American markets.
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