An important part of the exhibition program at SVA takes place in the Visual Arts Museum. Located in the Main Building at 209 East 23 Street, the museum brings directly to students the work of some of the most significant figures in contemporary fine and applied arts. Since its opening in 1971, the museum has shown work by artists such as Willem de Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Motherwell, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Mark Di Suvero and Sara Sze.

In 1988, SVA inaugurated the Masters Series - annual award exhibitions honoring great visual communicators of our time. Recipients of the award have been: Saul Bass, Ivan Chermayeff, Seymour Chwast, Paul Davis, Lou Dorfsman, Milton Glaser, George Lois, Mary Ellen Mark, Duane Michaels, Tony Palladino, Paul Rand, Deborah Sussman, George Tscherny and Massimo Vignelli. Shigeo Fukuda will receive the 2001 Masters Series Award.

The next exhibition at the Visual Arts museum will be Masters Series 2001: A Retrospective of Japanese Designer, Shigeo Fukuda.