One of the Midwest's oldest (1851) and most important universities, with 50,000 students on the Twin Cities campus, the UMN offers three significant museums -- the James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History, the University Art Gallery, and the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum . The 4,800-seat Northrop Auditorium has been a home for distinguished performances since 1929, and the University Theatre has four separate stages.