National Register of Historic Places

Dayton Art Institute

Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio
Listed
November 19, 1974
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
74001579

About this property

The Dayton Art Institute (DAI) is a museum of fine arts in Dayton, Ohio, United States. The Dayton Art Institute has been rated one of the top 10 best art museums in the United States for children. The museum also ranks in the top 3% of all art museums in North America in 3 of 4 factors. In 2007, the art institute saw 303,834 visitors. Founded in a downtown mansion in 1919 as the Dayton Museum of Fine Arts, the museum moved to a newly designed Edward B. Green building in 1930. The DAI was modeled after the Casino in the gardens of the Villa Farnese at Caprarola, and the front hillside stairway was inspired by the Italian Renaissance garden stairs at the Villa d'Este, near Rome, and Italy. The building was originally constructed with imported roof tiles from Italy, but after they began to crumble from the harsher Ohio winters they were replaced by Ludowici tiles in 1979. It is also visible from and easily accessible from I-75, which passes through the center of Dayton. The museum was later renamed the Dayton Art Institute as an indication of the growing importance of its school in addition to the museum. The nearly 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m2) building is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The museum's collection contains more than 20,000 objects spanning 5,000 years. In September, 2005, the Museum became one of eleven galleries in the US to host The Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt, the largest collection of ancient artifacts ever to travel outside Egypt. The art museum is an Italian Renaissance–style building, which sits atop a hill overlooking downtown Dayton. The institute's highlights are the museum's Asian, 17th-century Baroque, 18th- and 19th-century American, and contemporary art collections. In addition to its collections, the museum frequently features other exhibitions. The Song of the Nightingale by William-Adolphe Bouguereau Aurora Red Ikebana with Bright Yellow Stems by Dale Chihuly Allegory of the Four Seasons by Bartolomeo Manfredi American Indian Series (Russell Means) by Andy Warhol National Register of Historic Places listings in Dayton, Ohio

Location

Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio
39.76602, -84.20093

Categories

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTUREARTARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Steele's Hill-Grafton Hill Historic District (Additional Documentation)
Listed
0.2 mi
McPherson Town Historic District
Listed
0.3 mi
Hanitch-Huffman House
Industrial
0.3 mi
Dayton Young Men's Christian Association Building
Industrial
0.3 mi
Central Avenue Historic District
Listed
0.4 mi

Nearby Battles

Battle of Piqua / Pickaway Aug 8 1780
1780Revolutionary War
7.8 mi

Questions about this property

When was Dayton Art Institute listed on the National Register?

Dayton Art Institute was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 19, 1974.

What type of historic resource is Dayton Art Institute?

Dayton Art Institute is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Dayton Art Institute?

The period of significance for Dayton Art Institute is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Dayton Art Institute?

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