Dayton Art Institute | |
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| Location | Forest and Riverview Aves.,Dayton, Ohio |
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| Coordinates | 39°45′57″N84°12′4″W / 39.76583°N 84.20111°W /39.76583; -84.20111 |
| Area | 6 acres (2.4 ha) |
| Built | 1930 |
| Architect | Edward B. Green |
| Architectural style | Renaissance, Italian Renaissance Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 74001579[1] |
| Added to NRHP | November 19, 1974 |
The Dayton Art Institute (DAI) is amuseum offine arts inDayton,Ohio, United States. The Dayton Art Institute has been rated one of the top 10 best art museums in the United States for children.[2] The museum also ranks in the top 3% of all art museums inNorth America in 3 of 4 factors.[3] In 2007, the art institute saw 303,834 visitors.[4]
Founded in a downtown mansion in 1919 as theDayton Museum of Fine Arts, the museum moved to a newly designedEdward B. Green building in 1930. The DAI was modeled after the Casino in the gardens of theVilla Farnese atCaprarola, and the front hillside stairway was inspired by theItalian Renaissance garden stairs at theVilla d'Este, nearRome, and Italy. The building was originally constructed with importedroof tiles from Italy, but after they began to crumble from the harsher Ohio winters they were replaced byLudowici tiles in 1979.[5] It is also visible from and easily accessible fromI-75, which passes through the center of Dayton.[6]
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 theNational 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 hostThe Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt, the largest collection of ancient artifacts ever to travel outsideEgypt.
The art museum is anItalian Renaissance–style building, which sits atop a hill overlooking downtown Dayton. The institute's highlights are the museum's Asian, 17th-centuryBaroque, 18th- and 19th-century American, andcontemporary art collections. In addition to its collections, the museum frequently features other exhibitions.[7]
Some of the most notable works held by the institute are:[8][9]
