The Dayton Art Institute is committed to enriching lives and serving the community by creating meaningful experiences with art.

2010 marks the 91sth anniversary of The Dayton Art Institute, one of the nation’s finest mid-sized art museums. Founded in 1919 as the Dayton Museum of Arts, the museum also operated a traditional art school. Its founding patrons included prominent leaders such as Orville Wright and the Patterson brothers, founders of NCR. Originally occupying an impressive mansion in downtown Dayton, the museum was quickly embraced by the entire community.

During its first decade, the museum outgrew the mansion. Mrs. Julia Shaw Carnell, a prominent community leader, pledged to construct a new museum if the community would then endow and pay for its operations. Mrs. Carnell’s generosity of nearly $2 million, a significant gift in the early days of the Great Depression, created a land-mark building. Completed in 1930, the building was modeled after the Villa d’Este near Rome and the Villa Farnese at Caprarola in Italy, both examples of sixteenth century Italian Renaissance architecture. The museum facility was designed by prominent museum archi-tect Edward B. Green of Buffalo. More than 80 years later, the building still houses The Dayton Art Institute and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Sitting atop a hill on the edge of the Great Miami River over-looking downtown Dayton, the museum was renamed The Dayton Art Institute to reflect the growing importance of its school as well as its museum. The striking building of nearly 60,000 square feet soon became known as “Dayton’s Living Room.” People from all walks of life came to the Art Institute to visit the permanent collections and special exhibitions, to attend a variety of classes, or to stroll in the gardens on a Sunday afternoon.

During the past decade, the museum has reaffirmed its tradition of providing outstanding educational programs and special exhibitions. Over the past several years, the museum’s collection has grown significantly through generous gifts of artwork by local donors, including important Oceanic art, Asian art, and American fine and decorative art collections. The collection, now comprised of more than 26,000 objects spanning 5,000 years of art history, is rated as “superb in quality” by the American Association of Museums.

In September 1994, the museum announced its largest ever capital campaign, with a goal of $22 million to fund a major renovation and expansion of the museum’s infrastructure; increase and improve our educational and outreach programs; and fund an endowment for the new facility. In December 1996, the museum reached $23.5 million in capital contributions. With the completion of the nearly two-year capital project, an even greater emphasis was placed on outreach toward under-served audiences, including our community’s African-American and Appalachian populations. The Dayton Art Institute reopened in June 1997 with more than 35,000 square feet of additional exhibition space and completely renovated permanent collection galleries.