Allen Memorial Art Building

The Department of Art occupies two buildings adjacent to the Allen Memorial Art Museum referred to as the Allen Memorial Art Building.

One wing, the Ward Art Building, was designed by founding museum director Clarence Ward. It houses the Fisher Gallery for student exhibitions, art history classrooms, painting and silkscreen studios, and the Visual Resources Collection.

The other wing is the Venturi Art Building, designed by Robert Venturi as part of a 1976 expansion. It includes the Clarence Ward Art Library, seminar room, and studios for photography, digital media, drawing, and sculpture.

In 2011, a two-year renovation project led by Samuel Anderson Architects of New York and McClure Engineering of St. Louis was completed to provide new infrastructure and sustainability, setting a precedent for historic museum structures. The museum earned LEED gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

This work was followed by a major conservation project completed in 2015, which restored paintings on the ceiling and clerestory of the museum’s King Sculpture Court. The nonprofit ICA Art Conservation of Cleveland cleaned and restored to nearly original appearance 100 decorative paintings created by New York artist Frederick J. Wiley.