Frist Art Museum

The Frist Art Museum, formerly known as the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, is an art exhibition hall in Nashville, Tennessee, housed in the city's historic U.S. Post Office building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Frist Art Museum
Nashville's Art Deco-style Frist Art Museum
Established2001
Location919 Broadway
Nashville, TN 37203 (United States)
TypeArt Center, Art museum [1]
Visitors200,000[2]
DirectorSusan H. Edwards[3]
Websitewww.fristartmuseum.org
US Post Office
Location901 Broadway, Nashville, Tennessee
Coordinates36°9′28″N 86°47′2″W
Area2.5 acres (1.0 ha)
Built1932
ArchitectMarr & Holman
Architectural styleModerne, Art Deco
MPSMarr and Holman Buildings in Downtown Nashville TR (AD)
NRHP reference No.84000580[4]
Added to NRHPNovember 15, 1984

History
Interior

The museum is housed in a white marble building that was built in the 1930s to serve as Nashville's main post office. Designed by Marr & Holman Architects, it was built in 1933-34. Its location near Union Station was convenient for mail distribution, since most mail at that time was moved by train.[5]

By the 1980s, downtown was no longer a good location for postal distribution. When a new main post office was built near the airport in 1986, the historic old facility became a downtown branch using only a small portion of one floor.[5]

In the early 1990s Thomas F. Frist, Jr., and his family, through the charitable Frist Foundation, identified the post office building, an example of Art Deco and Stripped Classicism style,[6] as a good location for a proposed downtown art museum. The Foundation implemented a public-private venture between the foundation, the U.S. Postal Service, and the city of Nashville. In 1999 the City of Nashville acquired the building from the U.S. Postal Service for the purpose of creating the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, paying $4.4 million. The city contributed $15 million toward renovation of the building, and the Frist Foundation and Frist family contributed $25 million for the renovation and to start an endowment for the art museum. The city owns the building, but granted the Frist a 99-year lease for $1 per year. A renovated post office branch was opened in the basement in 1999.[5]

The art center opened in April 2001 with approximately 24,000 square feet (2,200 m2) of gallery space presenting visual art from local, state and regional artists, as well as major U.S. and international exhibitions.[1]

On April 2, 2018, the Frist announced that it changed its name from The Frist Center of the Visual Arts to The Frist Art Museum. The change became legally effective April 1, 2018.[7]

Exhibition and program information

As a non-collecting museum, the Frist does not have a permanent collection; rather, the center focuses on creating exhibitions as well as securing traveling exhibitions from around the country and the world.

Information regarding past, current and future exhibitions is found on the Frist's website. Each exhibition page contains detailed information about exhibition-related programs and an array of resources, including gallery guides, audio guides, videos and additional information from varying sources.

References
  1. "Frist Center for the Visual Arts: About". ARTINFO. 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-28. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. "Giving Matters". givingmatters.guidestar.org. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  3. agency, Paramore, the digital. "Nashville, TN Community Art Gallery - Frist Art Museum". www.fristcenter.org. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  4. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  5. Christine Kreyling; Sudip Bose; Eric Wills; Jonathan Marx; Dwight Young. "Nashville: Sites and Sounds". Preservation. National Trust for Historic Preservation (July/August 2009).
  6. Moyer, John C. (September 2016). "HAPPY PLACE: With Nashville, Tennessee, once is never enough". AAA World. p. 31. The museum curates all its own shows and has no permanent exhibits, so there's always something new to see.
  7. Frist Center for the Visual Arts. "Frist Center Announces New Name and Visual Brand Identity". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
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