Frist Art Museum facts for kids
The Frist Art Museum in Nashville, famous for its Art Deco style.
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| Established | 2001 |
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| Location | 919 Broadway Nashville, TN 37203 (United States) |
| Type | Art Center, Art museum |
| Visitors | 200,000 |
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US Post Office
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 Location in Tennessee
Location in the United States
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| Location | 901 Broadway, Nashville, Tennessee |
| Area | 2.5 acres (1.0 ha) |
| Built | 1932 |
| Architect | Marr & Holman |
| Architectural style | Moderne, Art Deco |
| MPS | Marr and Holman Buildings in Downtown Nashville TR (AD) |
| NRHP reference No. | 84000580 |
| Added to NRHP | November 15, 1984 |
The Frist Art Museum is a special art exhibition hall located in Nashville, Tennessee. It's not in a modern building, but inside the city's beautiful and historic former main U.S. Post Office. This amazing building is so important that it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Contents
From Mail to Masterpieces: The Museum's History
A Grand Post Office
The museum's building is made of white marble and was built between 1933 and 1934. It was designed by the architects Marr & Holman to be Nashville's main post office. Its location was perfect because it was right next to Union Station, making it easy to send and receive mail by train.
By the 1980s, the city had grown, and a new main post office was built closer to the airport. The historic building was then only used as a small, local post office branch.
A New Life as an Art Museum
In the 1990s, a local family, the Frists, had a great idea. Through their family charity group, the Frist Foundation, they saw that the old post office would be a perfect spot for a new art museum. The building's cool design, a mix of Art Deco and Stripped Classicism, made it a work of art itself.
It became a team project between the Frist Foundation, the U.S. Postal Service, and the city of Nashville. In 1999, the city bought the building for $4.4 million to turn it into an art center. The city and the Frist family together gave millions of dollars to fix up the building and create the museum.
The art center, originally called the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, opened in April 2001. In 2018, it was renamed the Frist Art Museum. A small post office branch still operates in the building with its own separate entrance.
What's Inside the Museum?
A Museum of Traveling Art
The Frist Art Museum is a "non-collecting" museum. This means it doesn't have its own permanent collection of art that it owns. Instead, it hosts amazing traveling exhibitions from other museums all over the United States and the world. This makes every visit exciting and new!
You can always check the museum's website to see what incredible art is currently on display and what's coming next.
Martin ArtQuest: Get Creative!
One of the most popular parts of the museum is the Martin ArtQuest (MAQ) gallery. This is a permanent, hands-on space where you can become the artist! It's a fun, interactive area with lots of cool stations, including:
- A drawing station
- A painting station
- A printmaking station where you can make your own prints
- A stop-motion animation tool to create your own short movies
- A shadow theater for putting on a show
- An Everbright wall made of color-changing dials
- A giant weaving installation
The Martin ArtQuest gallery is a fantastic place for visitors of all ages to explore their creativity and learn about art in a fun way.
