Pizzuti Collection facts for kids
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| Established | 2013 |
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| Location | 632 N. Park Street, Columbus, Ohio |
| Type | Contemporary art |
| Public transit access |  Add→ 1, 2, 5, Night Owl |
The Columbus Museum of Art at The Pizzuti is a cool place to see contemporary art (which means art made in our time!). It's located in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Since September 2018, it has been a special part of the main Columbus Museum of Art. This museum is a three-story building found in the the Short North and Victorian Village areas, right next to Goodale Park. It always has new art shows, featuring artists from all over the world!
This museum was first owned by the Pizzuti family. They became successful through their real estate business. The family started collecting art way back in 1977, after a fun trip to Paris. The Pizzuti Collection first opened its doors in 2013. Before it joined the Columbus Museum of Art in 2018, it had already shown 16 different temporary art exhibits.
What You Can See at The Pizzuti
The museum mostly shows art from the Pizzuti family's own collection. In 2018, this collection had about 2,400 pieces of contemporary art! The Pizzuti Collection building in the Short North has three floors. It was built in the 1920s and has about 18,000 square feet of space.
The museum often changes its exhibits. This means you can always see new art from artists around the world. By the time the museum was given to the Columbus Museum of Art in 2018, it had shown 16 different exhibits. These exhibits featured artists from 40 different countries! Usually, only a small part of the entire collection is on display at any one time.
The museum building itself is also important. It is part of the Near Northside Historic District. This district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
History of The Pizzuti Museum
The building where the museum is now used to be the main office for a group called the Order of United Commercial Travelers of America. They were there from 1924 until 2008.
The Pizzuti family, Ron and Ann Pizzuti, originally owned and ran the museum. They earned a lot of their money from their real estate company, Pizzuti Companies. Ron and Ann have been collecting art since about 1977. Ron Pizzuti first became interested in art during a visit to Paris. He really liked a piece by Frank Stella. His very first art purchase was a painting called Circus People by Karel Appel. He bought it for $900 from a gallery that used to be in Columbus.
Around 2013, the Pizzutis worked to change the building into a public art gallery. The museum officially opened to the public in 2013.
In September 2018, the Pizzuti museum and some of its art collection were given to the Columbus Museum of Art. The Pizzuti, along with the main museum, had to close for a while starting in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
