The Columbus Museum of Art, also known by its initials CMA, is a gallery located in Columbus, Ohio. It was the first art gallery to obtain its charter with the state of Ohio. It was established in 1878 as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts. The museum gathers and displays modern and contemporary art from America and Europe, as well as folk art, glass art, and photography. Executive Director Nannette Maciejunes has been in charge of the museum since 2003.
It was housed in the Francis C. Sessions home starting in 1919. Sessions gave the art museum the mansion and its land, and the institution remained there until 1923. The current museum was erected on the site of the home, which was destroyed. A portion of the Sessions house’s entrance can be seen in CCAD’s Beaton Hall. The current structure was constructed there from 1929 to 1931 and inaugurated in January of that year. An inconspicuous structure was constructed for the buildings back in 1974. On March 19, 1992, the museum’s former name was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
In 2007, the Columbus Museum of Art started a significant reconstruction and expansion. After 13 months of building, the first new space opened in January 2011. The Center for Creativity is an 18,000-square-foot complex with galleries, gathering areas, and seminars where visitors can participate in practical activities. The Museum gained 50,000 square feet of additional space and 40,000 square feet of significant refurbishment when the new Margaret M. Walter wing opened to the public in October 2015. Michael Bongiorno of the Columbus-based architecture company Design Group created the Margaret M. Walter Wing.
The CMA received the Pizzuti Collection and a portion of its collection in September 2018. This museum is located in the Short North. In that year, the museum debuted as a component of the Columbus Museum of Art. Three arched arches leading to the inside make up the main entrance’s original design. Here, the facade is embellished with keystones, bulls-eye medallions, ornate moldings, and stone quoins. Above the arches, a frieze bearing the words “Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts” hung. The walkway is reached through a flight of sixteen limestone stairs and is bordered by two lampposts in the Italian style. A Creativity Lounge, The Studio, The Wonder Room, the Big Idea Gallery, and an Open Gallery are all part of the museum’s Center for Creativity, which is located on the first level.