As with any great story, the story of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts is best told from the beginning.
After twenty years as the Little Rock Fine Arts Club, the Museum of Fine Arts’ original building was commissioned as a part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and built by the Works Progress Administration.
Designed by architect H. Ray Burks, the Museum of Fine Arts opened in 1937 as the first museum dedicated to fine arts in the state of Arkansas.
This Art Deco limestone façade brings a scale and timelessness to the Museum’s Courtyard Entrance and feels right at home facing Little Rock’s Ninth Street.
The historic structure features two carved relief figures — Painting and Sculpture personified — signifying the Museum as a space of art and creativity.
It also features the original structure’s inscription “Museum of Fine Arts,” which is given new meaning with the reopening of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts.
When the Arkansas Arts Center underwent its 1982 addition, the façade was moved inside to welcome visitors to the interior galleries. However, with the reimagined Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, it has returned as a centerpiece.
Preservation of the original limestone was completed through a partnership between the Museum and the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism, while the architects at Studio Gang worked to preserve even more of the Museum’s legacy.
With this accomplishment of design, masonry, and preservation, the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts hopes to honor our storied past while welcoming you to the Museum’s bright future.
