by Olha Romaniuk

Created on: September 12, 2009   Last Updated: April 18, 2011

The Cincinnati art scene would not be quite the same without its beloved art museum. Housing a multitude of works from an array of periods and eras in a stately neo-Classical building, the Cincinnati Art Museum has been making its prominent cultural mark on the city since 1886. The art work range at the museum, largest in number in the state of Ohio, is truly impressive and the exhibits and lecture series put together by the museum staff keep its visitors up to date on the up and coming talents as well as the world-renowned artists alike.

The building itself was designed by James McLaughlin, a Cincinnati architect, in 1886. Its reserved presence, not too far from all the major highways but secluded amidst the trees and vegetation of Eden Park, is appropriate for the grandeur of the institution. The museum is almost too easy to miss, if one does not know just where to make the right turn, but when that right road is found, it can lead a visitor to the museum building. Almost as if driving up to a private mansion for an exclusive event, a visitor is surely impressed with the gradual stepping away of the woods and the unexpected revelation of the museum building. Apart from occasional car driving on and off the lot, the museum stands still, inviting a visitor in to explore the galleries filled with art treasures inside.

Unlike many art museum in the United States that have a set admission fee, the Cincinnati Art Museum is free every day allowing everyone to come in and enjoy the art. The lecture series are also, oftentimes, free for the local college students, including those in the nationally-known DAAP program at the University of Cincinnati. Free admission, as a a ploy to attract the locals and the students alike, is what allows the Cincinnati Art Museum to impose such a significant influence on the cultural facet of the city and keep the masses interested in the arts at the same time.

On the inside, the Cincinnati Art Museum feels like one of the truly majestic large city art museums, and not just a wanna-be posing as one. The galleries are arranged on several floors, framing the main atrium, or the Grand Hall, and the long passage piercing through the entire length of a museum. From the main entry, a visitor has a choice to take the elevator up to any of the floors or takes the grand stairs, overlooking the atrium. The Egyptian, Grecian and Roman Wing and the Cincinnati Wing, which stem out from its nucleus of a Grand Hall, contain a great number of art

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