The University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) is one of the largest university
art museums in the United States, located in
Ann Arbor, Michigan with 94,000 sq ft (8,700 m2). Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the
Civil War, Alumni Memorial Hall originally housed University of Michigan's Alumni office along with the university's growing art collection. Its first director was
Jean Paul Slusser, who served from 1946 (first as acting director, then becoming director in 1947) to his retirement in 1957.[1]
The university contains a comprehensive collection that represents more than 150 years of history, with over 20,000[2] works of art that span cultures, eras, and media. Admission is free, but a $10 donation is suggested.[3]
In the spring of 2009, the museum reopened after a major $41.9 million expansion and renovation designed by
Brad Cloepfil and Allied Works Architecture, which more than doubled the size of the museum. The museum comprises the renovated Alumni Memorial Hall with 41,000 sq ft (3,800 m2) and the new 53,000 sq ft (4,900 m2) Maxine and Stuart Frankel and the Frankel Family Wing. The museum's current director is
Christina Olsen, who was appointed in 2017.[4]
Construction
Alumni Memorial Hall was originally conceived in 1864 as a way to honor the
University of Michigan students, faculty, and alumni who had died fighting in the Civil War. However, the project was put on hold until 1904, when a committee of Michigan alumni and professors, led by Professor
Martin Luther D'Ooge and Judge
Claudius B. Grant, secured a promissory note from the Board of Regents for the land the hall would eventually be built on.
With the land set aside, the Board of Regents created a committee to work in parallel with the Alumni Memorial Committee in 1905, and by the end of the year had awarded the project to the
Detroit architecture firm
Donaldson and Meier at the cost of $175,000. The hall's cornerstone was laid by Judge Grant and construction began in June 1908. Alumni Memorial Hall was dedicated on May 11, 1910, with a final building cost of $190,000.
The hall itself was built in the
neoclassical tradition with a pair of two stone columns flanking the hall's main bronze doors with two smaller side doors. The inside continues to house the Alumni Association's headquarters and the university's vast art collection alongside pieces donated by alumni, including a bust of the university's first president
Henry Philip Tappan. It also housed the University Club, before the club moved across the street to the
Union.[5][6]
The Mark di Suvero sculpture Orion was installed in front of the building from 2008 to 2018, then removed briefly for conservation, and reinstalled permanently in 2019.[8]
The kinetic sculpture Shang was a long-term loan to the university that stood outside the building from 2008 to 2020, when it was bought by a private collector. In November 2020, the
Jaume Plensa piece Behind the Walls was installed in its place.[9][10]