Akron Art Museum reopens its 1899 Building with new galleries and artmaking space

Akron Art Museum reopened its renovated 1899 Building during the week of September 23, giving visitors new galleries, a classroom and an interactive place to make art inside its historic former post office. The museum held a free community celebration on September 24; its opening-week program ran through September 27.

Ideastream Public Media reported on September 24 that the building had undergone a $12.5 million renovation. The museum calls the renovated structure the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Building. The changes bring public uses back into a part of the campus that, according to Ideastream, had been used for storage, offices and occasional exhibitions after the museum’s 2007 expansion.

More room for art and learning

The museum says the project added 2,152 square feet of gallery space and a dedicated 957-square-foot classroom. It also lists new capacity to show video and other time-based art, additional visitor amenities, restrooms and a family care room. Those figures and project descriptions come from the museum; Ideastream separately reported on the reopened exhibition and activity spaces.

The classroom gives the museum a dedicated space for learning programs. Ideastream reported that about 4,000 students visit each year and that the room can serve school groups as well as the museum’s Creative Aging Institute programming. Its reopening report also described a third floor of offices that brings museum staff together.

Museum CEO John Fiume told Ideastream that visitors can touch, see and create art in the Idea Machine. He also described it as a place to pause during a visit to the galleries. That hands-on use distinguishes the space from the building’s new exhibition rooms, where the museum is showing works from its collection and other presentations.

What opened in the galleries

The second-floor Tony and Susie Paparella Galleries opened with The Surrealist Impulse. Ideastream reported that the exhibition includes 30 works, combining pieces from Akron’s collection with loans from New York’s Museum of Modern Art. The museum says the presentation brings together work associated with Dada and Surrealism alongside related Art Brut work.

Curator Wendy Earle told Ideastream that the new galleries allow earlier works in Akron’s collection to receive more attention. She said the collection extends from 1850 to the present. The exhibition therefore gives visitors a way to see a part of the museum’s holdings that, in her account, has not always had an equally prominent display.

In the McDowell Family Galleries, Shana Moulton’s Meta/Physical Therapy uses eight synchronized video projections, according to the museum. Ideastream described it as an immersive installation. The museum says the work follows Cynthia, Moulton’s semi-autobiographical character, through themes including wellness culture, anxiety and consumerism.

The museum also listed Naudline Pierre: May the Light Reach You as opening September 23 in its Arnstein Galleries. That exhibition was part of the broader opening-week program, but the museum placed it outside the three presentations in the renovated 1899 Building. The distinction matters for visitors looking for a particular show within the campus.

A former post office returns to public use

The building opened as Akron’s main post office in 1899 and became the art museum’s home in 1981. The museum expanded in 2007 with a steel-and-glass addition designed by Coop Himmelb(l)au. Ideastream reported that the older structure subsequently served mainly as storage, office and occasional exhibition space, making this renovation a change in how visitors can use it.

Construction began in July 2025, according to the museum. It says the work was funded through its Create the Future campaign, with support from the Knight Foundation, $2 million in Ohio state capital funding and other donors. Fiume told Ideastream he hoped the reopened building would help raise annual attendance from about 30,000 to 50,000; that higher figure is a goal, not a measured result.

Opening-week access

The museum scheduled a first public look on September 23 and a free celebration from noon to 9 p.m. on September 24, with tours, artmaking, performances and access to the reopened spaces. It listed noon-to-5 p.m. hours for September 25–27. Members and Akron Marathon participants showing a race bib were offered free admission that weekend; general admission applied to other visitors.

Downtown Akron Partnership listed the reopened building at 1 S High St and described three exhibitions in the renovated spaces. The museum’s cited schedule covers opening week, which ended September 27. It does not establish later regular hours, admission prices or access to every exhibition on a future date; visitors planning another day should check the museum’s current information.