John Herron Art Institute

In 1883, the Art Association of Indianapolis was founded by May Wright Sewall (1844-1920) and 17 other Indianapolis residents. Twelve years later, in 1895, the Association received funds by the will of wealthy Indianapolis local, John Herron, to build a permanent art gallery and art school for the Association. The donation of $225,000 allowed the Art Association to open temporary quarters in a building called Talbott House at the corner of 16th and Pennsylvania Streets in 1902. This building housed both the art museum and the associated art school, which together became formed the John Herron Art Institute beginning in 1906.
In the following years, the Art Association undertook several important building projects on that site in response to growing interest in the museum and rising enrollment at the school. Some important dates and events in the Institute’s architectural history include:

• 1905: Otto Stark joined the John Herron Art School’s faculty of renowned Hoosier artists including Brandt Steele (son of T.C. Steele), J. Ottis Adams, Alfred B. Lyon, Virginia Keep, Helen McKay, and William Forsyth. In the same year, Talbott House was demolished to make way for the permanent building.
• 1906: The John Herron Art Institute opened its permanent art gallery and school in a single building on the lot of the former Talbott House. Opening ceremonies took place from November 20-22. The building was designed by a local architectural firm, Vonnegut & Bohn, in the Italian Renaissance Revival style.
• 1908: To accommodate a growing student population, a new building for the John Herron Art School, also designed by Vonnegut & Bohn, opened directly north of the John Herron Art Museum building. The John Herron Art School, while located in a separate building on the campus, was still associated with the museum and continued to operate under the management of the Art Association of Indianapolis.
• 1920: On Thanksgiving eve, November 24th, a fire damaged the John Herron Art School building. The incident only caused temporary inconvenience, and class enrollment still continued to rise.
• 1929: A newer and larger structure replaced the original art school building on the same site. The building was funded anonymously by board member Caroline Marmon Fesler and designed by architect Paul Philippe Cret. It was dedicated on September 5th.
• 1930-1932: Minor additions were made to the John Herron Art Museum building, designed and executed by McClelland & Company and by Foltz, Osler & Thompson who also designed the landscape. Some additions included an elevator (1930), the north vestibule (1930), and an outside bulletin board (1932).
• 1940s: The Art Association undertook significant renovations to the John Herron Art Museum which added 2,600 square feet of gallery space to the museum building.
• 1962: Evans Woollen III designed an addition to the John Herron Art School building and construction began on his plans for Fesler Hall, a space in the John Herron Art Museum to display the modern art collection.
• 1964: After a series of gifts to the collection by donors such as Caroline Marmon Fesler and Eli Lilly, the John Herron Art Museum simply ran out of space. Having no land upon which to build, the board began consultations with G. A. Brakeley & Company on acquiring a new downtown site.
  In 1966, the Art Association board learned that the John Herron Art School had lost its accreditation. After negotiations, Indiana University took control of the school in 1967. In 1969, when Indiana University and Purdue University joined forces in Indianapolis to form IUPUI (Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis), the IUPUI campus became the school’s home. It is now known as the Herron School of Art and Design and is located on W. New York Street.
  As the Art Association was considering land opportunities for relocating the museum in 1966, Ruth and Josiah K. Lilly donated their parents’ estate, Oldfields, for the new museum. The historic house opened to the public as the Lilly Pavilion of Decorative Arts in 1967, and construction of the new museum building began on the property soon after. The Association changed its name to the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) in 1969, and Krannert Pavilion, the first of multiple museum pavilions to be housed on the new site, opened in 1970.
  The John Herron Art Institute buildings are historically significant for their centrality to the art movement in Indianapolis. While the John Herron Art Museum and the John Herron Art School have since moved to separate locations and operate under new names, the original buildings remain important tributes to the cultural landscape of the city, and currently serve as the campus of Herron High School.

“Herron History.” Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. Accessed July 14, 2016. http://www.herron.iupui.edu/about/herron-history.
“History.” Indianapolis Museum of Art. Accessed June 30, 2016. http://www.imamuseum.org/about/history.
Robinson, Anne P. and S.L. Berry. Every Way Possible: 125 Years of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Indianapolis, IN: Indianapolis Museum of Art, 2008.
“School History.” Herron High School. Accessed July 14, 2016. http://www.herronhighschool.org/about/school-history/.