Dayton Art Institute

The Dayton Art Institute is Dayton, Ohio’s world-class art museum. You could easily get lost in here for a full day! I just did a high-level walk-through, and it still took a couple of hours. Plus, I stopped for an hour-long organ concert besides. So, beware! It’s bigger than it looks.

Dayton Art Institute Collection

There is a HUGE variety in the Dayton Art Institute’s regular collection. On its two levels, you can tour comprehensive collections of Asian, African, European, and American art. Everything from ancient Roman reliefs to abstract modern & mixed media is here. Glass sculptures, furniture, renaissance oil paintings, a car door – it’s a very extensive collection.

Special Exhibits

Currently, there are a few special exhibits at the Dayton Art Institute. One is a gallery of Norman Rockwell that I only wish was larger. Next to it is a huge exhibit of Ralston Crawford’s aviation-inspired graphic art, which I didn’t care for nearly as much. There’s also a small collection of iconic photography and expressive Japanese calligraphy. I’m not sure if those are temporary, but they’re in the same space as those that are.

The Building and Exhibition Spaces

I was almost more impressed with the Dayton Art Institute building than the art. The art itself is almost too much to look at. But the building! In the smack middle of the downstairs is a concert hall with a historic pipe organ. (They give frequent concerts, see below.)

Then upstairs, nestled inside two large circular side wings, are two cloisters. One is an open garden with a fountain and some statuary, and another is enclosed in glass like a solarium. Both are available to rent – I saw them setting up for a wedding reception in the enclosed cloister.

And everywhere, there are little nooks and crannies with art tucked away in them. Like a stained glass window and chapel ceiling near a cloister entrance. Or iridescent Tiffany vases in a pass-through corner display. I loved the feeling of exploration here, like you can find a masterpiece around any corner. And you do – it’s honestly a bit overwhelming. Many of the galleries are smaller, which is a nice way to break it up visually.

But then there are also huge grand spaces, like the grand hall and staircase at the back of the museum. And they have beautiful ways of setting off the art with their paint choices and frames. They really do a phenomenal job with presentation here.

Concerts

As I mentioned, there is a beautiful concert hall downstairs. I happened to stumble on a special Saturday organ concert dedicated to Halloween. The organist played short, spooky films on an overhead screen while accompanying them on the organ, sometimes with classical music, sometimes with a soundtrack dictated by the action on the screen. I honestly laughed and cried during the hour performance and was appropriately spooked out – it was a lot of fun!

There are generally organ performances on the 1st & 3rd Sundays of every month at 2:00 pm. During December, there are special Christmas-music performances every Sunday. Then there are other special performances like the Halloween concert I heard, which was at 1:30 on a Saturday.

There is also an evening Jazz series on select evenings. In fact, there’s one tonight from 5:30-7:30 pm! The next one is December 9. All concerts are served by a cash bar (but no food.) Check out all upcoming events here.

Hours, Tickets, & Parking

The Dayton Art Institute isn’t open all week, at least through the pandemic. They are currently open 11 am-8 pm on Thursdays, 11 am-5 pm on Fridays & Saturdays, and noon-5 pm on Sundays. Closed Monday-Wednesday.

To visit, it costs $15 per adult. Adults 60 and over, those in active military service, and groups of 10 or more are $10 per person. And it’s $5 for kids 5-17 and college students with a valid student ID. Ages 6 and under are free.

Or, you can commit to a membership, which gets you admission to the museum and all the concerts, as well as 14 other Ohio museums for the year. A single membership is $50, or for a couple is $70. A whole family is $80. Then there are higher levels, from $150, which gets you reciprocal admission to 1,100 sites worldwide (including Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and more), up to a $1500 society membership.

There is free parking in a lot at the entrance to the Dayton Art Institute, which turns out to be the far less glamourous back side, instead of the 1930’s grand renaissance staircase facing the river. I kinda wish we could go in that way.

I’d love to have a tour of the building itself, followed by a guided tour of the highlights in the art collection. All tours are currently suspended, but hopefully, they’ll start back up soon.