Columbus Museum of Art at The Pizzuti is a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

for

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, United States. It has been part of the

Columbus Museum of Art The Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Formed in 1878 as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts (its name until 1978), it was the first art museum to register its charter with the state of Ohio. The museum collec ...

since September 2018. The three-story gallery is located in

the Short North The Short North is a neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, United States, centered on the main strip of High Street (Columbus, Ohio), High Street immediately north of the Arena District and extending until just south of the University District (Columb ...

and

Victorian Village Victorian Village is a neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, United States, north and near west of Downtown Columbus, Ohio, downtown. It is an established neighborhood built when a streetcar line first ran along Neil Avenue around 1900 with a fair numb ...

neighborhoods, on the eastern edge of

Goodale Park Goodale Park is a public park in the Victorian Village area of Columbus, Ohio. It was donated to the city in 1851 by Lincoln Goodale. For a few months during the Civil War, it was a staging area for Union troops known as Camp Jackson. ComFest, ...

. Its exhibits rotate, featuring artists from around the world. The museum was originally owned by the Pizzuti family, which made its wealth from the real estate firm the Pizzuti Companies. The family began collecting art in 1977, after a trip to Paris. The Pizzuti Collection opened in 2013, and had shown 16 temporary exhibits before its 2018 donation to the Columbus Museum of Art.

Attributes

The museum primarily exhibits the Pizzuti family's collection, estimated in 2018 at about 2,400 works of contemporary art. The three-story Pizzuti Collection building in

was built in the 1920s and has . The museum displays temporary rotating exhibits of international artists. By the time of its donation in 2018, the museum had hosted 16 exhibitions with artists from 40 countries. No more than 10 percent of the collection has been displayed at any time. The museum building contributes to the Near Northside Historic District, on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

History

The museum building was formerly the headquarters to the Order of United Commercial Travelers of America, from 1924 to 2008. The museum was originally owned and operated by the Pizzuti family. Ron and Ann Pizzuti owed much of their wealth to their Pizzuti Companies, a real estate development company. The pair have been art collectors since about 1977. Ron Pizzuti began his interest in art during a visit to Paris, admiring a work by

Frank Stella Frank Philip Stella (May 12, 1936 – May 4, 2024) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker, noted for his work in the areas of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. He lived and worked in New York City for much of his career befor ...

. His first purchase, for $900, was ''Circus People'' by

Karel Appel Christiaan Karel Appel (; 25 April 1921 – 3 May 2006) was a Dutch painter, sculptor, and poet. He started painting at the age of fourteen and studied at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam in the 1940s. He was one of the founders of the avant-gard ...

, from the

Pace Gallery The Pace Gallery is a contemporary and modern art gallery with 9 locations worldwide. It was founded in Boston by Arne Glimcher in 1960. His son, Marc Glimcher, is now president and CEO. Pace Gallery operates in New York, London, Hong Kong, ...

's former Columbus location. Around 2013, the Pizzutis renovated the Pizzuti Collection's building into the public gallery. The museum opened to the public in 2013. In September 2018, the museum and part of its collection was donated to the Columbus Museum of Art. The Pizzuti, along with the main branch of the museum, temporarily closed beginning in March 2020 due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.

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External links

* {{Museums in Columbus, Ohio 2013 establishments in Ohio Art museums and galleries established in 2013 Art museums and galleries in Ohio Museums in Columbus, Ohio Historic district contributing properties in Columbus, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Columbus, Ohio