A Landmark Repurposed: From Post Office to Art Museum

A Landmark Repurposed honors the Frist Art Museum's historical building as an architectural gem we are privileged to steward. Through architectural drawings, historical images, and news clippings, this exhibition details the creation of the former US post office at 919 Broadway and its transformation into an art museum decades later.

Constructed in 1933-34 under the direction of local architectural firm Marr & Holman, this federal building project created new jobs to combat the effects of the Great Depression. Following guidelines from the Office of the Supervising Architect, Nashville's new post office displayed the two most distinctive architectural styles of the period: "starved" or "stripped" classicism and art deco.

The building began its second life as a museum on April 8, 2001. Since then, artworks from collections around the world have been shown in our galleries, and countless community members and visitors have been inspired through art to look at the world in new ways. As we celebrate the Frist Art Museum's twenty-fifth anniversary in 2026, we renew our commitment to the preservation of this landmark so that it can be enjoyed for generations to come.