Place

Cleveland Art Museum

Black and white of grassy hill with fountain on it lined with trees leading to large body of water.
Cleveland Art Museum, Job #05661, Cleveland, OH

Olmsted Archives

Quick Facts
Location:
Cleveland, OH
Significance:
Olmsted Designed Public Building
In 1925, Garden Club of Cleveland hired Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. of Olmsted Brothers to beautify the parkland surrounding the city’s Museum of Art. When describing the Fine Arts Garden his firm would produce, Olmsted Jr. stated “I know of no other example of landscape art as beautiful as this where such a large part of the population pass daily and enjoy it”.

Work on the ground at the Cleveland Museum of Art was left to firm members Edward Clark Whiting and Leon Zach. The key feature of the grounds was the Fine Arts Garden, framed one both ends by the lagoon. Other features include tree groves and walkways.

The formal garden consists of two outdoor rooms that travel along a central axis bookended by the museum’s southern terrace. Completed in 1928, the Fine Arts Garden at the Cleveland Museum of Art still contains much of the original Olmsted design.

Source: "Cleveland Museum of Art Fine Arts Garden," The Cultural Landscape Foundation

For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Olmsted Online
 

Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site

Last updated: June 5, 2024