Arts and Industries Building

The Arts and Industries Building is the second oldest of the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Called initially the National Museum, it was built to provide the Smithsonian with its first proper facility for public display of its growing collections. The building, designed by architects Adolf Cluss and Paul Schulze, opened in 1881, hosting an inaugural ball for President James A. Garfield. It was designated a National H... more

The Arts and Industries Building is the second oldest of the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Called initially the National Museum, it was built to provide the Smithsonian with its first proper facility for public display of its growing collections. The building, designed by architects Adolf Cluss and Paul Schulze, opened in 1881, hosting an inaugural ball for President James A. Garfield. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1971. The Arts and Industries Building was designed to house exhibits from the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, using much the same style as the buildings of that event. After the closure of a "permanent exhibition" in Philadelphia the foreign exhibits were sent to the District of Columbia Armory Building in Washington, at the corner of 7th Street SW and Independence Avenue in the expectation that they were to be displayed in Washington. A bill was introduced in Congress by the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian to... less