Dayton art institute - dayton museum of arts

Founded in 1919 as the Dayton Museum of Arts, it began as a traditional art school. Founding patrons included Orville Wright, and the Patterson brothers, and the original site was a downtown mansion, which was outgrown after the first decade. Julia Shaw Carnell, a community leader, pledged 2 million dollars to construct a new building with the understanding that the community would then support it---which it has done. The building in Italian Renaissance style was completed in 1930, and with 60,000 square feet was modeled after two Italian Villas, Villa d'Este near Rome, and Villa Farnese at Caprarola. It overlooks the Miami River, and in 1994 had a 22 million dollar renovation. Source: http://www.daytonartinstitute.org/info/history.html;