The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio is a not-for-profit museum founded in 1919 by Joseph G. Butler, Jr. as the country’s first museum devoted entirely to American art. Constructed of Georgian marble in the Italian Renaissance Revival style, the original museum structure is considered an architectural masterpiece, and is listed as a landmark on the National Registry of Historic Places. The museum’s Beecher Center is the first museum addition dedicated solely to new media and electronic art. The Bitonte Skywalk was built to connect the museum to Butler North, the existing church structure next door where the Americana Collection is housed, art classes are held and private events are booked. The Butler also operates a branch museum in nearby Trumbull County. The Butler Trumbull Branch, funded in part by Foundation Medici, focuses on important international artists whose works have profoundly influenced America, as well as exhibitions of works by contemporary master painters and sculptors.
Throughout history, the Butler has remained free and open to the public. The museum relies on contributions from the community and the nation to meet its cultural mission with exhibitions and programs funded in part by the Ohio Arts Council. More than 100,000 people visit the Butler and its branch facility each year.
Butler paintings have been loaned to museums throughout the world. With its distinguished history of over nine decades dedicated to preserving our nation’s cultural heritage, it is no wonder that the Butler Institute is known worldwide as “America’s Museum.”