Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum situated in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on Cleveland's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian art, the museum houses a diverse permanent collection of more than 43,000 works of art from around the World. The Cleveland Museum of Art has remained historically true to the vision of its founders, keeping general admission free to the public. The Cleveland Museum of Art was founded as a trust in 1913 with an endowment from prominent Cleveland industrialists Hinman Hurlbut, John Huntington and Horace Kelley.

The neoclassical, white Georgian Marble, Beaux-Arts building was constructed on the southern edge of Wade Park, at the cost of $1.25 million. Wade Park and the museum were designed by the local architectural firm, Hubbell & Benes, with the museum planned as the park's centerpiece. The 75-acre (300,000 m2) green space takes its name from philanthropist Jeptha H. Wade, who donated part of his wooded estate to the city in 1881. The museum opened its doors to the public on June 6, 1916, with Wade's grandson, Jeptha H. Wade II, proclaiming it, 'for the benefit of all people, forever.' Wade, like his grandfather, had a great interest in art and served as the museum's first vice-president, and later as president in 1920. Today, the park, with the museum still its centerpiece, is on the National Register of Historic Places.