About the Building
The Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, designed by Robert A. M. Stern Architects (RAMSA), opened to the public in November, 2023. Recalling the overall importance of geometry and harmony to the RAMSA aesthetic, the Museum was conceived as a carefully proportioned rectangular form centered around a large circular atrium. This noble central space extends upward to a large skylight that provide an open, luminous interior. Galleries and educational spaces radiate outward from the atrium.
Exterior
Authentic to their design sensibilities and international reputation, Stern and his team at RAMSA created an elegant, classically inspired structure. Harmonious proportions and careful consideration of geometry, incorporating both traditional and Beaux-Arts elements, are featured. Brick and limestone appointments grace the façade, and detailed design work both on the exterior and interior spaces enhance the building.
Overall, the building is three stories in addition to a spacious and airy lower level. In both scale and detail, the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art works in visual accord with the surrounding structures and serves as a gateway to campus. Of special note is the positioning of the building along North Eddy Street. The front façade has been designed with a generous drop-off area for guests, including ample spacing to accommodate school and tour buses. Parking is available close by in the University lot behind the Walsh Family Hall of Architecture, with additional parking just minutes to the south throughout Eddy Street Commons.
Interior
The Museum features spaces to welcome guests of all ages; display galleries for many of its renowned collections were have been foremost in the planning process. Unique characteristics celebrate and support the educational mission of the Museum. Visitors enter through a monumental portico and vestibule into the central atrium. From there they can access the café and galleries devoted to African Art and to European and American Art of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Additionally, this floor features two dedicated educational spaces: the Teaching Gallery, specifically designed for co- curricular displays requested by Notre Dame faculty, and the Learning Commons which hosts the many K-12 students who visit the Museum every year.
The second floor is rich in display space both for the permanent collection and temporary exhibitions such as those devoted to Indigenous collections. Spaces featuring the fifteenth- through seventeenth-century collections wrap around much of the south and east sides. The entire north end of the floor is devoted to a temporary exhibition gallery for the Museum's acclaimed changing exhibition program. The third floor is largely an educational space for both university students and the regional K-12 community. State-of-the-art studios, offices, and gathering spaces for the Museum's Education staff, student workers, and gallery teachers. The Friends membership office will complete this level.
The lower level of the Museum is open and spacious. Galleries devoted to Modern and Contemporary Art are a highlight for the public. Back-of-house areas critical to the function and safety of the Museum are accessible to staff only.
Unique Features
Several unique features of the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art are worth highlighting, including a series of site-specific works commissioned by major international artists. The Museum also houses a working chapel, named Mary, Queen of Families Chapel, on the second floor. Sponsored by Virginia Marten and her family, Mary, Queen of Families Chapel offers masses and is available for quiet contemplation. Nestled among galleries of Renaissance and Baroque Art, the chapel contains both traditional and contemporary works of religious art.
The multistory sculpture court, accessible from the Lower Level but open to the windows and floors above, offers a spacious and luminous environment for the display of sculpture.
The Kathleen M. Watson Object Study Room is an intimate and secure environment for the in-depth study of works from the collection by classes or scholars.