A Landmark Repurposed honors the Frist Art Museum’s historical building as an architectural gem we are privileged to steward. Through architectural drawings, historical images, and news clippings, this exhibition details the creation of the former US post office at 919 Broadway and its transformation into an art museum decades later.

Constructed in 1933–34 under the direction of local architectural firm Marr & Holman, this federal building project created new jobs to combat the effects of the Great Depression. Following guidelines from the Office of the Supervising Architect, Nashville’s new post office displayed the two most distinctive architectural styles of the period: “starved” or “stripped” classicism and art deco.

The building began its second life as a museum on April 8, 2001. Since then, artworks from collections around the world have been shown in our galleries, and countless community members and visitors have been inspired through art to look at the world in new ways. As we celebrate the Frist Art Museum’s twenty-fifth anniversary in 2026, we renew our commitment to the preservation of this landmark so that it can be enjoyed for generations to come.

Organized by the Frist Art Museum

Catalogue

A twentieth-anniversary edition of the exhibition catalogue, titled A Landmark Repurposed: From Post Office to Art Museum, is available in our gift shop. For more information, contact giftshop@FristArtMuseum.org.

The volume features a preface by Billy Frist, chair and president of the Frist Art Museum board of trustees, and an epilogue by the Frist’s previous executive director and CEO, Susan H. Edwards.

The contents from the original book include historian Christine Kreyling’s essay about our landmark building and its position within Nashville’s architectural history. This revised edition was designed and produced by renowned art book publisher Lucia | Marquand.