| Additional Information: | A 'site file' (Bascom Hill Historic District) exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation-Public History.
The Elvehjem Art Center houses the University's art collection, art library, and Art History Department. It is in a Brutalist mode and was designed by Harry Weese of Chicago in the late 1960s. Named in honor of Conrad Elvehjem, U.W. biochemist and U.W. president 1962-66.
The Elvehjem Art Center is contributing to the Bascom Hill Historic District, NR listed 1974, NRIS #: 74000065
A second art building, the Chazen Museum of Art, was erected next door at 750 University Avenue in 2011 (UW#0524, WHS#245706). The two buildings connect but are separate buildings.
"On University Avenue next to Humanities is the Elvehjem Museum of Art, home to the University's art collection and Art History and Kohler Art Library. The museum has 24,000 square feet of exhibit space and is one of the largest college museums in the country. The permanent collection includes more than 10,000 paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture, and decorative arts dating from 2300 B.C. to the present. Twelve to fourteen temporary exhibitions are presented throughout the year. The museum's first piece of exterior sculpture, William Zorach's "Mother and Child," is at the University Avenue entrance. The Elvehjem has a gift shop and Friends membership program.
The museum was also designed by Harry Wesse. It was built with private funds raised by the UW Foundation and is named for Conrad A Elvehjem, the University's 13th president, a Graduate School dean, and renowned biochemist whose isolation of nicotinic acid provided a cure for human pellagra." University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Madison Tour Guide, 1988. |
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| Bibliographic References: | University of Wisconsin-Madison: Update to the Preliminary Evaluation of Buildings and Structures for Eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places, June 13, 2023.
Feldman, Jim. “Buildings of the University of Wisconsin.” Madison, WI : UW Madison, Archives and Records Management Service, 2006. Originally published 1997. http://madcat.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=7134919. Accessed: February 2012.
University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Madison Tour Guide, 1988.
A Celebration of Architecture: Wisconsin Society of Architects Tour of Significant Architecture, 1979. |
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