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History

Our story and architectural heritage

The John J. McDonough Museum of Art, founded in 1991, is the University Art Museum for Youngstown State University and the Valley’s Premier Center for Contemporary Art. Internationally known architects Gwathmey Siegel & Associates, who worked together with the then local firm Ricciuti, Buchanan and Balog, designed the 20,000 square foot facility. Paul Ricciuti participated in the dedication ceremony held on October 26, 1991. The Museum stands as a testament to Modernist Design in its simplicity and sensitivity to the site. Gwathmey was known for his ability to create buildings that “seamlessly blend into the urban fabric.”
 

 

The Man

 

Dr. John J McDonough

In 1978, when Dr. John J. McDonough, a Youngstown physician and avid art collector, sold his collection of American paintings, Sotheby’s, the auction house that handled the sale, called it a “landmark auction.” At the time, it was the largest sale of American Art by a single collector and became national news. The 63 works McDonough had carefully selected over the previous 12 years formed, according to Thomas Norton, “an almost comprehensive cross-section of the principal artists, themes and periods of representational American Art.” Indeed, the collection was exhibited at major museums across the country before it was dispersed.

 


Within months of the sale, Dr. McDonough began to form an even finer collection of American Art, this time focusing his attention on the 50 year period between 1875 and 1925. This collection, numbering about 100 painting, earned McDonough the designation “the quintessentially focused collector” by John L. Marion, who conducted the Sotheby auction. “McDonough is thoroughly familiar with the period and has selected carefully and knowledgeably, making his collection a jewel of the art world.”

Despite the fact that many of his paintings increased in value over time, Dr. McDonough said that he did not collect art as a financial investment. “I think paintings should be loved and enjoyed,” he said, “and I don’t think they should be bought for sale and profit, really. You should go into the stock market for that.”

Dr. John J. McDonough belonged to a Youngstown philanthropic tradition dating back over a century, visionaries like Edward Powers, Henry Stambaugh, Joseph Butler, Volney Rogers, to name but a few. An outstanding art collector in his time, Dr. McDonough wanted to ensure YSU had adequate means to foster the growth of interest in what artists of our time have to say to all of us about our shared human experience.

 

The Gift

In response to the University’s need for exhibition space, YSU, the College of Creative Arts and the Department of Art got so much more. Dr. McDonough offered the proceeds of the sale of his painting “Gloucester Harbor” by Childe Hassam to help fund construction of a new building. With additional monies raised with the help of Attorney Paul M Dutton and from the State of Ohio, construction of the Museum began in the fall of 1990 and the building was dedicated on October 26, 1991.

 

The Architects

In the summer of 1987, architect Paul J. Ricciuti approached New York Architect Charles Gwathmey, FAIA to be the Design Architect for the proposed John J. McDonough Museum of Art at Youngstown State University. Mr. Gwathmey agreed and his firm Gwathmey Siegel became part of the architectural team that was selected by Dr. McDonough and the University to design the Museum. As a Youngstown native, Mr. Ricciuti’s vision of the proposed museum was a modern design statement as a counterpoint to the classic Butler Institute of American Art. The selection of Gwathmey brought to Youngstown an internationally known Architect who worked in the modernist movement.

Robert Siegal recently sent us this statement:

The design of projects at Gwathmey Siegal & Associates Architects has been and is to a great extent influenced by context, the site and the neighboring buildings.

In the case of the McDonough Museum of Art, the surrounding buildings were large scale elements and the space between was limited in size. It provoked the idea of fragmentation, creating a building that appeared to be sculptural objects in a garden setting rather than a small building set in between larger buildings. It utilized the principle of counterpoint.