Frist Art Museum and U.S. Post Office

While Nashville suffered high rates of unemployment and bank and business closures during the Great Depression, the federal program known as Public Works Administration brought many jobs to the downtown area through construction projects. One of these projects included a new post office. Designed by local architecture firm Marr & Holman, this massive Art Deco post office was completed in 1934. It is faced with panels of white Georgia marble and Minnesota granite, with simple fluted pilasters, casement windows, an intricate belt course, and decorative frieze at the roofline. The interior retains many original Art Deco details, such as the geometric terrazzo and marble floors, aluminum handrails on the interior stairs, and cast aluminum grilles. These decorative grille designs were selected from a PWA federal planning manual, and represent ideals of American progress and productivity. 

In 1986, a new central postal distribution center was built and the future of this downtown icon was uncertain. In 1998, ownership transferred to the metropolitan government and a new public-private partnership began. The Frist Foundation leased the building, and oversaw the renovations by Tuck Hinton Architects as the building was transformed into the Frist Art Museum, with a small post office still operating out of the basement. The museum officially opened to the public on April 8, 2001. The Frist does not house a permanent collection in its 24,000 square foot space—but offers rotating exhibits. Once former mail sorting rooms, the Frist’s galleries feature a wide range of artists, media, and subjects. The Frist offers free architectural tours on the first Saturday of each month at 4:30 p.m. and also features an educational center.