Frick Fine Arts Building

Engage with devoted faculty in small groups

All HAA graduate seminars are held in this room. Class sizes are kept small so graduate students receive devoted faculty attention and engage in discussion groups with their classmates. Large undergraduate survey classes meet in the auditorium, and mid-size undergraduate classes gather in additional classrooms.

A quiet place to reflect

The inner courtyard and cloister offer a quiet place for students to reflect as well as a social hall for small departmental and University events. Whether students are gathering their thoughts before an exam or enjoying a post-lecture reception, the cloister is one of the most distinctive settings on Pitt's campus.

Located in the Oakland neighborhood

Frick Fine Arts is located in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood. Across the street sits the Carnegie complex, including the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the Carnegie Museum of Art, and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. In the immediate vicinity is a newly transformed greenspace, Schenley Plaza, as well as the expansive Schenley Park. Photo by Drew Armstrong.

Our building

The Frick Fine Arts Building is home to two academic departments: History of Art and Architecture (HAA) and Studio Arts. Departmental offices are housed here, as is a 200-seat auditorium, an interior cloister and garden, a research library, a visual resource collection, an art gallery, and several classrooms. Photo by Drew Armstrong.

Fountain and sculpture of Pan and Harmony

Near the main entrance to the building sits A Song of Nature by Victor David Brenner. The bronze and granite sculpture and fountain depicts Pan and Harmony and was refurbished in 2008. Photo by Don Simpson.

Exceptional reproductions of Italian Renaissance frescoes

On the walls of the cloister hang exceptional reproductions of 15th-century Italian Renaissance frescoes. Completed by Nicholas Lochoff, a Russian artist commissioned in 1911, the paintings were eventually purchased by Helen Clay Frick who donated them to the University. More on Lochoff and the Reproductions

Our library specializes in art and architectural history

The Frick Fine Arts Library is a research collection specializing in art and architectural history. The collection contains over 95,000 volumes and subscribes to more than 350 journals in relevant fields.

Work in your own space

Each HAA graduate student receives a designated work space in the library. The carrels provide an individual working area as well as a place to store books. The library participates in an interlibrary loan program so students have access to texts located across the country.

Graduate student's hub for visual resources

A computer lab for HAA graduate students is located on the first floor. The lab is also home to the slide collection and the hub for visual resources. An extensive effort is underway to transfer all slides to digital images.

University Art Gallery presents a diversity of art

The University Art Gallery has sponsored many thought-provoking exhibits featuring the work of artists from around the world, past and present. A tall rotunda allows room for art of all shapes, including Wenda Gu's United Nations-Universal Hexagon from a 2006 exhibit, pictured here. While the gallery undergoes a strategic planning process, the space will continue to display the work of Studio Arts faculty as well as student shows in Studio Arts and Architectural Studies.

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Frick Fine Arts Building