A Heavenly New Art Museum for Notre Dame

Greetings from South Bend and the campus of the University of Notre Dame, home of the new Raclin Murphy Museum of Art. It’s a jewel in Notre Dame’s crown and a central part of the university’s new arts initiative and impressive arts district. The museum, the last arts project for architect Robert A. M. Stern, opened in late 2023. I hadn’t visited South Bend for a few years and had only misty watercolor memories of the old, cramped Snite Museum. It was high time for the next level, and the prestigious university, among the country’s best, raised the bar to the top notch. What I saw is an attractive, commodious, well balanced, and perfectly varied new home for a fine collection, far better than I remembered. It’s the museum’s 150th anniversary, too.