The Dayton Art Institute houses a wide-ranging permanent collection of roughly 27,000 works spanning American and European paintings, Asian decorative arts, African sculpture, and pre-Columbian artefacts. The collection is particularly strong in European paintings from the 15th through 19th centuries, and the American galleries include significant works from the Hudson River School and later 20th-century movements.
The museum sits on a hilltop overlooking the Great Miami River in a handsome 1930 Italian Renaissance building. It stages ambitious travelling exhibitions alongside its permanent holdings. General admission is free for Dayton residents, modest for others.