Street Hall

Street Hall, built in 1864 at the corner of Chapel and High Streets, was Yale’s first purpose-designed home for the fine arts. Funded by Augustus R. Street, the building brought together classrooms, studios, and exhibition space at a time when art instruction was still new to the university. Its Gothic-revival design by Peter B. Wight intentionally linked Yale to the architectural language of European universities while signaling a cultural shift toward formal artistic study. In 1928, Street Hall was physically joined to the newly built Old Art Gallery to form part of what is now the Yale University Art Gallery complex. Though modest compared to later expansions, Street Hall remains a foundational piece of Yale’s arts corridor and one of the oldest surviving purpose-built art facilities on any American campus.