The University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor is one of the largest university art museums in the United States, with more than 20,000 works across cultures, periods, and media. Its roots reach back to an 1864 effort to honor university students, faculty, and alumni who died in the Civil War, a plan finally realized with Alumni Memorial Hall, dedicated in 1910. Designed in the neoclassical tradition, the building served commemorative, social, and artistic purposes before the museum developed a clearer institutional identity in the mid-20th century. A major 2009 renovation and expansion more than doubled its size, reinforcing its role as a prominent public and campus cultural institution.