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Most of Stanford looks like it was built from one set of plans: sandstone, red tile and long arcades. The McMurtry Building does not. Two long wings, one clad in white stucco and one in gray zinc, rise from a courtyard on Roth Way and twist around each other like a ribbon folded in half. It is the home of Stanford's Department of Art and Art History and one of the boldest buildings on campus.
The public sees it mainly through its galleries and its library. This page covers how the building came about, how the design works, what you can visit and what is showing in fall 2026. For the wider picture of campus buildings, read our guide to Stanford architecture.
From Cummings to McMurtry
For nearly fifty years Stanford's art department worked out of the Nathan Cummings Art Building, a reinforced concrete building from 1968 designed by John Carl Warnecke. As the department grew it needed more room. In 2014 department chair Nancy Troy noted that the new art-making studios would have more storage than the department's spaces in Cummings.
Stanford first proposed an arts district near the Palm Drive entrance in 2007. Bing Concert Hall opened there in January 2013. The Anderson Collection followed in September 2014. The new art building was the third piece.
The lead gift came from Burt McMurtry, a former chair of Stanford's Board of Trustees. He and his wife Deedee gave $30 million to start the project. The building carries their name. Other donors and university funds covered the rest of a cost estimated at about $87 million.
Students moved in for the first day of fall term in 2015. Stanford dedicated the building on October 6, 2015.
How the design works
Stanford hired Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the New York firm best known for the High Line park in Manhattan. Boora Architects of Portland, Oregon, served as executive architect, handling the technical work of getting it built.
The idea behind the plan is simple once you see it. The department has two halves, people who study art and people who make it. The architects gave each half its own strand.
- The art history strand has a white stucco skin meant to echo the traditional look of the campus.
- The art-making strand is wrapped in custom zinc and looks industrial and contemporary.
The two strands wind around a central courtyard and cross each other. Where they meet sits the library, a glass box held up by two double cantilevers. The architect Charles Renfro described the inspiration as the arcaded courtyards of Stanford's historic buildings, reworked in a modern way. A glass oculus at the center gives views across every floor, so a student in a seminar can look down into a studio or across into the stacks.
Stanford's 2014 project description gave the building about 96,000 square feet plus about 24,000 square feet of courtyard. Some later accounts round it to 100,000 square feet.
What is inside
The building brings art practice, design, art history, film and media studies and documentary film under one roof. Stanford's descriptions list these spaces:
| Level | What you will find |
|---|---|
| Lower level | Photography darkrooms, computer labs and film editing rooms |
| Ground floor | A 120-seat flexible room for classes, events and shows, a sculpture studio, a raked screening room and gallery space by the entrance |
| Second floor | The Bowes Art and Architecture Library |
| Upper floors | Studios with frit-patterned windows that soften daylight, plus faculty offices with a desk-height ribbon window |
The building also houses the Experimental Media Art Lab and a sound studio. A joint design program with the School of Engineering is based here as well. For Stanford's better-known design hub, see our page on the d.school.
The Bowes Art and Architecture Library
The library is the heart of the building, both in plan and in use. Named for Ute and Bill Bowes, it occupies the whole second floor. Stanford News described two entrances, an east door near the elevators and a west entrance reached by stairs from the courtyard.
The collection holds about 150,000 circulating volumes: surveys, monographs, exhibition catalogs and journals. About 180 current periodicals hang in a wall display that reads like a mosaic of covers. The library's Locked Stacks hold posters, antiquarian books, rare journals and artists' books, which you can consult during library hours. Books live in hand-cranked rolling compact shelving, so ask staff if you cannot find something.
Visiting the library
- Visitors must register on site with a valid government ID. This is one of four places where Stanford issues library day passes, as explained in our Green Library guide.
- Students and scholars from other institutions should contact staff before planning a visit.
- Food and drink are not allowed.
- Hours change by quarter. Check the library's page or call (650) 723-3408.
Galleries and fall 2026 shows
The department runs three galleries inside the building: the Penny and Jim Coulter Art Gallery, a teaching space where students and faculty experiment with curating; the Nancy and Larry Mohr Student Exhibition Gallery, where undergraduates plan and install their own shows; and the Gunn Foyer and Vitrine Gallery on the ground floor, also called the Moghadam Family Gallery Arcade, with rotating work by students and faculty.
The department's exhibitions page lists these fall 2026 events in the building:
- Tangling the Digital: Weaving, Printmaking, Computing. Coulter Art Gallery, October 12 to December 4, 2026, listed from 1 to 5 p.m.
- TNT Traysikel: Never Gonna Give You Up! Miller Discussion Room and Vitrine Gallery, October 15 to December 4, 2026, listed from 1 to 5 p.m.
- Electric Contrasts: the Art of the Detail. Bowes Art and Architecture Library, October 12 to December 18, 2026, listed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The department asks visitors to call (650) 723-3408 first.
- Fall 2026 Open Studios. December 4, 2026, from 3 to 5 p.m., a chance to see student studios.
The department's own 1917 gallery near the Main Quad has a student show this fall too. See our Stanford Art Gallery page.
Visiting tips
The building is at 355 Roth Way, between the Cantor Arts Center and Parking Structure 1. It is a working school, so classrooms, studios and offices are for students and staff. Visitors should stick to the galleries, the library and events.
Good to know
- Gallery shows usually list afternoon viewing hours. Check dates before you go.
- Photography of the exterior and courtyard is easy from Roth Way.
- Visitor parking is paid through ParkMobile. Parking Structure 1 is next door.
- The free Marguerite shuttle serves the arts district on weekdays.
The McMurtry Building is the natural end of an arts district walk. Start at the Cantor Arts Center and its Rodin garden, cross to the Anderson Collection, then finish here. Our page on public art at Stanford lists the outdoor works you will pass on the way, including Goldsworthy's Stone River just northeast of the Cantor.
Frequently asked questions
Who designed the McMurtry Building at Stanford?
Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the New York firm behind the High Line, designed it. Boora Architects of Portland, Oregon, served as executive architect.
When did the McMurtry Building open?
Students moved in at the start of fall term 2015 and Stanford dedicated the building on October 6, 2015. It replaced the 1968 Nathan Cummings Art Building as the home of the Department of Art and Art History.
Can the public visit the McMurtry Building?
Visitors can see the exhibitions in its galleries when shows are open, usually listed from 1 to 5 p.m. The Bowes Art and Architecture Library on the second floor admits visitors who register on site with a government ID.
What library is in the McMurtry Building?
The Bowes Art and Architecture Library fills the second floor. It holds about 150,000 circulating volumes plus locked stacks of posters, rare journals and artists' books.
Who is the McMurtry Building named for?
It is named for Burt and Deedee McMurtry. Burt McMurtry is a former chair of Stanford's Board of Trustees and the couple gave $30 million to start the project.