Stillwater Oklahom Museum Analysis

Stillwater, Oklahoma is a modest college town that is home to tens of thousands of people. For the entire population, there resides only a single, small art museum. The building is currently located in a relatively low-traffic area and is not a grand structure. This causes the museum to easily be overlooked by the community's residents. Stillwater desperately needs a large building to house the artisanal works that circulate through the university and the town. Furthermore, this art museum needs to be visually appealing in order to optimize community interest in the activities of the museum. A large portion of land in the middle of town that formally housed the retail store "Hastings" has recently gone on the market. I propose that the building …show more content…
The building, which served as a church, has a centrally based plan (Fazio 143). The interior of the building contains an octagonal central space, surrounded entirely by an octagonal ambulatory. The ambulatory is offset from the central space by fourteen columns and eight thick piers, with arches spanning between each of the structures. Above the ambulatory, there resides a gallery on seven sides of the octagon, leaving the eighth side open to accommodate for a tall, domed apse. Below the apse, the chancel features an alter and throne. The second story of the structure also contains clerestory windows that illuminate the interior. The central space is topped with a grand dome. While the structure of San Vitale is beautiful in itself, one of the most iconic features of San Vitale is not structural, but instead purely artistic. Intricate mosaics that depict various historical events as well as large scenes from the Christian religion are some of the greatest treasures found inside of San Vitale. These mosaics cover the majority of the exposed interior of the church. These mosaics are the most important component of San Vitale to this day since they are magnificent works of art that help historians, art enthusiasts, and others comprehend what and how things were done back in the 500s. The few sections that lack the mosaics contain intricate marble slabs that serve as abstract …show more content…
The replication of the building need not contain the same mosaic designs as the original construction. Local artists would have the ability to create their own mosaic designs to decorate the interior surfaces of the building. This allows another medium for the art museum to display permanent works. If desired, a portion of the design could be allocated to local high school art students in order to spark their interest in architecture, art, and culture. The Stillwater-made designs could reflect a variety of historical and cultural traits from the town of Stillwater, and the works of art would be guaranteed to last for many years. Furthermore, the unique form of artistic expression would attract a wide variety of visitors to the museum; there would be nothing like it in any nearby