1850–1950[4] Western art created between 1850 and 1950 graces the first floor of the museum's 1899 Italian Renaissance revival style building.

On view are Chuck Close's Linda, an oversize early painting; Andy Warhol's silk-screened Single Elvis and Brillo Boxes; and Ohio carver and preacher Elijah Pierce's animated relief sculpture The Wise and Foolish Virgins and Four Other Scenes.

The 63,000-square-foot (5,900 m2) John S. and James L. Knight Building was designed by the Viennese architectural firm Coop Himmelb(l)au following an international competition.

Coop Himmelb(l)au's design integrates additional gallery space, an auditorium and café with the museum's 1899 building utilizing contrasting, surprising and fanciful visual elements: The "Crystal",[6] a three-story glass lobby that serves as the public entry and as the focal visual space connecting the museum's artistic, educational, administrative, and public programming; the "Gallery Box",[7] comprising the Arnstein, Haslinger, Bidwell and Isroff Galleries, accommodates the museum's collection and temporary exhibitions; and the "Roof Cloud",[8] a 327-foot (100 m)-long cantilevered steel and aluminum armature extends over the old and the new, creating a striking landmark for Akron's downtown which a critic once described as "a mechanical alligator snarfing down a Beaux Arts post office.

[10] "The design embraces the past, rather than replacing or destroying it", said Coop Himmelb(l)au founder, and principal architect for the project, Wolf D. Prix.