Welcome to the Art Climb

It’s an art experience—not just steps.

Located at the corner of Gilbert Avenue and Eden Park Drive, the Art Climb engages with its surrounding historic, vital neighborhoods, including Walnut Hills. This activation of the museum grounds allows new and broader access through casual and recreational art interactions outside the walls of the museum. 

Multiple flights of steps and landings span the hill at the northern corner of the museum’s grounds, around 450 feet from the street to the parking lot. Art Climb incorporates a lighting component that guides visitors up toward the museum. At the top of the staircase, visitors have an opportunity to access a large pavilion where they can enjoy a view of the city. A Cincinnati Metro bus stop is located near the start of the staircases.

The museum worked with Emersion Design and Human Nature for architecture and landscape design for this project. Turner Construction was the construction firm. Effort was taken to retain as many trees as possible during the construction of the Art Climb. Invasive honeysuckle and diseased ash trees have been removed.

Please use caution and handrails when ascending and descending stairs. When sharing images on social media, please include #CincyArtClimb.

Art Climb Accessibility

Due to the steepness of the hillside (at nine stories), the Cincinnati Art Museum was unable to make Art Climb ADA accessible. The top landing will be made ADA compliant with the addition of a ramp.

CAM’s indoor permanent art collection and special exhibitions are fully accessible. Park in the lot nearest the building and use the new ramp into the museum, which is ADA accessible. For more information about accessibility, visit the Access page.

Explore more outside!

From adding a horticulturist to our staff, to opening the transformative Art Climb, to our most recent undertaking of bringing visitors to the museum up a new front drive, we aim to embrace art and community more than ever outside the museum walls. In these times, and into the future, enriching our presentation of sculpture in outdoor settings is a crucial part of this activity—through loans, restaging our collection, and new acquisitions.