The museum was founded in 1879[3] as the Saint Louis School and Museum of Fine Arts, an independent entity within Washington University in St. Louis.[4] It was housed in a building commissioned by Wayman Crow as a memorial to his son, Wayman Crow Jr., and designed by Boston architects Peabody and Stearns for 19th and Lucas Place (now Locust Street). The school, led by director Halsey Ives, educated two generations of St. Louis artists and craftspeople, and offered studio and art history classes supported by a museum collection.