NCMA - NC Museum of Art Expansion

Blending Nature and Art

April, 08, 2009 , by Tim

New Raleigh is pleased to bring you a special sneak peek of the North Carolina Museum of Art expansion, designed by Thomas Phifer and Partners. These photos show the museum expansion, begun in 2007, one year out from its opening in April 2010. We first covered the extension when renderings were first released in September of 07. Through natural lighting, water features, additions to the surrounding park, and the forthcoming reflective anodized aluminum skin, the new museum is designed to blend nature and art.

With fifty percent of exterior walls made of glass and 363 skylights masked by white fiberglass coffers, the interior is porous yet protected from UV rays. The skylights have been equipped with exterior louvers so that only indirect north light enters the gallery spaces. Lenses and diffusing filters will also be used to maintain conservation standards. More than fifty percent of the new walls are composed of glass fused with a ceramic frit pattern, cutting fifty percent of direct sunlight. The glass walls will also have mechanized shades controlled by roof-mounted photocells capable of sensing daylight changes. In addition to the mechanized shades, the gallery track lighting and heat-gain control will be tied into data from the photocells, making each trip to the gallery space unique to the conditions of the time of day, weather, and season.

The resulting space will be light and spacious, contemplative and quiet, especially once the natural white oak floors are installed. The new airy space will be very different than the bunker-like interior of the current art museum, and when combined with the visibility of various galleries from within each gallery, the museum experience should be as open and porous as the building itself. Instead of shutting out other collections and galleries, these sight lines will open up a dialogue between collections, blurring the lines between classic and contemporary art.

Locally provided structural steel and concrete, storm water technology, enhanced energy efficiency, climate-control systems, and responsible landscaping practices all contributed to the new museum being LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) registered, although it is not determined yet whether it will meet silver, gold, or platinum standards. Additionally, three acres of newly landscaped land, including five outdoor courtyards, will surround the new museum. A huge cistern is in place capable of holding 95,000 gallons of water. Roof water and air conditioning condensation and will be captured at a rate of seven gallons a minute. This water will not only keep the reflective pools and fountains full, but will also assure that no municipal water is used to irrigate the drought-tolerant and native plant species that will adorn the museum’s 164 acre park, which includes fifty new tree transplants. The museum was able to build this massive water reclamation system through the award of grant money by the North Carolina Clean Water Management Fund.

NCMA Expansion April 09

In September of this year, art handlers will begin the tedious process of moving 700-800 works of art from the museum’s permanent collection in the old east building to the new west building via an underground tunnel equipped with an enormous art lift. At this time, the old building will temporarily close until April of 2010. While the museum is closed from September 2009- April 2010, it will extend its programming through a program called Museum On The Move. The tentative schedule includes:

-Partnership with other Department of Cultural Resources sites to connect with “art in your community”
-New Museum Web site featuring access to the Collection online
-Lecture series in collaboration with Meredith College
-Online community advisory board made up of participants statewide
-Extension of the fall film series into Cary, Durham, and Carrboro
-Art of Collaboration educational program expanded to the city of Asheboro, Wayne, Pitt, & Guilford counties
-Extension of the Speakers’ Bureau program for rotart clubs, chambers of commerce, libraries, and senior centers around the state
-Sights and Sounds on Sunday in several new Raleigh venues
-“Behind-the-Scenes” talks in Greensboro, Greenville, Chapel Hill, Durham, and Asheville

The old east building will host expanded temporary exhibitions. It will continue to house collection management, storage, the resource library, education spaces, and the administration. Both the east and west buildings will have visitor centers, retail, and full service dining.

The new 127,000 sq. ft. building will be the new home to the African, American, Ancient American, Classical, Egyptian, European, Judaic, and the Modern and Contemporary galleries. Additionally, there will be rotating thematic galleries, such as ultrapiece, ceremonial, classical, still life, portraits, and Impressionists from both France and the United States. Classical Greek and Roman pottery collections will be rehoused to the new building, as will all four Audubon portfolios. There will be one to two full time galleries dedicated to North Carolina-based artists as well.

By the time the new space opens in April 2010, a 42’ tall Roxy Paine tree sculpture will greet visitors at the new front entrance along with sculptures by Henry Moore and Jaume Plensa. Twenty-four Auguste Rodin bronze statues, including The Thinker, will be housed in the new interior courtyard, with an additional four to six Rodin sculptures outside. By the Fall of 2010, the first exhibit, Opening of American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell, will open in the new Special Exhibition space.

Photography by Tim Ayers and David Millsaps

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