Rockhill Road on the east side of the Nelson-Atkins reopened today after being reduced from four lanes to two lanes for the last four years due to construction of the new Bloch Building.
The sidewalk along the road also reopened, allowing a closer look at the building.
Construction on the northern three lenses of the Bloch Building is complete! The commissioning process will take approximately a year as well as time for art and staff to move in. The remaining construction will continue through the summer so be sure to visit often to keep up with all the exciting changes.
Today, the Nelson-Atkins announced June 9, 2007 as the opening date of the new Bloch Building. The announcement was made jointly by Museum Director/CEO Marc Wilson and Henry Bloch, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and co-founder of H & R Block.
A modern sculpture of welded and cast steel, Wagon III by David Smith was the first work of art moved into the new Bloch Building.
The Bloch Building will house collections of contemporary art, African art and photography.
This image doesn’t come close to expressing the subtle changes in the building’s appearance that occur from day to day and even moment to moment. The light and clouds of a recent summer evening gave the glass a warm hue to create a peaceful scene. The water from Walter De Maria’s One Sun / 34 Moons is tranquil and still as it responded with a perfect reflection.
If you look closely enough, you can see George Segal’s Rush Hour in its new location at the juncture of the Bloch Building and the Nelson-Atkins Building. On this night, it seems the figures weren’t in too much of a “rush” to escape this picturesque moment.
The new Museum Store in the Bloch Building is coming along quite nicely. Designed by the firm of Charles Sparks + Company, the Store has a sleek yet open feel. Much larger than the current Museum Store, this new space will contain a fabulous selection of products.
Charles Sparks is best known for his work with the Neiman Marcus department store but he has created retail spaces for several other museums including the St. Louis Art Museum, the new de Young Museum in San Francisco and the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas.
The Visitor Services Desk will be a hub of activity in the new Bloch Building. From purchasing tickets for exhibitions, events and programs to getting maps and brochures, the Desk will be your main stop for anything you need during your visit.
The Desk was designed by El Dorado Inc., a local Kansas-City design firm. Behind it will be three plasma screens that will provide information about events, classes, programs and more.
The Museum’s reference library will soon start the migration to the Bloch Building. When the building opens in June, 2007, a beautiful new Reading Room will greet visitors. Daily newspapers, the latest periodicals, publications by Museum curators and reference books will be available for you to catch up on all the latest news
in the art world.
Progress on the Bloch Building’s commissioning process is advancing so smoothly that the opening date has been moved up to June 9, 2007.
The opening of the highly anticipated Bloch Building is going to be an exciting and memorable moment in both the Museum’s history and Kansas City. You won’t want to miss the amazing events being planned for the opening.
Museum members will be able to enjoy exclusive events and preview days before the building opens to the public.
The Bloch Building is full of surprises! As I learn to navigate my way around the new building, I keep finding new spaces and interesting features.
I was recently poking around for fun things to blog about when one of the helpful security officers showed me something I hadn’t realized until now. Not all the walls in the Bloch Building are walls.
Architect Steven Holl’s design creates a flowing, organic experience. These doors may be closed when maintenance or movement is needed providing for minimal interruption to the visitor’s experience with the collection.
Stay tuned for the next posting to find out what’s behind the door!
As I promised in a previous posting, here is a glimpse behind the “door” in the new Bloch Building. The Modern & Contemporary galleries were in the process of being installed when I peaked inside.
Along with favorites by Willem DeKooning, Sol LeWitt and Mark Rothko, many pieces have been brought out of storage such as Wayne Thiebaud’s Jawbreaker Machine and Richard Estes’ Bus Window.
The shrouded piece is Duane Hanson’s Museum Guard, whom we affectionately call “Roy.” It looks like Roy is ready for Halloween!
The weather may have just started to feel like Fall in Kansas City but the Sculpture Park is already showing the signs of seasonal change.
This gorgeous patch of Autumn Joy Sedum is on the east side of the Bloch Building, along Rockhill Road. When I was out, this field was buzzing with activity from butterflies and bumble bees.
The Sculpture Park will be buzzing with activity this weekend during the grand re-opening celebration on Saturday, September 30. Don’t miss it!
The Nelson-Atkins has had free admission for over 5 years. It began as a courtesy during the initial stages of the expansion construction when we dug up our old parking lots to create the fabulous new parking garage. During that time, visitors had to shuttle from a nearby location. When the new garage opened in 2002, Museum leadership made the decision to remain free as a way to express the dedication to our mission to connect people to art, especially those in the Kansas City community.
To find out more about the decision to remain free and how that affects the Nelson-Atkins, read an interview with Director Marc Wilson on Tyler Green's Modern Art Notes.
P.S. Tyler - Thanks for adding us to your blogroll!
There are people all around the Museum, inside and out! A lot of them are checking out the new Bloch Building that will open June 9, 2007.
With the Kansas City Sculpture Park completely reopened, you can access the Bloch Building, but only the outside!
When the Bloch Building opens in June 2007, there will be a lot to learn about what’s in the building and how to get around. In addition to the helpful staff members and volunteers, there will be plenty of electronic aids (what we call digital signage) as well. A total of seven 50″ plasma screens will display messages on exhibitions, the collections, amenities, ticket information, special events and more.
These three screens were just installed at the Visitor Services Desk in the lobby of the Bloch Building. I can’t wait to see them in action!
Up next: What can you use to print a ticket, become a member or find a specific work of art?
In a previous post about the plasma screens that will entice and guide visitors in the new Bloch Building next year, I mentioned another tool that visitors will find very helpful. This week, five kiosks were unpacked and prepared for installation.
These three kiosks have been installed in the lobby of the Bloch Building, just around the corner from one set of the plasma screens. At the kiosks, visitors will be able to buy tickets for exhibitions and programs, pay for parking and even find where a specific work of art is in the galleries as well as the location of restrooms and other amenities. Hooray for technology!
There are many special areas in the new Bloch Building that allow for reflection and inspiration. One of them is the Isamu Noguchi Sculpture Court, a large, Zen-like space dedicated to the works of Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi.
One of the seven works by Noguchi featured in this space is Fountain, which was previously installed in Kirkwood Hall in 1999. For now, Fountain is covered with a sheet of plastic to contain the dust and dirt in the building.
Fountain is composed of two, asymmetrically sculpted basalt stones, similar in size but differing in subtle configurations of form. The top surface of one stone is concave, while that of the other is convex. The two stones gracefully rest on a bed of Japanese river rocks.
Water flows gently over the tops and sides of each stone, reflecting light, deepening the stones’ color and creating a meditative sound as it reaches the bed of river rocks below. In the Bloch Building, the bed of rocks continues from the inside of the building to the outside without interruption.
If you’ve ever wondered where works of art go when they are not on view, here is a little behind the scenes look into the world of art storage at the Nelson-Atkins.
As well as increased gallery space, the new Bloch Building has a tremendous amount of art storage. A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities provided for some slick new cases and fancy hanging racks. Of course, I am oversimplifying the whole thing (I’m a writer, not a conservator).
A recent tour of the new facilities with the director of conservation and collections management was quite enlightening. It is quite an operation to track a piece of art from the time it enters our doors to the time it makes it on the wall.
Though the Museum would much prefer to share as much art with the public as possible, it is comforting to know that we have such quality storage.
By the way, that’s Willem de Kooning’s iconic Woman IV on that fancy hanging rack. It was very cool to see the labels on the back showing all the places it has been loaned.
I’ve been poking around in the new Bloch Building again. Today was pretty quiet but that gave me time to capture some beautiful images of all the windows in the building.
On the ground level, most of the exterior is made of glass. Some of it is transparent to allow views into the Kansas City Sculpture Park and of the Nelson-Atkins Building, but most of it is translucent. Architect Steven Holl’s design creates soaring ceilings that let in ample amounts of light into the galleries below.
And then there is my favorite type of window, a store window! The new Museum Store on the lower level of the Bloch Building looks great. Wonderful books, unique lamps, gorgeous vases and other decorative items are just waiting for opening day next June 9.
If you’ve ever wondered what curators really do, here’s a glimpse into the glamorous lives of some of the curators at the Nelson-Atkins.
Here we see Jan Schall and Leesa Fanning, curators of modern & contemporary art. They are working with a life-size cardboard mock up of Six-Foot Energy Void by Isamu Noguchi. The piece is one of seven that will be installed in the Isamu Noguchi Sculpture Court in the new Bloch Building.
The real sculpture weighs over 4,000 pounds. That’s why they leave the heavy lifting to our fabulous preparation staff. Here they are installing Noguchi’s Endless Coupling.
All of the sculptures will be on view when the Bloch Building opens June 9, 2007.
Ok, so this isn’t technically in the Bloch Building but it is part of the ongoing transformation project at the Nelson-Atkins.
Two galleries dedicated to works of modern artists (between 1900 and 1945) are open in the Nelson-Atkins Building. The contemporary collection will be housed in the new Bloch Building when it opens in 2007 (there, I worked in something about the Bloch Building, therefore justifying this post). You can see a glimpse of those galleries in a previous post.
The newest modern gallery just opened a few weeks ago on the Plaza Level. It covers a few of the “isms,” including Cubism and Surrealism, as well as Abstraction and Dada.
The gallery is a mix of medium from furniture and decorative arts to paintings and sculpture. Max Ernst’s Capricorn looks so much bigger in the gallery compared to its previous location in the massive Kirkwood Hall. Other artists included are Marcel Duchamp, Joan Miro, Juan Gris, Man Ray, Wassily Kandinsky and Alexander Calder. All in this intimate space; it’s quite powerful.
Across the hall is the other modern gallery. This one is dedicated to Expressionism. It includes paintings by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Emil Nolde as well as stunning works of decorative arts and sculpture.
So if you’ve been missing the modern collection since most of it went off view last year, be sure to stop by. It will be worth the trip!
I popped into some of the new gallery space in the Bloch Building the other day and found a flurry of activity. As I approached the scene, I began to hear a beautiful language that unfortunately, I don’t speak. It was the Italian workers from Goppion who are installing the new casework for the African collection.
The cases are massive; some over 16 feet long. Most of them will be enclosed on three sides by glass, allowing for more visual access to the works of art by visitors.
In addition to being pretty, these cases are state of the art (no pun intended). The construction allows for minimal disruption to the art while ensuring the optimal conditions for conservation. They also incorporate some of the Bloch Building’s main aesthetic: light. The upper portion of the tall cases will be covered in an opaque glass and when lit from within, will create a gentle wash of light in the gallery.
A parting shot of the happy Italians at work:
All the new display cases in the Bloch Building are keeping the Museum’s preparation and conservations staff quite busy.
As I mentioned in a previous post, the new cases allow for increased visual access to the works of art. While the cases are fabulous, they have created some challenges on how to best display the art. The goal is that visitors see the art, not what’s holding it in place.
If you thought the art was just placed on the walls with some nails and a hammer, you would be surprised to see some of the creativity that goes into fabricating a good mount. Many pieces have very specific needs and require a lot of ingenuity, skill and collaboration between members of the Museum staff.
Currently, the African collection is getting prepared to move into the new building. Most of the mounts need to be redone so that they are more discrete and work with the structure of the new cases.
The Spencer Art Reference Library will close its current location in the Nelson-Atkins Building on December 16 in order to move into the new Bloch Building.
The new location includes stacks with a capacity for 216,000 volumes. The library currently holds approximately 145,000 volumes so there is plenty of room for growth.
The library will reopen in its wonderful new location in March 2007. During this period, e-mails and phone calls will be answered.
I’ve been to many Museums in my life. Obviously I have noticed the cases before but normally I am focused on what’s inside them. A recent tour of the Bloch Building with the Museum’s manager of fabrications shed new light on how important those cases are to the safety and presentation of the art.
The first and most important thing I learned is that when dealing with fragile and priceless works of art, display cases must be of the highest quality. The challenge is to create cases that protect the art and allow easy access for conservation while blending with the aesthetic of the gallery.
To meet that challenge, a fusion of traditional, state-of-the-art and specialty materials have been forged together to bring the Museum’s exhibition casework to a level never before enjoyed.
So when you enter the new Bloch Building next summer or wander through some of the existing galleries in the Nelson-Atkins Building, take a moment to notice the cases and realize all the thought, skill and innovation that goes into them. Then enjoy the beautiful works of art!
This morning I had a tour of the Spencer Art Reference Library’s new location in the Bloch Building with the head of the Museum’s library services. I learned about many of the new features and expanded services as well as some cool facts and figures. I will share some of those with you in later postings.
Today, I am focusing on the new reading room (see previous post). I learned that there will be several different sections of the reading room including the main area with chairs and tables for the more studious minded, another area with four new PCs that have full Internet access and, at the end of the room, will be the “lounge.”
The lounge will have a comfortable L-shaped bench (shown here without its cushy padding), some very nice leather chairs and a couple of reading lamps. This reading nook will be the perfect spot to look through some of the library’s newest books, catch up with the latest art periodicals or peruse some of the library’s 40,000 auction catalogues.
The workers from Goppion were hard at work installing the display cases in the Bloch Building before the holiday. On this day, they were skillfully placing the panes of glass on the framework of one of the larger cases in the African galleries. This one is about 18 feet long.
By the way, Goppion also did the case for the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, Paris. Oh la la!
If you’ve ever wondered how to move over 150,000 books and periodicals from one location to another, here’s your answer!
Earlier this week, the Museum’s library staff began supervising the move of the Spencer Art Reference Library from the existing building to the new Bloch Building. The move is being handled by professionals from National Library Relocation Inc.
Before the books move from one space to the other, they get a special cleaning with a tank vacuum to remove dust and dirt. Everything is put on book carts and taken by hand into the Bloch Building.
There, they are re-shelved according to the magical library classification system that keeps all the books tidy and easy to find. The new library will be open to the public on June 9.
Remember when I was talking about the installation of the Isamu Noguchi Sculpture Court? Well, it is finished, and it is incredible.
The space holds seven sculptures by the Japanese-American artist who "struggled to see, alter, and recreate his natural surroundings. His gardens and foutains were transformations meant to bring out the beauty their locations had always possessed. His large abstract stone sculptures were both majestic and personal. He believed that through sculpture and architecture, one could better understand the struggle with nature. It is that search for understanding which brings together his many and varied works." (American Masters, PBS)
The Nelson-Atkins Museum exhibits the largest number of Noguchi sculptures in a public setting outside the Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Museum in New York and Japan.
Light is an important component of the Bloch Building. The very structure of the building uses both exterior and interior light to create a pleasant glow on both the inside and outside. According to our lighting specialist extraordinaire, there are three main types of light in the Bloch galleries.
The first is daylight. With the majority of the building underground, the glass lenses allow daylight to flow down into the galleries below. Depending on the time of day and the weather, the effect is strikingly different.
The second and third types of light are artificial. There are 1,971 track fixtures that will hold tungsten-halogen lamps to illuminate both the space and the art. Every one of these track fixtures will have an ultraviolet filter installed, to protect the art.
The other type of artificial light is fluorescent lamps that are hidden in the ceiling coves and that light up the lenses. At night, over 900 fluorescent lamps create a gorgeous glow. The lights are turned on from time to time so if you drive by some evening, you might get to see a little magic.
A flurry of activity occurred above the Nelson-Atkins on a recent freezing, gray day. A helicopter was used to move several large pieces of heating and cooling equipment from the ground to the roof of the Nelson-Atkins Building. (Since the area on the north side of the Museum is on top of the underground parking lot, a helicopter had to be used instead of a crane.)
The work began around 10:30 in the morning and was done before noon but the public definitely noticed. I saw vehicles parked along the side roads or slowing down to watch the proceedings. Cell phones were stuck out of car windows to capture the event. A few people asked what was going on but my favorite question was if it was President Bush making a visit (he was scheduled to be in town later that week).
It's hard to imagine with the ice, snow and freezing temperatures that have been hanging on in Kansas City for much too long, but this area on the very northern tip of the Bloch Building will soon be filled with people enjoying a cool drink, a quick bite or just the scenery.
Directly inside the doors will be the new cafe, a casual dining alternative to Museum's Rozzelle Court Restaurant (an excellent choice for a more formal meal). The cafe will offer quick sandwiches, snacks and drinks but that doesn't mean you have to run off. Outdoor seating will be available during warmer months with a view of the Museum plaza and reflecting pool. I can't wait!
As of March 6, the Spencer Art Reference Library will reopen by appointment only in its new location in the Bloch Building.
If you have an on-site reference need, you may schedule a time between 1 and 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Please contact the library to make your appointment.
Keep your eyes open for a feature article in The Kansas City Star about the new library.
Previously I told you about some fun new toys the Museum will have when the Bloch Building opens in June. There will be four kiosks in the Bloch Building and one in the Nelson-Atkins Building that will allow visitors to complete several transactions including event registration and ticket purchasing, paying for parking, directions to galleries and even looking up certain works of art.
Members will be able to experience this new technology at upcoming member preview events. If you're not a member, join today and be part of this historic moment at the Museum.
On June 9, the highly anicipated and long awaited Bloch Building will open to the public. The completion of the building as well as renovations to the original Nelson-Atkins Building signals a new era for the Museum and for Kansas City. The city is bursting with new life from a $6 billion rennaisance that includes a new performing arts center designed by Moshe Safdie and the Kansas City Power and Light District, both of which are scheduled for completion in 2007.
Once again, I believe we can say that "everything is up to date in Kansas City." Or at least it soon will be.
I was in the Bloch Building last week and for the first time, the gallery doors were open as I walked through. The experience was completely different. I really felt the openess and understood the amount of space in the new building.
I took the opportunity to poke around in the new contemporary galleries. Out of the corner of my eye, I was shocked to see someone standing along the wall. It took me a second to realize it was Museum Guard by Duane Hanson. "Roy," as we call him, has been delighting Museum visitors for 30 years (see previous entry). He was removed from his previous post in the Nelson-Atkins Building so it was good to see him back on duty.
I noticed that he is placed next to Wayne Thiebaud's Jawbreaker Machine. I wonder if he would like a piece of gum?
Recently, both an original painting by N.C. Wyeth featured in the book Drums as well as a special publisher edition of the book were presented to the Museum.
Originally published for adults in 1925, James Boyd's first historical novel Drums was so popular that the publisher, Charles Scribner's Sons, reprinted the book in 1928 with 17 color illustrations by artist N.C. Wyeth. The book was part of the Scribner's Illustrated Classics series which included titles such as Treasure Island, Kidnapped and The Yearling, all illustrated by Wyeth.
Famed historian and author David McCullough sites Drums as one of the books from his childhood that inspired him to study history:
"I learned to love history by way of books. There was The Matchlock Gun by Walter D. Edmonds, The Last of the Mohicans, with those haunting illustrations by N.C. Wyeth, the Revolutionary War novel Drums by James Boyd, with still more Wyeth paintings."
The painting is on view in Gallery 219. The book is part of the Spencer Art Reference Library's special collections and may be viewed in the new Library Reading Room in the Bloch Building under supervised conditions. Please contact the library to make an appointment.
The Nelson-Atkins has been free of charge at least one day a week since we opened in 1933. When the current construction and renovation project began in 2001, the decision was made to drop admission fees entirely during the span of the project. Public response was so favorable that in 2002 the Museum decided to keep admission to the collection free of charge indefinitely.
It was just announced that for the Bloch Building opening weekend (June 9 and 10), there will be free admission for featured exhibitions as well as free parking in the Museum's garage. In addition, the Museum will be open extended hours both days from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
There are many beautiful spaces in the new Bloch Building but none as striking as the newly installed collection galleries.
The collections presented in the building include contemporary art, African art and photography. Additional galleries include space for rotating featured exhibitions and special installations.
The galleries are open to one another allowing you to stroll from one collection to another as you wish, eventually spilling into the new featured exhibition space at the southern tip of the building.
It will be even easier to get to know the Bloch Building with free exhibitions and parking on opening weekend, June 9 and 10.
Conceptual artist Sol LeWitt passed away at the age of 78 last Saturday. The Nelson-Atkins has several wonderful pieces by LeWitt in our contemporary art collection. The following entry is from the Museum’s 1999 publication Modern Sculpture at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, An Anniversary Celeb