Posted May 12, 200718 yr More info will come in the Sunday edition of the Dispatch. Now I know in comparison to Ohio's other art institutions this isn't much, but for the Columbus Museum of Art this is definitely big news, and the expansion is desparately needed. The article also partially explains the uphill battle the Columbus Art Museum has to face compared to its nearby counterparts. Museum of Art to launch $80 million expansion project Friday, May 11, 2007 6:30 PM By Bill Mayr THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH The Columbus Museum of Art will raise $80 million for an expansion and renovation of its building and a significant increase of its endowment. The new “21st century museum” is intended to be ready for the Columbus bicentennial in 2012. Already, $38 million has been raised toward the goal. Museum administrators and board members for years have said the building, last expanded in 1974, is too small to accommodate its permanent art collection, hold major temporary exhibitions and provide space for education projects. Plans call for: - Expanding the museum's facility by 56 percent, to 150,000 square feet - Renovating the existing building - Constructing a parking garage - Increasing the endowment by three and half times - Groundbreaking for the expansion could take place in late 2009 or early 2010, Maciejunes said. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/arts/stories/2007/05/11/museum.html
May 12, 200718 yr Wahoo! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
May 12, 200718 yr $80 million fundraising campaign Art museum thinks big Larger endowment, expansion envisioned for facility Saturday, May 12, 2007 3:26 AM By Bill Mayr, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH The Columbus Museum of Art last night announced a drive to raise $80 million to expand and renovate the building at 480 E. Broad St. and to significantly increase the museum's endowment. The museum already has raised $38 million toward the goal. The plan includes: • Expanding the museum's size by 56 percent, to 150,000 square feet. • Renovating the facility. • Constructing a parking garage. • Increasing the endowment for operations to 3 1/2 times its current level. The museum has hired Tod Williams Billie Tsien of New York as design architects for the project. Specifics are far from complete, including exactly where the expansion will be built. The museum's visitors parking lot between the rear of the building and E. Gay Street is a logical expansion site, which might explain the proposal for a parking garage. Read much more at http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/05/12/0__MUSEUM_NEWS.ART_ART_05-12-07_A1_656MSI4.html
May 12, 200718 yr Image from The Dispatch: Redesigned CMA website: http://www.columbusmuseum.org "Art Matters" Link: http://www.columbusmuseum.org/involved/artmatters.php
May 13, 200718 yr wow, I never realized how small the Columbus Museum of Art was compared to other Ohio museums!
May 13, 200718 yr Columbus would have a better collection of art if not for the local tradition that commands that any material object over 75 years-old be summarily destroyed. Shame about those Michelangelos...
May 13, 200718 yr I didn't realize Dayton and Toledo had nearly the same endowment income. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
May 13, 200718 yr The collection is pathetic. I was embarassed to take my friend there. While I'll most certainly agree that the collection is substandard, I wouldn't go as far as to call it pathetic. Granted, if you're a fan of the early masters (i.e. what most people consider "good art"), then you're going to be disappointed. Remember, the Columbus didn't have any Rockefellers or Libbys bequeathing their private collections to their city's respective museums. The costs associated with acquiring just one such piece nowadays would completely drain the money allocated just for the expansion plans. Remember also that the CMA is severely lacking in space, which is why you find the early masters collection comprised entirely in one room and hanging on top of each other. Now if you're a fan of modern art, such as the impressionist and cubist works of Monet and Picasso, respectively, then the Columbus Art Museum actually has a decent collection. Several famous names grace the walls of the musuem (the rest are in storage somewhere), including works from the above-mentioned as well as Matisse and Renoir. The museum also has a good American artists collection (centering primarily around Columbus native George Bellows), and a good-sized glass exhibit featuring works from Dale Chihuly (though honestly, who DOESN'T have works from Chihuly?). Post-modern/contemporary art is visable at the museum, but it's not very prevalent, mostly due to the fact that there's a dedicated contemporary art center of over 175,000 sq. ft. located north of the CMA at the Wexner Center for the Arts. The museum's world art collection is essentially non-existant, mostly due to the fact that, once again, there's just no space. Several early Asia art pieces are finally being displayed again...but in the Riffe Center and after being in storage for 5 years. So yeah, the CMA's visable collection does suck, but at least they're trying to improve the situation.
May 13, 200718 yr So yeah, the CMA's visable collection does suck, but at least they're trying to improve the situation. And really, that's all that matters. I mean, they at least are improving on what they have in such a limited space. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
May 13, 200718 yr Now if you're a fan of modern art, such as the impressionist and cubist works of Monet and Picasso, respectively, then the Columbus Art Museum actually has a decent collection. Several famous names grace the walls of the musuem (the rest are in storage somewhere), including works from the above-mentioned as well as Matisse and Renoir. Monet is BORING. I saw no Picassos and no Van Gogh's.
May 13, 200718 yr They left Akron off that list! I want to see where that museum ranks. And Toledo is actually quite well-known. I believe the director of MoMA or the Met in NYC started his career in Toledo... Good for the Columbus museum! I'm all for expanding arts offering, particularly the "traditional" museum. I don't think you're ever going to see them get in the same league as Cleveland or Detroit for "traditional" art historical pieces -- the prices are so high, they could sink that $80 million on four paintings and not build a thing. Antiquities are also problematic due to questions of provenance and questions of theft in the early 1900s. But if they could find an undeserved niche... Also, the thing that I find weird about museums are, a lot of modern art works are either of such scale or setting, they make a museum nearly useless. I'd really like to see a museum try something ballsy and outside-the-box.
May 20, 200916 yr Museum of Art closing main building for renovations Business First of Columbus - by Adrian Burns Wednesday, May 20, 2009, 9:19am The Columbus Museum of Art plans to close its main building and lay off six full-time and 25 part-time employees this fall as part of its facilities renovation plan. Art museum officials announced Tuesday that in late October or early November the museum will shut down the 55,000-square-foot main building so its galleries and other spaces can be upgraded. The building opened in 1931. The 33,000-square-foot Ross Wing, a 1970s-era building connected to the older, more prominent main museum wing, will remain open and will continue to host special exhibitions, spokeswoman Nancy Colvin said. “This is not due to the economy, or to our budget or anything,” she said. The work on the 1931 museum building and work on an outbuilding at the museum have a price tag of about $10 million. The next phase of work at the museum, expected to begin in 2011, will shut down the Ross Wing, which will then be renovated. Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/05/18/daily20.html?surround=lfn
May 22, 200916 yr And the wait is over! Nannette Maciejunes, Executive Director, Columbus Museum of Art http://columbusmuseum.org/about/blog/ For the past several years we have (and continue to) been raising funds and developing plans for the renovation and expansion of the Museum. And while it has been an extremely exciting process, it has also, up to this point, seemed like an abstract idea that was eons away, until now. Last Wednesday as I pulled into the parking lot, I saw the doors to Beaton Hall open and the construction people busily working on the building! At that moment the project truly became a reality. CMA is on its way! For those of you who don't know, Beaton is the small building located behind the Museum toward the northwest. It was named for Mr. Ralph H. Beaton who donated $60,000 in 1929, the first year of the Great Depression, for the construction of a new building for the Columbus Art School, what would later become the Columbus College of Art and Design. The dedication of Beaton Hall was held on October 12, 1930. The new Beaton Hall facility was described as having "seven spacious, modernly equipped studios to insure perfect working conditions in both day and evening classes." In 1887, the Columbus Art School became affiliated with the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts (which later became the Columbus Museum of Art) and was housed in Beaton Hall. In 1981 CCAD became an independent institution but continued to use Beaton Hall for classrooms until 2006 when use reverted to the Columbus Museum of Art. Until recently the building was used as office space for 24 CMA staff members. When the renovation is complete, it will house 50 staff members, freeing up space in the main building for public spaces. http://columbusmuseum.org/about/blog/2009/02/17/and-the-wait-is-over/
May 22, 200916 yr The previous two news bites about the Columbus Museum of Art expansion and renovation plans left me wanting more information. I was able to find more in the latest newsletter from the museum's executive director, issued on April 7, 2009. NEWSLETTER LINK: http://www.columbusmuseum.org/pdf/stewardshipletter4.pdf According to the newsletter, the Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) construction schedule is as follows: SPRING 2009: Beaton Hall construction begins. AUTUMN 2009: Beaton Hall construction completed. AUTUMN 2009: The 1931 Building closes and renovation begins. AUTUMN 2010: The 1931 Building renovation is completed and re-opened. AUTUMN 2010: Renovation of the 1974 addition begins and construction of the New Wing begins. AUTUMN 2012: New CMA opens. Quoting from the 4/7/2009 newsletter: "The museum has raised about $46.6 million towards our $80 million campaign goal. More than 750 donors have pledged support to our campaign. The renovation of Beaton Hall for use as staff offices has begun, thus making more room available in the Museum's main building for art and public programs." "This autumn, as Beaton Hall is completed, we will close our 1931 building for renovation and present Chilhuly Illuminated and select works from the collection in the 1970's building. The renovation will take about a year and the 1931 building will reopen in the Autumn of 2010. We're planning an innovative center for creativity for learners of all ages, a fabulous renovated Derby Court, and a beautiful new home for the permanent collection. We have already raised more than enough money in cash and pledges to renovate both Beaton Hall and the 1931 building and add $8.3 million to the operating endowment." "The final stage of the master plan is to re-imagine the 1970's building, and to build a 45,000 square foot addition, a parking structure, and a new garden. We'll have more galleries for the permanent collection, a larger exhibition hall, more special event space, and a new welcoming lobby. The master plan will not only enable us to serve our community better, it will make us more energy efficient. The final part of the project will take approximately two years and is scheduled to begin in late 2010. During this phase of construction the 1931 building will reamin open to the public with exhibitionsand programs. Because of the economy, the timetable of the expansion may change, but the Board is committed to realizing our master plan and giving central Ohio a museum befitting this vital community."
October 2, 200915 yr The new Chihuly exhibit just opened, and I talked with Nancy Colvin and Nannette Maciejunes at the CMA both about that as well as the new expansion, which is about to begin reconstruction. You can read about it here: http://www.columbusunderground.com/chihuly-illuminated-opens-today-at-cma
April 15, 201015 yr Renovation expected to make museum more inviting Sunday, April 11, 2010 - 2:55 AM By Jeffrey Sheban THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Demolition is on exhibit at the Columbus Museum of Art, where Picassos and Renoirs have given way to backhoes and crowbars. The institution is six months into a $6.9 million renovation of its 1931 Italian Renaissance Revival building at 480 E. Broad Street. Through it all, the museum remains open. Although most of the permanent collection has been moved off-site for safekeeping, a few dozen paintings and a Dale Chihuly glass-art exhibit fill the still-intact 1974 wing, which also contains the gift shop and a temporary cafe. The first-floor auditorium - used for lectures, meetings and stage and musical performances - is gutted, awaiting a new stage, seats, lighting and sound systems. Another major overhaul is occurring at Derby Court, a former open-air courtyard enclosed in 1953 and used for wedding receptions, museum functions and other public events. The stone floor has been removed and will be rebuilt 44 inches higher - level with that of the building's 10 main galleries. The flat metal ceiling will be hoisted off the internal courtyard and replaced with a vaulted glass ceiling built slightly higher to make up for space lost to the raised floor. Full article: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2010/04/11/1-museum-renovation-art-gao83pgo-1.html?sid=101
April 15, 201015 yr Museum director’s eye beholds beauty in ruins Business First of Columbus - by Adrian Burns Monday, April 12, 2010, 4:20pm EDT It is hardly apparent to passersby, but a major renovation of the Columbus Museum of Art is well under way. Inside a hollowed out Derby Court, heavy machinery lowered in from above clattered loudly on a recent morning as the atrium at the heart of the museum was prepared for a makeover. The spectacle is part of an approximately $39 million project to renovate and expand the museum that called for closing most of the facility late last year. Much of the current work is centered on the 79-year-old building at the core of the museum. Progress – and costs – remain on track and plans call for the renovated museum building to reopen by 2011, said Executive Director Nannette Maciejunes. Fed by an $80 million fundraising campaign, work on the museum will leave Columbus with what officials expect will be a bigger, more visitor-friendly museum that is greener, more financially sustainable and better set up to compete for popular traveling exhibits. The work is being performed in three phases: • The first phase cost nearly $2.3 million and revamped Beaton Hall, a former classroom building for the Columbus College of Art & Design next door that was renovated in 2009 into offices for the museum. • The second phase, priced at $6.9 million, is the renovation of the main building. • The final phase, expected to cost about $30 million, includes the addition of a new wing. About $40 million will go toward the museum's endowment. “This is a transformational change for us,” Maciejunes said. More: http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2010/04/12/story1.html
April 15, 201015 yr Photos of the Derby Court renovation from the Columbus Museum of Art website and the CMA's Flickr photostream. From: http://columbusmuseum.org/about/construction.php and http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmaohio/. Rendering of the renovated Derby Court with new glass ceiling
April 15, 201015 yr And finally two more panoramic photos of the Columbus Museum of Art 1931 Building renovation. The first one is Derby Court which has its previous floor removed in order to construct a reconfigured new floor in its place. The second photo is the auditorium in the 1931 Building currently being renovated.
April 16, 201015 yr This is great news. The Columbus Museum has always been woefully inadequate for a city of Columbus' size.
April 24, 201015 yr <b>Columbus Museum of Art Construction Photo Tour</b> By Walker | April 22, 2010 9:15am <img src="http://www.columbusunderground.com/archives/cma-tour4.jpg"> The Columbus Museum of Art is currently undergoing a major renovation and expansion project that will add approximately 45,000 new square feet of space and overhaul many of the galleries, the auditorium and Derby Court. The museum is still open to the public during renovation and is still featuring their Chihuly Illuminated exhibit through July 4th. Below are some construction photos taken on Wednesday, April 21st, 2010. The project is scheduled to be completed on January 1st, 2011. PHOTOS HERE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/columbus-museum-of-art-construction-photo-tour
June 7, 201015 yr COLUMBUS MUSEUM OF ART Roof-raising renovation to shed new light on works Sunday, June 6, 2010 By Jeffrey Sheban, The Columbus Dispatch Workers have raised the roof off the Derby Court event space, exposing the former courtyard to the elements for the first time since it was enclosed 57 years ago. New steel beams are in place, but the vaulted ceiling's glass panels won't be installed for a few more weeks. The panels will be treated to let the sunshine in but deflect much of the heat, said Dave Leach, the museum's director of facilities. Leach led a recent hard-hat tour of the museum for patrons, employees and The Dispatch. Since April, Derby Court's stone floor has been removed and replaced with a new one that is 42 inches higher, aligning it with the 1931 building's 10 main galleries, which are also getting face-lifts. All of the galleries will get new lighting, and two of them are getting new glass ceiling panels that will mimic skylights. Current renovation work is valued at $6.9 million and is confined to the 1931 Italian Renaissance revival building visible from E. Broad Street. It is expected to reopen in December or January. Then workers will turn their attention to the 1974 wing, which has remained open during the renovation. Phase two calls for an update of that wing and the construction of a 50,000-square-foot building with gallery space for large installations and a new cafe. The museum has budgeted $30 million for the next phase. PHOTO SLIDESHOW OF THE RENOVATION Full article: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/arts/stories/2010/06/06/roof-raising-renovation-to-shed-new-light-on-works.html
September 23, 201014 yr More photos of the Derby Court renovation in the 1931 Building from the Columbus Museum of Art website and the CMA's Flickr photostream. From: http://columbusmuseum.org/about/construction.php and http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmaohio/.
September 23, 201014 yr More about the renovation of the 1931 portion of the Columbus Museum of Art. That portion of the museum has been renamed the Ross Building. From the CMA Blog: Historic Broad Street Museum Building Named Ross Building As the Columbus Museum of Art enters a new era, we honor our past by proudly announcing that our newly renovated historic 480 East Broad Street building will now by known as the Elizabeth M. And Richard M. Ross Building. MORE: http://columbusmuseum.org/about/blog/2010/08/31/historic-broad-street-museum-building-named-ross-building/
September 24, 201014 yr Looks beautiful so far. Anyone know what the expansion will look like? Will it match the architectural style of the building or go more modern?
September 27, 201014 yr The last time I saw anything visual about the expansion was about two years ago. The museum director made a powerpoint presentation at a community meeting that walked everyone though the three phases of the renovation/expansion. The third phase being the expansion. At the time, the New York firm of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects was proposing a two-story addition along Washington Avenue that extended past the 1931 Building toward the corner of Broad & Washington. Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects is known for small to mid-size museum projects, the most well-known being the American Folk Art Museum in NYC. The expansion renderings from two years ago were only massing studies, but from the TWBTA portfolio - its clear it would have been a modern style. However, there's been some news since then: FROM THE DESIGN GROUP WEBSITE: DesignGroup Selected as Architect for Columbus Museum of Art Expansion 02.03.2010 The Board of Trustees of the Columbus Museum of Art has chosen DesignGroup to refine and implement the master plan designed by the New York City firm of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects for its new wing. The project is slated to break ground in 2011. The design team will be led by Mike Bongiorno. Some of Mike’s recent projects include the Grange Insurance Audubon Center, the Peggy R. McConnell Arts Center of Worthington, the Columbus West Family Health Center, and Goodwill Columbus’ Headquarters. FROM THE ARCHITECT'S NEWSPAPER WEBSITE: Local Trumps Global: Museums get going with homegrown talent 04.08.2010 The Architect’s Newspaper has learned that after commissioning a masterplan and addition by Tod Williams Billie Tsien & Associates (TWBTA), the Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) has discontinued their services and is moving ahead with a scaled-back addition by Columus-based DesignGroup, which had been the architect of record on the project. “The original plan was for Tod and Billie to do all the work. But with the economy being what it is, we needed to find a way to make it more cost-effective,” said Nannette Maciejunes, executive director of the CMA. And the most recent Columbus Monthly magazine, said that although the museum's fundraising efforts were able to fully fund the first two renovation phases they haven't yet fully funded the expansion phase. So it looks like the original expansion plans are being downsided. What that means for the design is unclear because there's been absolutely no renderings of any kind made available to the public yet. My initial reaction is that I'm okay with the Columbus-based firm of Design Group taking over from the New York-based firm of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects. TWBTA is a good firm, but their designs are very moody and internally focused. Their designs don't really engage the urban context and I was always leary of what their final design might look like. On the other hand, Design Group has a long portfolio of working in downtown Columbus and the Columbus urban context. Although modern, their designs are very approachable and user-friendly. One of their designs that might relate to the museum addition is an addition they did to the Old Blind School on Parsons Avenue for the Columbus Health Department. A distinctive addition that is respectful to the historic building. So I'm still hopeful that Design Group will produce a high quality design for the museum.
December 20, 201014 yr Columbus Museum of Art sets reopening after renovations completed Business First - by Adrian Burns Date: Friday, December 17, 2010, 2:56pm EST Art lovers in Columbus can expect a present from the Columbus Museum of Art this holiday season: the completion of the museum’s $6.9 million renovation and a reopening of its galleries Jan. 1. Much of the museum closed in late 2009 as its main building underwent an extensive revamp that included both eye-catching changes and long-overdue updates. MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2010/12/columbus-museum-of-art-sets-reopening.html
December 20, 201014 yr NEW YEAR, NEW LOOK Museum of Art almost ready to unveil renovation Sunday, December 19, 2010 By Jeffrey Sheban THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH What does a yearlong $6.9 million renovation buy? For the Columbus Museum of Art, time to prepare for the next phase of work: a $30 million expansion that will take up to three years to complete. After almost 13 months of reconstruction, the 1931 Italian Renaissance revival building at 480 E. Broad St. is almost ready for a Jan. 1 reopening. Admission will be free that day, and the museum will be teeming with musicians and entertainers. MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2010/12/19/ew-year-new-look.html?sid=101
December 20, 201014 yr Both the Business First and Dispatch articles also included photos of the renovation. The Dispatch also had a slideshow of the renovation (link below). The Columbus Museum of Art's year-long renovation: After nearly 13 months of reconstruction, the 1931 Italian Renaissance revival building at 480 E. Broad St. is almost ready for a Jan. 1 reopening.
January 4, 201114 yr New look draws praise from art-museum fans Sunday, January 2, 2011 By Rita Price, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Multicolored, biodegradable confetti briefly jazzed up the gray sky and then fell to the ground in wet, sticky clumps. It wasn’t the snow-blanketed scene that Columbus Museum of Art officials had dreamed about when they planned a New Year’s Day celebration to unveil $6.9 million worth of renovations. But as the morning kickoff to a day devoted to showcasing the creative spirit, soggy confetti made perfect sense. “I like this,” said 4-year-old Elizabeth Schrappe. While most of the adults moved from the ribbon-cutting to the dry indoors, Elizabeth dragged her feet all over the lawn until her little black boots had become a mosaic of stuck-on confetti squares. Museum Executive Director Nannette Maciejunes laughed. “What we want is people enjoying it and each other, making memories,” she said. Interactive and family-friendly exhibits are a big part of the museum’s rejuvenated 1931 Italian Renaissance Revival-style building at 480 E. Broad St., now called the Elizabeth M. and Richard M. Ross Building. Derby Court — the museum’s interior courtyard — also received an extensive makeover and now is wheelchair-accessible. The next project — a $30 million expansion of the museum — is to take three years. MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/01/02/new-look-draws-praise-from-art-museum-fans.html?sid=101
October 14, 201113 yr Two reports and a rendering about a new West Garden being built at the Columbus Museum of Art. The West Garden will replace the existing outdoor sculture garden on the east side of the 1931 museum building. The east garden is being removed for construction of the museum's new wing. The construction of the new wing will also involve the renovation of the museum's 1970's addition at the back of the building. This would close down the museum's ADA accessible entrance. So part of the new West Garden design will include an ADA accessible walkway from the street to the 1931 building. The new West Garden will also be the drop-off point for school and group tours to the Museum during the renovation of the 1970's addition and construction of the new wing Columbus Underground: Columbus Museum of Art Breaks Ground on New West Garden CMA Blog: CMA Celebrates West Garden Groundbreaking
October 14, 201113 yr More prep work for the construction of CMA's new wing: Art museum buys property across street By Marla Matzer Rose, The Columbus Dispatch Friday, October 14, 2011 - 5:10 AM The Columbus Museum of Art has purchased a former motorcycle-dealership property across the street to use for additional staff parking and office space during the museum’s renovation during the next two years. The museum paid $1.25 million for the 20,000-square-foot building and parking lot at 611 E. Broad St., according to property records. (. . .) Museum spokeswoman Nancy Colvin said the cycle shop’s parking lot will be put to use immediately, replacing about 40 spaces of the museum’s current staff parking lot that were lost to the West Garden project begun last week. That project is part of the museum’s ongoing renovation and expansion. In the spring, Colvin said, museum administrative workers will move to the newly purchased building as work is started on a new wing of the museum. MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2011/10/14/art-museum-buys-property-across-street.html
June 12, 201213 yr The West Garden project is opening today at the Columbus Museum of Art. More about this from the Columbus Dispatch at the article link below: Dispatch: West Garden to welcome visitors to expanded facility As mentioned in the Dispatch article (and my earlier write-up of the West Garden groundbreaking last year), the West Garden will also act as the temporary main entrance to the museum while the third and final phase of the museum's renovation and expansion program is underway. This last phase will close down the current main entrance on the northside of the museum. That entrance is part of a north wing that was added in 1974 to the original 1931 museum building. The original 1931 building was renovated in a previous phase. The final construction phase for the museum will renovate the 1974 wing and will add a 50,000-square-foot addition to the east of both the 1931 and 1974 sections of the museum. According to the Dispatch article, the construction budget for this final phase is $37 million and groundbreaking is scheduled for next spring. Also according to the article, museum officials have raised $56 million toward a $90 million campaign for the final construction project, which will include an endowment.
June 16, 201212 yr Walker posted some photos of the completed West Garden at Columbus Underground. Below is a view of the entrance gate to the garden off Ninth Street (similar view to the previously posted overhead rendering). MORE PHOTOS: http://www.columbusunderground.com/west-garden-opens-at-the-columbus-museum-of-art
January 22, 201312 yr Signs of the museum moving ahead with the next phase of expansion... welcome news but am really curious to see the designs! From the January 22nd Downtown Commission agenda: IV. Conceptual Review Case #1 635-13 Address: 480 East Broad Street Applicant: Michael Bongiorno Property Owner: Columbus Museum of Art Design Professional: Design Group Michael Bongiorno Zoning: DD (core sub district) Request CC3359.27(D)3) Conceptual review for two story addition on the eastern side of the Columbus Museum of Art. Also: Movement of the sculpture garden to accommodate the addition. The garden will be moved to the north side of the museum (currently parking). Significant alteration of the 1974 addition (northern wing and primary entrance), opening to the new sculpture garden. <i>Two informational meetings were conducted with Downtown Commissioners early last year. Other recent museum property cases reviewed by the Downtown Commission have been the new west entrance and garden (2011) and renovation of Beaton Hall, the administration facility (2009).</i>
January 22, 201312 yr Business First posted a story on this today - along with a few pics http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2013/01/22/columbus-museum-of-art-ready-to-embark.html?ana=e_du_pub&s=article_du&ed=2013-01-22 http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2013/01/22/columbus-museum-of-art-ready-to-embark.html?s=image_gallery
January 23, 201312 yr CU has a good write-up as well: http://www.columbusunderground.com/columbus-museum-of-art-reveals-major-expansion-plans I usually do not care for tacking these types of contemporary additions onto traditional buildings, but this seems to be a trend with art museums. In some ways, I find this exciting.
January 23, 201312 yr Here are the two exterior renderings for the addition that have been made public so far. The first rendering shows a head-on view from Broad Street. The two-story, 50,000 sq. ft. addition replaces the walled sculpture garden that is currently between the Museum and Washington Avenue. The modern addition connects to the historic 1931 museum building with a glass walled section. The second rendering shows an angled view from Broad Street looking toward the Broad & Washington intersection. This view shows how the addition would extend past the 1931 building setback and be closer to the intersection. The State Auto Insurance Building is in the background. At this angle, you can see that some of the materials used in the modern addition (limestone and patinated copper) refer back to the historic museum building. There are also three more interior renderings at Columbus Underground's report: Columbus Museum of Art Reveals Major Expansion Plans
January 23, 201312 yr CU has a good write-up as well: http://www.columbusunderground.com/columbus-museum-of-art-reveals-major-expansion-plans I usually do not care for tacking these types of contemporary additions onto traditional buildings, but this seems to be a trend with art museums. In some ways, I find this exciting. I feel the same way. Many times these modern additions to traditional buildings are way too jarring. But I like the way the architecture firm, Design Group has handled this one. Especially using the materials from the historic museum building (limestone and patinated copper) in the addition. Design Group has a very good track record of doing appropriate modern additions. Two of their examples in Columbus are the Columbus Health Department's renovation and addition to the 19th century Ohio School for the Blind on Parsons Avenue and the renovation and addition to an historic firehouse on West Broad Street into a Health Department clinic office. And, although the Design Group firm definately specializes in a modern aesthetic, they seem to work in what I would call "an approachable and humane modern aesthetic". The CU article you linked also has an interesting discussion in the comments section. The lead architect for Design Group, Michael Bongiorno, actually responded to some of the posters. He teased that future plans and renderings will show the new sculpture garden to be built north of the 1974 addition in the current parking lot and the changes to the 1974 addition (which was mentioned in the Downtown Commission report).
January 23, 201312 yr The aforementioned CU article discussion also mentions a new, shared parking garage to be located on Gay St. across from the museum and CCAD. Overall, I like the design of the new addition. It's modern design definitely contrasts with the historic original building, but not so much that it clashes.
August 24, 201311 yr ^ Later in that CU discussion, Denny Griffith, President of CCAD, responded to the subject of the parking deck: dennygriffith - January 28, 2013 9:31 am: "CCAD will not be building a parking deck with the Museum at this point in time. In fact, we believe a parking deck on Gay street would be a negative element given the splendid new improvements to the Gay Street corridor that the City is funding. On the one hand, we are DELIGHTED to see our friends at the Museum move their plans forward, as Columbus has one of the smaller art museums in any comparable city – at least in Ohio. But we’ll have to keep working with the Museum folks, and other Discovery District neighbors like First Congregational Church, Columbus State, and State Auto for a good, long-term solution to urban parking here." Also, according to CMA's FAQ page about the expansion at http://www.columbusmuseum.org/art-matters/expansion-faqs/ Q: What about parking? A: Parking in our lot off Gay Street is free, and we will actually be gaining a few spots. Parking meters are also available in the area.
August 24, 201311 yr The Columbus Museum of Art held their official groundbreaking for their addition yesterday. The addition is a two-story, 50,000 square foot wing that will be built along Washington Avenue, east of the current CMA Building. The new wing is scheduled to be completed in Autumn of 2015. Below is a report from Columbus Underground about the groundbreaking: CU: Groundbreaking: The Columbus Museum of Art Expansion The CMA website also has a page devoted to the expansion project at http://www.columbusmuseum.org/art-matters/. And the project architect, Design Group, has a project page at http://www.designgroup.us.com/our-work/civic/columbus-museum-art.php. The Design Group project page contains three photos of a scale model for the new wing, which gives an excellent idea of how the new wing sits next to the existing museum.
November 8, 201311 yr Here are the two exterior renderings for the addition that have been made public so far. The first rendering shows a head-on view from Broad Street. The two-story, 50,000 sq. ft. addition replaces the walled sculpture garden that is currently between the Museum and Washington Avenue. The modern addition connects to the historic 1931 museum building with a glass walled section. The second rendering shows an angled view from Broad Street looking toward the Broad & Washington intersection. This view shows how the addition would extend past the 1931 building setback and be closer to the intersection. The State Auto Insurance Building is in the background. At this angle, you can see that some of the materials used in the modern addition (limestone and patinated copper) refer back to the historic museum building. There are also three more interior renderings at Columbus Underground's report: Columbus Museum of Art Reveals Major Expansion Plans There are more renderings of the new addition to the Columbus Museum of Art at the project architect's website. Design Group, has a project page at http://www.designgroup.us.com/our-work/civic/columbus-museum-art.php. The addition is a two-story, 50,000 square foot wing that will be built along Washington Avenue, east of the current CMA Building - which includes the recently renovated 1931 original museum and a 1974 addition that will also be renovated as part of this new construction. The construction of this new wing is scheduled to be completed in Autumn 2015. The project page also includes three images of a massing model for the new wing. Below are some small versions of the larger hi-res images available at http://www.designgroup.us.com/our-work/civic/columbus-museum-art.php View from Broad Street looking northwest. - Original 1931 museum is to the left facing Broad Street. - New addition is to the right along Washington Avenue. View from Washington Avenue looking west. - New addition is in the foreground facing Washington Avenue. - Original 1931 museum and 1974 addition are in the background behind the addition. View from Washington Avenue and museum parking lot looking southwest. - New addition is to the left facing Washington Avenue. - Renovated 1974 addition and new entrance courtyard faces the parking lot.
November 8, 201311 yr Columbus Business First also has a 15-photo slideshow of the current construction progress - both outside and inside - at the below link: Business First Slideshow: Columbus Museum of Art expansion’s $34M final phase
November 9, 201311 yr Nice find on the massing models. I'm not a big fan of the first view; I feel it clashes too much with the original 1931 building. However the renovated 1974 addition and the new wing (as depicted in the 3rd view of the model) looks great.
January 22, 201411 yr Late December 2013 construction photo of the CMA expansion project from http://www.columbusunderground.com/construction-roundup-december-2013 View of the rear addition from Gay Street:
April 11, 201411 yr Late March 2014 construction photo of the CMA expansion project from http://www.columbusunderground.com/construction-roundup-march-2014-part-1 Side view of the rear addition from Washington Avenue:
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