April 2006 (extract)
If you've been in the vicinity of the Museum District lately, there's no doubt you've taken notice of the massive construction taking place at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The metallic yellow claws of excavators and bulldozers reach high into the air; unwieldy pipes and beams pepper the landscape; and dust and disorder seem to reign over the land.
Clearly, a substantial transformation is taking place. But what does this transformation mean for Richmonders as museumgoers and residents?
Quite a bit, actually, if you ask those around the museum.
"I think this is probably one of the most significant moments in the history of the life of the museum," said Richard B. Woodward, the senior associate director of architecture and design and curator of African art, who has been overseeing the museum expansion.
While the museum has already experienced four periods of expansion since its creation in 1936, this one is the biggest to date. The $150 million expansion, designed by London-based architect Rick Mather with Richmond firm SMBW, will create a new face for the museum, while adding expanded galleries, a new education center, a library, landscaped parking deck and a four-acre sculpture garden. Ty Pennington could have a field day with this extreme makeover story.
The New Face of the Museum
For many of us, the face of VMFA has consisted of the curved entrance of the north wing, which looked out over the parking lot and was essentially the back of the building. No longer. That wing, which was added on to the existing structure in 1976, has been demolished to make way for a new expansion wing. The main entrance will shift around to the east end of the building, facing Boulevard.
"Over the years, the building had basically turned away from Boulevard because of the parking lot and the growth of the building in a northerly direction," Woodward said. "[This new entrance] will acknowledge and celebrate the thoroughfare rather than to conveniently turn away from it."
The view from Boulevard will be greatly improved by a huge glass window, 40 feet tall and 70 feet wide, which will look out over the busy street, establishing a visual dialogue between passersby and the museum itself.
"[The window will create] a very important visual strengthening between the urban fabric and the museum," Woodward said. "It's also, I think, a metaphoric attempt to open the museum visually and make it seem more penetrable: 'you're welcome to come in here; there's interesting things here.'"
To maintain harmony between the museum and the historic neighborhood, the new building will be, in Woodward's words, "simple.
"One thing that may appear to characterize our building is that while it is modern and it does not attempt to restate classical idiom, it is not a brash sculptural building," he said. "It doesn't call attention to itself. Our key goal is to provide space for the collections, not to have the building speak for us."
New Additions
One of the most important aspects of the museum's expansion is, of course, creating more space for current and future art exhibitions. The new wing will add 50 percent more space for permanent exhibitions and double the space for temporary exhibitions.
"Our collections are woefully underdisplayed," said Woodward, who revealed that approximately 15,000 of the museum's 18,000 pieces are in storage. "Most collection areas will be growing in the range of 50 percent plus or minus…Everybody's vision of what the Virginia Museum is, vis-à-vis its collections, is going to be radically transformed."
While more of the museum's permanent collections will go on display with the new expansion, the new temporary collection space will help draw important traveling exhibits to the museum.
"We never have had space big enough for blockbuster exhibitions," said Suzanne Hall, the museum's acting associate director of communications and marketing. "We have always had a very active exhibition schedule, but we just haven't had space for those big shows that really get people excited and energize the community and demonstrate how a museum can be an economic engine for the community…[The new space] will make a big difference in the kind of exhibitions that we can bring to Richmond."
The museum's biggest undertaking to date, the 1999 "Splendors of Ancient Egypt" exhibition, attracted 250,000 visitors during its seven-month stint. Unfortunately, in order to make room for the exhibit, VMFA had to clear out the Lewis Galleries of Modern and Contemporary Art, effectively removing one of the museum's most significant permanent collections from view for more than half a year. With the expansion, the museum will be able to take on that type of "blockbuster" exhibition without disrupting any of the other collections.
Another striking change to the museum's 13.5 acre site is the replacement of the 250-car blacktop parking lot with the four-acre E. Claiborne and Lora Robins Sculpture Garden, which was designed by Olin Partnership, who was responsible for the sculpture gardens at the National Gallery and Getty Museum. Parking will move to a 600-car parking deck on the eastern edge of the property, where it will be obscured from view by the garden, which will slope up the top edge of the garage.
"This was the moment to transform the landscape," Woodward said. "We think this will be a really wonderful green space in the city, and it will really add to your museum experience in the sense of an outdoor component to complement the indoor component."
The museum's expansion also includes a 4,000 square foot education center; a dedicated entrance for school groups; the widening of existing driveways and removal of the Grove Avenue entrance; the renovation of the Robinson House, an 1850s farmhouse on the museum's property and enhanced visitor amenities, including a new gift shop, outside terrace, library and archives.
In the Meantime
As construction stands now, the parking garage will be finished in December 2006, the expansion wing in winter 2008 and the sculpture garden in 2009. So, what to do until then?
The museum, as its enormous green banner on Boulevard announces, is still open for business. Its new visitors' entrance has moved to the west end of the building, which can be disconcerting at first, but a quick trip up the elevator will send you comfortably into the Marble Hall. Parking has become somewhat limited, but a frequently updated listing on VMFA's Web site (www.vmfa.museum) lets visitors know their best options for parking on any particular day.
Interestingly enough, the museum's current situation allows VMFA to create unique thematic exhibits that otherwise would be impossible. The four "Look Here" exhibitions, which will run subsequently through 2008, examine distinctive themes in art across the museum's collections.
"It is highly unusual for VMFA to produce an exhibition that is comprised of works that are pulled from all the permanent collections," Hall said. "It couldn't be done if all our galleries were open because these objects would be on display in our permanent collections."
The first exhibit, "Dazzle," has already moved on to tour statewide institutions, while "Feast," which looks at food and dining throughout different art genres and time periods, will run at VMFA through June 25. "Speed" will take place from Sept. 6, 2006, to Jan. 7, 2007, and "Mystery" will cap off the cross-cultural exhibitions from September 2007 to January 2008.
The museum hosts events for kids, teens and adults in correlation with each "Look Here" exhibition, and, of course, the Third Thursdays events feature art, refreshments and music on the third Thursday of each month.
Other galleries and exhibitions will open and close sporadically as they are improved or redesigned. To keep up to date with the museum's offerings, check out VMFA's "Things to See" section of its Web site: www.vmfa.museum/index1.html#see.
Though Hall said 2007 will be a "quiet year" with many collections closing, the museum will be hosting a spectacular exhibition, featuring borrowed works from England that represent the Jamestown era, in honor of its 400th anniversary.
So, while the museum's offerings will become increasingly limited over the next couple years, there are exhibitions and events to take advantage of. And in the end, our patience will most certainly pay off.
As Woodward said: "God, it's going to be great."
By Katherine Houstoun