April 14, 2009 — The University of Virginia Art Museum will be closed to the public beginning April 25 and lasting through the summer for a major refurbishment project, director Bruce Boucher announced.
Due to the early closing that coincides with the ending of the University's spring semester, some prescheduled programs at the museum will be relocated.
Two exhibitions — "Matisse, Picasso, and Modern Art in Paris, The T. Catesby Jones Collections at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the University of Virginia Art Museum" and "American Impressionism & Urban Realism" — remain on view through April 24. "The Hand and the Soul LeWitt, Slutzky, Iliescu" will be on view through April 22.
The museum is scheduled to reopen Sept. 11 to showcase a reinstallation of the permanent collection and the exhibition "Thomas Jefferson's Academical Village: The Creation of an Architectural Masterpiece" (to run through Jan. 4) that will feature Thomas Jefferson's original drawings and plans for the University's historic Rotunda and pavilions.
The refurbishment project will address improvements in the display, management and preservation of the collection, as well as consider the architectural qualities of the 1930s building as a historical landmark.
James Stokoe, lead architect with ARCH ET AL of Chevy Chase, Md., completed the project scoping study and design. Key elements of the project include improvements to the environmental, mechanical and electrical systems; upgrades to enhance gallery lighting; reconfiguration of the lobby area to provide quality visitor services and a new bookstore area; relocation of the print study gallery to make it more accessible for faculty and students; redesign of the galleries to provide opportunities for display of more works from the 12,000-object collection; and reallocation of "behind-the-scenes" spaces for collections management and curatorial programs that support exhibition, study, research and preservation of the collections.
Architects and engineers are working closely with museum staff to ensure that project details support the museum's accreditation status with the American Association of Museums. The University's offices of the Executive Vice President and Provost, and the Vice Provost for the Arts, as well as private donors, are providing financial support for the project.
For additional information about the museum's renovations plans, visit here.
Due to the early closing that coincides with the ending of the University's spring semester, some prescheduled programs at the museum will be relocated.
Two exhibitions — "Matisse, Picasso, and Modern Art in Paris, The T. Catesby Jones Collections at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the University of Virginia Art Museum" and "American Impressionism & Urban Realism" — remain on view through April 24. "The Hand and the Soul LeWitt, Slutzky, Iliescu" will be on view through April 22.
The museum is scheduled to reopen Sept. 11 to showcase a reinstallation of the permanent collection and the exhibition "Thomas Jefferson's Academical Village: The Creation of an Architectural Masterpiece" (to run through Jan. 4) that will feature Thomas Jefferson's original drawings and plans for the University's historic Rotunda and pavilions.
The refurbishment project will address improvements in the display, management and preservation of the collection, as well as consider the architectural qualities of the 1930s building as a historical landmark.
James Stokoe, lead architect with ARCH ET AL of Chevy Chase, Md., completed the project scoping study and design. Key elements of the project include improvements to the environmental, mechanical and electrical systems; upgrades to enhance gallery lighting; reconfiguration of the lobby area to provide quality visitor services and a new bookstore area; relocation of the print study gallery to make it more accessible for faculty and students; redesign of the galleries to provide opportunities for display of more works from the 12,000-object collection; and reallocation of "behind-the-scenes" spaces for collections management and curatorial programs that support exhibition, study, research and preservation of the collections.
Architects and engineers are working closely with museum staff to ensure that project details support the museum's accreditation status with the American Association of Museums. The University's offices of the Executive Vice President and Provost, and the Vice Provost for the Arts, as well as private donors, are providing financial support for the project.
For additional information about the museum's renovations plans, visit here.
— By Jane Ford
Media Contact
Article Information
April 14, 2009
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