Glad that our CMA is now renovated. Can't wait to see the expansion plans.
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Columbus Museum of Art
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Posted 2 years ago #
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Press Release:
COLUMBUS MUSEUM OF ART EXCEEDS FUNDRAISING GOAL(Columbus, OH) – The Columbus Museum of Art today announced that they have exceeded the $500,000 goal for the Anne and Noel Melvin Match. In 2007 Anne and Noel Melvin made a $500,000 contribution to the Museum’s Art Matters endowment and capital campaign and pledged an additional $500,000 to match donations received from new donors by December 31, 2010.
The Melvins have been great supporters of central Ohio’s cultural community, and especially the Columbus Museum of Art, for more than twenty-five years. They are well-known philanthropists who have encouraged arts organizations to stretch and reach their goals.
“The expansion and renovation of the Art Museum has been a bold and visionary move that will strengthen and broaden the organization’s ability to serve this fortunate community for decades to come. The outreach, enthusiasm and tenacity of the Museum board and staff has energized the community as they have so vividly portrayed the importance of art in our lives and the Museum in our community,†said Anne and Noel Melvin. “We are thrilled that the match has incentivized many new donors to discover the Museum and join in the support of this important undertaking. We hope each will come to realize how much art can embolden our creativity, vigorously stir our intellects, and often infuse us with wonder and delight. ART REALLY DOES MATTER!â€Â
Through the generous outpouring of support from many new individual, corporate and foundation donors throughout the community the Museum was able to not only meet the Melvin’s challenge but exceed it.
“The Museum is grateful not only for the incredible support the Melvins have provided to the Art Matters endowment and capital campaign, but also the energy and excitement it generated in the community,†said CMA’s Executive Director, Nannette V. Maciejunes.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I've heard that the renovation is just awesome. Looking forward to visiting to see for myself.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Art museum buys property across street
By Marla Matzer Rose
The Columbus Dispatch
Friday October 14, 2011
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. The building had been vacant since the former tenant, Big Dog Motorcycles, moved out three years ago.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Does anyone have any renderings of what the new wing will look like?
Posted 1 year ago # -
June 16, 2012
West Garden Opens at the Columbus Museum of Art
By: Walker
The Columbus Museum of Art opened their West Garden addition last week, providing a new green oasis for the Discovery District area of Downtown. The outdoor entrance to the garden faces Ninth Street and will serve as an entry point to the museum for school buses and group tours.
READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/west-garden-opens-at-the-columbus-museum-of-artPosted 1 year ago # -
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.
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).
Posted 4 months ago # -
Columbus Museum of Art Reveals Major Expansion Plans
Published on January 22, 2013 3:10 pm
By: Walker
Representatives of The Columbus Museum of Art presented their conceptual expansion plans to the Columbus Downtown Commission this morning for review. The $37.6 million plans call for the addition of a new modern wing on the east side of the existing museum building as well as major renovations to the existing Ross Wing and main lobby areas. In addition to new gallery space, this project will add new meeting and event spaces.
READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/columbus-museum-of-art-reveals-major-expansion-plansPosted 4 months ago # -
The renderings look awesome! And I'm eager to go to CMA once the expansion is done!
Posted 4 months ago # -
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Outstanding!
Is there a timeline on this? Is funding available to proceed?
Posted 4 months ago # -
I'm excited about the expansion plans finally getting underway, but I wish the museum had been more creative with where they were expanding, and not so eager to eliminate the Russel Page-designed sculpture garden.
The expansion could have gone to the rear of the building, or to the side facing 9th st instead of that wheelchair ramp they keep trying to pass off as a "garden."
That is no replacement.
It's a shame we are going to lose a real piece of art and only gain a very generic 'floating box' glass/funky window placement addition, which could have gone anywhere.
Do people realize that Russell Page was a famous British landscape designer? That the garden is one of only two museum gardens he designed in the United States (the other is at the Frick in New York City)? That the former Columbus museum director, Budd Harris Bishop, made acquiring a Page-designed garden a challenge and a grand success for the museum and the city?
Posted 4 months ago # -
heresthecasey said:
I'm excited about the expansion plans finally getting underway, but I wish the museum had been more creative with where they were expanding, and not so eager to eliminate the Russel Page-designed sculpture garden.The expansion could have gone to the rear of the building, or to the side facing 9th st instead of that wheelchair ramp they keep trying to pass off as a "garden."
That is no replacement.
It's a shame we are going to lose a real piece of art and only gain a very generic 'floating box' glass/funky window placement addition, which could have gone anywhere.
Do people realize that Russell Page was a famous British landscape designer? That the garden is one of only two museum gardens he designed in the United States (the other is at the Frick in New York City)? That the former Columbus museum director, Budd Harris Bishop, made acquiring a Page-designed garden a challenge and a grand success for the museum and the city?
After reading about the garden, it is a shame it will be lost. I would have to wonder why it wasn't placed in the rear, but I'm assuming that is because decision makers wanted this expansion to be visible from the front entrance. With a brand new garden on the west side (9th) and the historical Russel Page garden on the east, I wonder how they came to decide which garden to sacrifice.
I personally do like the design and I'm glad to see it come to fruition, but it is unfortunate the loss of the garden.
Posted 4 months ago # -
heresthecasey said:
I'm excited about the expansion plans finally getting underway, but I wish the museum had been more creative with where they were expanding, and not so eager to eliminate the Russel Page-designed sculpture garden.According to a comment from Michael Bongiorno, there was no eagerness to eliminate the garden, nor was it actually designed by Russel Page:
Posted 4 months ago # -
I wasn't sure who's "salesmanship" I should believe (CMA old or CMA new) in terms of whether the garden is an original design or not. The only thing I could find online is this page, referenced on wikipedia:
It lists only 8 garden designs by Page. Most are in Europe, 1 in NY and the other in DC.
Nonetheless, I'm very excited to see this built.
Posted 4 months ago # -
@Walker,
I do appreciate Mike's response that the decision was not taken lightly. As only viewing this from the outside, the location presented along Washington has been a constant in plans released to the public since the beginning, so I'm heartened to see there was at least some real discussion taking place behind the scenes on whether it was the right move.
In regards to whether or not it was designed by Page, I'd like to hear more of Mike's knowledge on the topic. It certainly was done by his practice, and has always been credited to him. Here's a quote from Page's monograph that deals with the CMA,
Budd Harris Bishop, the director of the Columbus Museum of Art, was so impressed by Page's courtyard jewel for the Frick Collection that he commissioned the Englishman to make a garden for his museum in 1977. Aside from quick day trips to Columbus, often stopping off on the way in St Louis or New York, Page worked on the design primarily from photographs and drawings. By letter he admonished Museum staff not to change his carefully calculated plans. The simple, elegant walled garden, with a rectangular pool and a rectangle of grass set in paving stones and gravel, opened to the public in June 1979. It was a fine addition to the museum.
It is also listed in his official oeuvre among major works completed,
1978 Designs a sculpture garden for the Columbus Museum of Art, and a garden for Thomas Vaal of Cleveland, Ohio.
More here, Pages 223 and 227 in particular, http://www.amazon.com/Gardens-Russell-Page-Gabrielle-Zuylen/dp/0711226946
I am excited to see the museum construct an addition, even a "contemporary" one like this. The space is much needed, I'm just a little sore over the location due to a personal attachment with the current garden.
Posted 4 months ago # -
A little more background,
RENOVATION OF GARDEN FINALLY REACHES FRUITION
The Columbus Dispatch, Sunday, July 12, 1992
By Karen Kakascik, Dispatch Society ReporterMuseum volunteers Sally Morris and Connie Page were leaders in the effort to raise funds for renovation of the garden, designed by British garden architect Russell Page.
Insufficient funds in 1979, when the garden was installed, prevented the full implementation of Page's scheme. The sculpture garden is the only public Page garden in Ohio. Page's other clients have included Babe Paley and the Duke of Windsor.
Among the improvements to the garden are refurbishing of the reflecting pool, replacement of walkways and a rose garden.
And some more,
SCULPTURE GARDEN AT ART MUSEUM RESTORED
The Columbus Dispatch, Friday, June 18, 1993
By Michael Leach, Dispatch Garden ReporterRestoring a work of art usually requires delicate brushes, not shovels, pruning shears and lawn mowers.
But refurbishing the Sculpture Garden at the Columbus Museum of Art took muscle, not just attention to detail.
The garden is living artwork designed as a setting for sculpture, concerts and social functions. Ups and downs in the museum budget had led to erratic maintenance and a decline in the garden, which was installed in 1979.
The designer was the late Russell Page , a renowned English garden designer whose other gardens include the Frick Museum in New York and the Festival Gardens in London.
His concepts, often sketched on napkins and the backs of envelopes, were translated into working plans by Marion V. Packard, a retired Columbus landscape architect and faculty member of Ohio State University's School of Landscape Architecture for 26 years.
A lot of correspondence passed between London and Columbus during the planning process, Packard recalled.
Those original plans were used for the restoration by Schmidt Nursery, which also is donating ongoing maintenance.
The revival was prompted by the coming of AmeriFlora '92 and the opening of the Sirak Collection at the museum . Another prod was publication of The Gardens of Russell Page . The Columbus garden, one of only three of Page's U.S. works open to the public, is mentioned in the book.
Plants were replaced with types specified by Page, except in a few cases where better cultivars have been developed. Also added was rose trelliswork, part of the original plan that was never installed.
As recently as a decade ago the museum still understood what a treasure this was to have, even hosting a lecture entitled "Russell Page : Preserving a Legacy" and mounting a fundraising campaign for the garden itself.
RENEWAL OF A RARITY - Museum takes initial steps toward refurbishing Sculpture Garden
The Columbus Dispatch, Thursday, February 1, 2001
By Nancy Gilson ; Dispatch Assistant Arts EditorA jewel of a garden, created by one of the most illustrious designers of the 20th century, lies dormant and unvisited during the winter at the Columbus Museum of Art.
Yet the serene space, about a third of an acre nestled at the east end of the 480 E. Broad St. building, needs more than higher temperatures and sunshine to blossom.
The Russell Page Sculpture Garden, which opened in 1979, needs a refurbishing, to which a group of museum enthusiasts is devoted.
The recently revived Garden Club has organized a four-part lecture series, beginning Sunday with an appearance by Galen Lee of the Frick Museum in New York.
Proceeds from the series, sponsored by Schieber & Associates Architectural Gardens, will be used to freshen the Sculpture Garden.
"It's a fabulous space. It deserves this new attention," said Irvin Lippman, executive director of the museum .
Stephanie Southard, treasurer of the Garden Club and organizer of the series, sees the first lecture, " Russell Page : Preserving a Legacy," as appropriate.
"That's what we're trying to do," she said.
The Sculpture Garden, commissioned by Budd H. Bishop when he directed the museum , was implemented by Marion V. Packard, a Columbus landscape architect who was associated with the Ohio State University program in landscape architecture.
Today, the garden ranks as one of only 13 documented Page projects in the United States and three in Ohio. (The others are in Cleveland.)
Page, whose career lasted more than 50 years, is considered one of the foremost designers of gardens in the 20th century.
Unlike the Columbus garden, his only other museum design -- the Courtyard Garden at the Frick Museum -- cannot be walked through, only viewed from the street.
"Page was very specific about the individual design element," Lee said. "He called himself a gardener, not a garden designer, and he believed you had to have your hands in the soil from the beginning in order to be a good garden designer."
The Sculpture Garden is typical of his work, said Louisa Green, head of publications and archives, and staff director for the long-range plan.
The Page garden has interested her for some time.
"It has a tapis vert (green lawn), reflecting pool, long sightline and wrought-iron gates that enclose the garden but through which you can see to Broad Street, giving it an urban vista," she said.
Page favored indigenous plantings and especially Iceberg roses, which bloom from early spring to late fall.
"But he didn't like to juxtapose flowers and sculpture," Green said, "and, since this was a sculpture garden, he didn't put in a lot of flowers."
When the garden was installed, Bishop borrowed sculptures from New York's Museum of Modern Art while a renovation was continuing on the sculpture garden there.
The Sculpture Garden, though a success when it opened, gradually fell victim to wear and tear, and a lack of money for maintenance.
The first refurbishing was sparked by AmeriFlora '92: A partial irrigation system was installed and the pool cleared and repaired.
Years have passed, and again, like any other, the garden needs attention.
"I don't think it's been ignored in the past decade," Lippman said, "but there are always so many priorities at the museum . Now it's time to face what could be one of the most distinguished gardens in Columbus."
Page, who was born in England in 1906, began working on gardens in the 1930s, designing large and complex spaces for public grounds and estates. He later engaged in wartime intelligence in Africa, where he found time to study regional gardens.
"After World War II," Lee said, "he changed his philosophy and started doing smaller gardens with a distinctive Islamic quality -- incorporating more water, more paving and a more modern feeling, which is probably the inspiration for your garden there.
"There are very few of his gardens in the United States, and some of them are already lost."
In 1985, Page died at age 78 in London.
Too few people know his work, Southard said; the lecture series, and particularly the Lee talk, is designed to spread the word.
Meanwhile, Urban Environments, a central Ohio company, has researched the Sculpture Garden and created preliminary plans.
"The idea is to conserve the garden rather than to redo it," Green said.
"Page was one of the major garden architects of the 20th century," Southard said. "This is something we can value."
Posted 4 months ago # -
And one last one, complete with gushing quote of the garden's value from the museum's previous director, calling it "the centerpiece for the museum that it was really meant to be" and "the realization of Russell Page's dream."
SERIES SPOTLIGHTS RENOVATION OF SCULPTURE GARDEN
The Columbus Dispatch, Friday, February 1, 2002
By Nancy Gilson ; Dispatch Assistant Arts EditorThe sculpture garden, at the east side of the museum , serves as the focal point of a $250,000 renovation. Museum Executive Director Irvin Lippman said the renovation is a "fulfillment" of the garden's original design. "Even when it opened in 1979, parts of this garden never were realized," he said. "The bones of this garden are terrific. We're looking to fulfill the realization of Russell Page 's dream."
Lippman said that the refurbishment will be part of a larger landscaping project. Recently, board members heard a proposal to change the north entrance, eliminating the current back door and routing visitors through the garden.
"That would be making the Russell Page Garden the centerpiece for the museum that it was really meant to be," Lippman said.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Press Release:
Council, Library each vote unanimously to enable purchase of Deaf School
Monday, Jan. 28Columbus City Council voted unanimously to remove the residential zoning restriction on the old Ohio State School for the Deaf property, 400 E. Town St., to allow for possible redevelopment by the Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML).
Today, CML’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously to purchase the 2.24-acre Deaf School property for $2,160,000, located between Topiary Park and Main Library, 96 S. Grant Ave.
“Our library is essentially landlocked,” said Patrick Losinski, CEO of CML. “This land provides us more options to expand and improve Main Library and its offerings.”
Inspired by Bryant Park in New York, CML looks to provide an outdoor reading room and green space for library customers by connecting Main Library to Topiary Park via the old Deaf School land.
Cristo Rey Columbus High School has shown interest in redeveloping the building on the acquired property as a college preparatory high school.
Posted 4 months ago # -
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