For the past two years the Columbus Museum of Art has been a work in progress. The entrance moved, the museum store was tucked into a gallery space, and the special exhibition space was closed. A large hole appeared in the ground on the east side of the building and slowly but surely a foundation appeared and walls took shape. On Oct. 25, the new 50,000 square foot Margaret M. Walter Wing opened with much fanfare. A light-filled atrium now welcomes visitors. The glass enclosure connects the new wing to CMA’s historic Elizabeth M. and Richard M. Ross building, bridging the museum’s past and future.
CMA is constantly evolving and looking to the future, embracing its role as a 21st-century museum, but also understands the importance of building traditions and creating memories. Think Outside the Brick: The Creative Art of LEGO, CMA’s annual holiday exhibition, opens Nov. 20 and features the return of the Central Ohio Lego Train Club’s installation of their LEGO brick version of Columbus. The collaborative work will fill an entire gallery of the museum and include real and imagined Columbus landmarks with some new additions, including a model of the new CMA. Also, Paul Janssen’s scale model of The Ohio State University Stadium will be highlighted in the museum’s new atrium.
The museum’s new galleries are filled with old favorites and new works to discover. Mel Chin’s Spirit, known by many as “the barrel,” and Alison Saar’s Norcturne Navigator, affectionately referred to as “the blue lady,” have returned. Joshiah McElheny’s Three Screens for Looking at Abstraction and Jeppe Hein’s Mirror Balloons V make their CMA debuts. And the inaugural special exhibition, Keeping Pace: Keeping Pace: Eva Glimcher and Pace/Columbus is a new look at the history of Contemporary art in Columbus.
For more information on CMA programs, exhibitions and hours, visit columbusmuseum.org or call 614.221.6801.
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GCAC Presents is a bi-weekly column brought to you by the Greater Columbus Arts Council – supporting art and advancing culture in Columbus – in partnership with the Columbus Arts Marketing Association, a professional development and networking association of arts marketers. Each column will be written by a different local arts organization to give you an insiders look at the arts in Columbus.