Students may have noticed the yards of fencing surrounding the University of Oregon Museum of Art, a structure originally built during the Great Depression, as they passed by on their way to class or the Knight Library. Construction workers broke ground Sept. 10, and museum officials said the project is on schedule for its winter 2004 opening.
Museum Director Del Hawkins said the fencing is one of three “construction disruptions” that may affect the University community — the others are noise pollution and increased truck traffic.
“I don’t foresee any new disruptions, just the ebbs and flows in things that are already going on,” Hawkins said.
But the temporary inconvenience may be worth weathering, given that the building design includes new amenities for the University and
local communities.
SRG Partnership project architect Paul Waters, who worked with architects from Chicago to develop the plans for the museum, said the new space will add several galleries.
Students will be able to review firsthand any artwork on paper, such as photos, at the Gilkey Gallery. An object study space will be installed on the lower levels, where anyone can check out art resources if they first make an appointment.
Changes will also provide the opportunity to touch some of the museum’s collection. There also will be a hands-on learning environment available in the Interactive Discovery Gallery, where students can smell lavender or listen to music related to the artwork.
Waters said the plans will turn the previously T-shaped building into a square. The plans also include adding two new courtyards — the original historic courtyard will remain untouched at the structure’s center.
Builders will also add a slew of new galleries, slated to house art with
nationwide acclaim.
Additions include the Northwest and Regional Gallery and the Changing Exhibition Gallery, where curators can present traveling shows.
Museum Associate Director and Curator Larry Fong has selected pieces from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Seattle Art Museum.
Fong said future exhibits will present a piece from abstract painter Richard Diebenkorn’s “Ocean Park” series, Ed Ruscha’s “Vanish,” and a Jacob Lawrence print called “The Migrants Cast Their Ballots.”
There will also be a European Gallery, which will feature the Russian Gallery and Curriculum Gallery, where students taking art classes can view pieces that a professor has chosen specifically for that class.
Museum Director of Development Christie McDonald said the museum has been behind the times for years in terms of the extent of the collection, and added that space has been limited.
“I’m so excited about this new building,” she said.
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Art museum construction photo gallery