The newly renamed Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art will host an open house Saturday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. to give community members a sneak preview of the nearly completed structure.
The museum closed in September 2000 for a major renovation project and was originally slated to reopen in fall of 2003, but the opening was delayed because the campaign to raise funds for the restoration took longer than expected.
Art Museum Executive Assistant Miriam Jordan said the museum decided to hold an open house to remind the community “that we’re here, that we haven’t left (and) that we’re almost ready.”
“We wanted the community to see how it’s progressing,” she said.
The building is “amazingly beautiful” despite being void of any artwork, said Rebecca Tonkin, the museum’s educator for community and University programs. Much of the museum also remains untiled, and the scent of fresh paint wafts through the empty halls and rooms.
Museum Director David Turner said the open house is an excellent chance for people to see how the building has changed.
“If people enjoy architecture and how things are built, it will be a revelation of the scale and complexity of this project,” he said. “Architecture is a work of art and we can see the architecture process right now.”
Jordan said people will be stationed in the various gallery spaces to explain what attendees can expect in the fall with the museum’s rededication. The open house is the only opportunity for the public to see the museum’s back rooms, which will close when the works of art are moved in for the fall.
The open house will also feature a number of hands-on activities for attendees, including book-making and an activity called “Create Your Own Masterpiece for the Museum,” in which people of all ages will be given crayons, paints and other materials to make their own works of art. Also, for the first 275 attendees, there will be 4-by-4 inch tiles available for painting. The painted tiles will make up the backsplash for sinks in the museum’s studio. There will also be a folk storytelling from Japan, Korea and China in the Interactive Discovery Gallery space.
“We use every opportunity we can to have something fun to do,” said Tonkin. “We really want to reach out to the University and want to build a good relationship with University students.”
The massive renovation project will nearly double the size of the museum and has cost approximately $14.4 million. The renovated museum will include a proper loading dock and nearly triple the storage space, which will allow the museum to accommodate more works, according to Public Relations and Marketing Coordinator Katie Sproles.
Jordan said the new museum will also include “state-of-the-art climate conditions throughout the museum for the collection and for loan works.”
The renovation will also add a lecture hall and a studio as part of the museum’s new educational suite. The new museum will also include a cafe — which will be run by local French restaurant Marché — and an expanded museum store and special events hall available for public rental.
The public can also look forward to a number of substantial exhibits slated for the museum’s opening in the fall. The first show will feature faculty art from the University art department and, in January, complete prints by Andy Warhol will be shown. Turner said the Warhol exhibit will give viewers the opportunity to see complete prints of “Marilyn (Monroe), Mao (Zedong) and Mick (Jagger).”
In the spring, the University’s masters of fine arts candidates will show their work, and the summer exhibit will feature landscape photos of the American West, including photos from the famed photographer Ansel Adams.
Turner encouraged the public to attend Saturday’s open house.
“I really want our public to understand how we do things at the museum, so they should see how this museum is getting built,” he said.