Arts & Entertainment

Place For Art

Frankel addition is the highlight of the new and improved UMMA.

Suzanne Chessler

Special to the Jewish News

Ann Arbor

T

his weekend, a 24-hour grand
opening celebrates the expanded
and restored University of
Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor.
Opening events — running from 6 p.m.
Saturday, March 28, to 6 p.m. Sunday,
March 29 — include entertainment activi-
ties for all ages.
After that, the new addition's massive
panes of glass, which give those outside a
peek into the artwork on the inside, should
tempt new visitors through the building's
doors for years to come.
UMMA, standing at an intersection of
the campus and the city, now includes the
Maxine and Stuart Frankel and the Frankel
Family Wing, the addition named for the
project's lead benefactors. The Maxine and
Stuart Frankel Foundation donated $10
million to the project, the largest donation
in the museum's history.
"From the inception of this project,
Stuart and I have believed that expanding
the museum would be essential to creating
The Maxine and Stuart Frankel and the Frankel Family Wing is named for the project's
a vibrant student experience around the
arts at the heart of this incredible universi-
ty," says Maxine Frankel of Bloomfield Hills, whose family members have been important
donors in the Jewish community.
"As alumni and supporters of the arts, we felt a responsibility to help enhance the
museum's facility so that its exhibitions and programs could really serve all of the
university's students and the regional community and live up to the university's role in
shaping the leaders of tomorrow."
The 53,000-square-foot expansion joins with the restoration of the museum's original
41,000-square-foot home, Alumni Memorial Hall, at a cost of $41.9 million. The project
more than doubles the space available for collections display, temporary exhibitions, pro-
grams and educational exploration.
More than 90 percent of funds came from private donations, which began in 2006.
Allied Works Architecture in
Oregon designed open-storage
galleries and study rooms for
closer observation, state-of-
the-art conservation facilities,
classrooms, a curatorial research
center, an auditorium, a cafe and
an expanded museum store.
During the opening, guests
can view newly installed pieces
from the museum's holdings of
more than 18,000 artworks, which were amassed over 150 years. Three themed
exhibits relate to the changes.
The 53,000-square-foot expansion joins with the
"Museums in the 21st Century: Concepts, Projects, Buildings" was organized by
restoration of the U-M Museum of Art's original
the Art Centre Basel in Switzerland and highlights trends across four continents.

41,000-square-foot home.

A Place For Art on page C19

lead benefactors.

On view in the addition's triple-height

Vertical Gallery bridge is Christian

Boltanski's Monument to Lycee Chases,

1989, gelatin silver prints, biscuit tins,

electri.

March 26 2009

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