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4D - Tuesday, September 8, 2009
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
WORTH THE WAITa
After two years of renovations and new
construction, UMMA reopens - -
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By KIMBERLY CHOU
Daily Arts Writer
NOVEMBER 13TH, 2008 -
On the ground level of the Uni-
versity of Michigan Museum of
Art's new Frankel wing, two glass
walls join neatly, pushing toward
State Street like the prow of a ship.
Right now, the space they enclose
isn't much - something more to
walk around, though it affords a nice
view of the recently installed Mark
di Suvero sculpture "Orion."
"Most people are surprised to
find out that it's going to be a gal-
lery," said UMMA director James
Steward.
Once UMMA reopens during
winter term, after two years of reno-
vations and new construction, the
space will house temporary exhi-
bitions of emerging contemporary
artists.
"When we figured out how we
weregoingtositetheexpansion,this
is the space we first started thinking
of to help us capture interest of peo-
ple going past," Steward said.
Work exhibited inthisgallery will
employ light, movement and other
elements visible through the glass.
Hopefully, according to Steward,
being able to see such dynamicwork
without barriers - save for the glass
walls - will lure passerby inside.
"There's this idea: We want to
make art part of the everyday expe-
rience," he said.
The space is part of UMMA's
efforts to make the museum - and
by extension, art in general - more
accessible to everyone, every day,
in its position as both a University
resource and a community resource.
According to Steward, UMMA is the
largest museum between Detroit
and Chicago and people come from
great distances to visit. Each visi-
tor, whatever his or her walk of life,
should feel comfortable taking in a
performance at UMMA's new audi-
torium, viewing ceramics in what
will be the first gallery space dedi-
cated to Korean art at an American
university, or simply having a cup
of coffee while enjoying the view
from the new caf. The cafe and the
museum's extended-hour "walk-
through" space, which Steward is
suggesting as a campus shortcut, are
intended to draw otherwise unlikely
visitors.
The old building and new Frankel
wing will be multi-purpose. They
will be split into galleries, research
and conservation areas, educational
and social spaces, storage, retail and
a caf6.
"Weworkedveryhardtointegrate
functions in this building," Steward
said. "We want to persuade visitors,
when they come to the museum, to
visit the whole thing."
When the museum reopens after
its $41.9 million makeover, it will
be more than double the size of its
old building, the Alumni Memorial
Hall.
The University owns more than
18,000 art pieces, but was previous-
ly only able to show 3 percent of that
collection at a time. UMMA's off-
site location at the juncture of South
University and South Forest - what
used to be the original Mitch's Place
bar - allowed for even more limited
exhibitions. Now the added 53,000
square feet in the new building will
allow UMMA to show 10 percent of
its entire collection at a time. And
viewing and appreciating this art
need not be separate from learning
about it.
What UMMA calls its open stor-
age gallery is one way the museum
seeks to combine art appreciation
and education. The space that was
once the Chinese gallery (renamed
The Shirley Chang Gallery of Chi-
nese Art in the new museum space)
will now feature cabinets with
floor-to-ceiling glass shelving. The
construction of the gallery allows
for a dense arrangement of 600 to
800 pieces - such as Chinese pots,
American decorative arts objects,
African pieces - that scholars and
visitors can come in and study dur-
ing the museum's open hours with-
out an appointment.
"It's a way to create something
in between the pristine display of
art gallery spaces and dead storage
space, a way of animating the collec-
tion," Steward said. Call it experien-
tial storage.
Around the corner from the open
storage gallery is the old Japanese
gallery space, which will become
the Asian Art Conservation Labora-
tory's new location. UMMA's Asian
Art Conservation Lab has been
around for 25 years and is one of few
in the country. Today, the lab does
client work for other museums as
well. Here, visitors can watch con-
servationists at work, from behind
the glass doors.
"Sometimes, literally, it's like
watching paint dry, but the public
is really fascinated," Steward said.
"It's like alchemy; a magical mixture
of art and science coming together."
The conservation lab, open stor-
age gallery and temporary con-
temporary gallery all contribute to
UMMA's greater emphasis on "con-
nective tissues" - art spaces that
provide the link between different
cultures, between art and science,
and between education and appre-
ciation.
01
EXPANSION SIZE
93,111 square feet total; 53000
square last Maxine ad Stuart
Frankel and the Frankel Family Wing
THE MASTERMINDS
Designed with Brad Cloepfil and
Allied Works Architecture of
Portland, Oregon; the firm also
oversaw the Seattle Art Museum
expansion and the St. Louis
Contemporary Art Museum
THE ARTWORK
UMMA's collection includes more
than 18,000 pieces of art
THE NEW ELEMENTS
Musuem features a triple-height
(three-story) Vertical Gallery, among
other new and expanded gallery
spaces
HOURS
Building Hours
Daily: 8 am-12 am
Gallery Hours
Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday:
10 am-5 pm
Thursday, Friday: 10 am-10 pm
Sunday: 12-5 pm
ALL FREE
Most importantly, admission to
UMMA is still free
The building itself demonstrates
an architectural blend of old and
new. Alumni Memorial Hall, built
between 1907 and 1910, reflects the
Beaux-Arts revival style. While ren-
ovation of the old building stuck to
historic preservation, where work-
ers removed dropped ceilings and
additions added in earlier 20th-
century "attempts" at renovation,
the building didn't try to imitate the
past.
"We need to build a building that
was of our moment, historically,
not looking just to the past," Stew-
ard said. "Having said that, we also
sought to build (an addition) that
would keep company with the old,
in terms of scale and materials."
For most of the University's
undergraduate population, Alumni
Memorial Hall has always been
fenced in and under construction.
See UMMA, page 8D
New skylights in the original statuary of the Alumni Memorial Hall portion of UMMA combine natural light and electrical light to
best showcase the artworks.
01
Students line up for the UMMA Student Grand Opening nn Tuesday, March;
few days later, an Saturday, March 28th, 2009.
Tartuffe
by.Moliere, translated by Runjit Bolt
Hilarity ensues when a l lcroly suggestible
patronfllner a pious con-man in this fmuiisc
fPrce about religious hypocisy
Arthur Miller Theatre * Oct. 8 - 18, 2009
Dept. if Theatre & Drarna
Evita
by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
73 lene ]oAa etneause
beloved and i/ttedfirst liy, Eva Perin
Medelssohnt 1:a1re1 .o.15- 18,2009
Dept of Musical Theatzre
The Marriage of Figaro
bh rerby Wolfgang AmIadeus Mozart
ltepefet meleigEt, musc and aion
Sung in Italian with Lnglish translations
Power Ctcrer Nov. 12 - 1, 20)9
University Opera leatre
Uncommon Women
and Others
by Wendy Wasserstein V s
A groap ofwtsmtantfi-it'es re'niasce about
their college' dre'met-s to "hav it all"r
Artlttr Miller lIattr1 * Nov 19 - 2?, 2009
Dept. of Lheatre & Drama
Macbeth
by William Shakespeare
'hie classic tragedy about one couple's descent
into evil to the pursuit of power
Power C'nt'er *Dc. 1(1 - 1 3, 2(9
iDept. cifl Thatr & lrat ci
OUr 2009-2010 U-M School
of Music, Theatre & Dance'
season promises superb
entertainment at a great value!
Student tickets are only $9 with ID
60% off the regular price! Get yours
now at the League Ticket Ofice
in the Michigan League.
3
(Re) Visionay Pances
/1 riv1 of ayar/sa S icc:eltt d Printmps
Ito Ici xieas.ai) andI naetw tratonst htb t aauly
lUsn iesity DancL I tmpany2
r 1Our Town
iby lisorn on WN'itdett
lice taoae/ess and/ qt:uteetia/ Amteican ploy
onahi, lov, eal ecah
Mlecidssobn 'inatre -[Fet. i8 - 21, 2010
ID'p. of 'trec & Draaa
Winter Opera - TBA
r.e-,tpa--ion, atepotion.
We'llannounce thisopera in early October
Mendelssoh 'Theatre -M 25 - 2c, 2010
Uiversity. Opera Teatre
Trafford Tanzi
by Claire Luckha
A.joung w'ooan sep; into a W/F ring
in this raucous conedy about literally
fightingfrr onessedetermainaun.
Arthur Miller' Iheacre Apr. 1 -. 11,2010
Dept .ofiTistre &D:aima
Ragtime
by errence McNlls
Stephen Flaherty, and Lynn Ahrens
A poerid looe at America at the turn
qfthe 20th centry tthrough the lives
ofthree diverse'families.
Power Center * Apr. 15 -1' 2009
-e|t Dpt. o cMusciicaleatre
uy two student tickets f.r the price of one,
for any of the 2009-10 U-M Stchool of Music,
iheatre & Dance mainstage protutctions.
Offer subject to aaiiabtiliy. Iitted to one free
ticket per coupon. Must sthsow valid student ID
and britng coupon to the i.eagueT icket Office
located in the Michigan League or to the theatre
on the ight f performance.
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