Weisman Art Museum
Encyclopedia
The Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum is an art museum located on the University of Minnesota
campus in Minneapolis. A teaching museum
for the university since 1934, the museum is named for Frederick R. Weisman, and was designed by the renowned architect
Frank Gehry
. Often called a "modern art museum," the 20,000+ image collection has large collections of Marsden Hartley
, Alfred Maurer, Charles Biederman, Native American Mimbres pottery, and Korean furniture.
Frank Gehry
, was completed in 1993. The stainless steel skin was fabricated and installed by the A. Zahner Company, a frequent collaborator with Gehry's office.
It is one of the major landmarks on campus, situated on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River
at the east end of the Washington Avenue Bridge
. The building presents two faces, depending on which side it is viewed from. From the campus side, it presents a brick facade that blends with the existing brick and sandstone buildings. On the opposite side, the museum is a playground of curving and angular brushed steel sheets. This side is an abstraction of a waterfall and a fish.
The most stunning views of the building are from the pedestrian and highway decks of the adjacent Washington Avenue Bridge
. Some locals critical of the radical architectural style frequently point out that the building's design could unexpectedly reflect the light of the sun into the eyes of motorists on the bridge. Studies commissioned by MNDOT have found that the museum is not hazardous to motorists.
; and another showcases the Weisman's considerable collection of photography, prints, and drawings. The fifth new gallery, the Target Studio for Creative Collaboration, houses experimental collaborations between artists and students, faculty, and the community. As of the fall 2011 reopening the Target studio focuses on designs for a new plaza in front of the museum, the end of the pedestrian bridge, and a new university building across Washington Avenue.
who died in 1994. There is another Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art on the campus of Pepperdine University
in Malibu, California. Additionally, there is the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation
, the Los Angeles estate designed to serve as a showcase for his personal collection of 20th-century art. When he opened the art collection at his Los Angeles estate to the public, he wanted to share the experience of living with art— rather than the usual, more formal protocol of seeing art in a gallery or museum. The Weisman Foundation estate, located in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles, is a two-story Mediterranean Revival house designed in the late 1920s by Los Angeles architect Gordon B. Kaufmann. The Weisman home exhibits the fine craftsmanship characteristic of the period, including custom decorative treatments on the walls and ceilings. Today the Foundation estate, annex, and surrounding gardens is made accessible to the public by appointment only on guided tours.
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
campus in Minneapolis. A teaching museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
for the university since 1934, the museum is named for Frederick R. Weisman, and was designed by the renowned architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Frank Gehry
Frank Gehry
Frank Owen Gehry, is a Canadian American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles, California.His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions...
. Often called a "modern art museum," the 20,000+ image collection has large collections of Marsden Hartley
Marsden Hartley
Marsden Hartley was an American Modernist painter, poet, and essayist.-Early life and education:Hartley was born in Lewiston, Maine, where his English parents had settled. He was the youngest of nine children. His mother died when he was eight, and his father remarried four years later to Martha...
, Alfred Maurer, Charles Biederman, Native American Mimbres pottery, and Korean furniture.
Building
The museum's current building, designed by renowned architectArchitect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Frank Gehry
Frank Gehry
Frank Owen Gehry, is a Canadian American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles, California.His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions...
, was completed in 1993. The stainless steel skin was fabricated and installed by the A. Zahner Company, a frequent collaborator with Gehry's office.
It is one of the major landmarks on campus, situated on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
at the east end of the Washington Avenue Bridge
Washington Avenue Bridge (Minneapolis)
The Washington Avenue Bridge carries County Road 122 across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota and connects the East Bank and West Bank portions of the University of Minnesota's main campus...
. The building presents two faces, depending on which side it is viewed from. From the campus side, it presents a brick facade that blends with the existing brick and sandstone buildings. On the opposite side, the museum is a playground of curving and angular brushed steel sheets. This side is an abstraction of a waterfall and a fish.
The most stunning views of the building are from the pedestrian and highway decks of the adjacent Washington Avenue Bridge
Washington Avenue Bridge (Minneapolis)
The Washington Avenue Bridge carries County Road 122 across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota and connects the East Bank and West Bank portions of the University of Minnesota's main campus...
. Some locals critical of the radical architectural style frequently point out that the building's design could unexpectedly reflect the light of the sun into the eyes of motorists on the bridge. Studies commissioned by MNDOT have found that the museum is not hazardous to motorists.
Expansion
A new addition, also designed by Gehry, was expected to open in 2009. However, due to economic conditions, construction did not begin until the spring of 2010. The Weisman closed its doors on Sunday, October 10, 2010 until the fall of 2011 as a part of this major expansion. The museum finally reopened its doors with a Grand Reopening celebration sponsored by Target on Sunday, October 2, 2011. The Weisman's five new galleries allow the museum to share more than three times as many objects from the permanent collection at any given time. One new gallery is filled with highlights from their noted ceramics collection (master potter Warren MacKenzie helped select the work); two house master works of American modernismAmerican modernism
American modernism like modernism in general is a trend of thought that affirms the power of human beings to create, improve, and reshape their environment, with the aid of scientific knowledge, technology and practical experimentation, and is thus in its essence both progressive and optimistic...
; and another showcases the Weisman's considerable collection of photography, prints, and drawings. The fifth new gallery, the Target Studio for Creative Collaboration, houses experimental collaborations between artists and students, faculty, and the community. As of the fall 2011 reopening the Target studio focuses on designs for a new plaza in front of the museum, the end of the pedestrian bridge, and a new university building across Washington Avenue.
Frederick R. Weisman
Frederick R. Weisman was a Minneapolis native who became well known as an art collector in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
who died in 1994. There is another Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art on the campus of Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University is an independent, private, medium-sized university affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The university's campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, United States, near Malibu, is the location for Seaver College, the School of...
in Malibu, California. Additionally, there is the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation
Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation
The Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation is a non-profit arts foundation located in the Holmby Hills district of Los Angeles, in Southern California. modern and contemporary art works in the Frederick R...
, the Los Angeles estate designed to serve as a showcase for his personal collection of 20th-century art. When he opened the art collection at his Los Angeles estate to the public, he wanted to share the experience of living with art— rather than the usual, more formal protocol of seeing art in a gallery or museum. The Weisman Foundation estate, located in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles, is a two-story Mediterranean Revival house designed in the late 1920s by Los Angeles architect Gordon B. Kaufmann. The Weisman home exhibits the fine craftsmanship characteristic of the period, including custom decorative treatments on the walls and ceilings. Today the Foundation estate, annex, and surrounding gardens is made accessible to the public by appointment only on guided tours.