Addison Gallery Continues its Work During Renovatio

While the museum building itself is closed for renovation, the work and spirit of the Addison Gallery continues on

November 06, 2008 --In late July, the Addison Gallery of American Art officially closed its doors for the first major building project in the museum’s 77-year history. The $30 million “Campaign for the Addison” will provide new spaces, restoration of current spaces, and needed endowment funds to secure the museum’s financial future. The Addison has raised more than $20 million to date.

Goals of the campaign include:

• Create a Museum Learning Center
• Provide appropriate collection storage and art preservation space
• Construct new office space
• Renovate and restore the historic Charles Platt building
• Ensure the Addison’s future financial stability

While this transformative renovation and expansion means the Addison’s physical space is temporarily closed to the public, the Addison’s community programming continues to thrive within the Andover area and beyond. In addition to local education projects, objects from the Addison’s world-renowned collection of more than 16,000 works will be on display in exhibitions traveling from Venice, Italy to Fort Lauderdale and Québec.

This month, the Addison’s Photography Study Studio became operational, offering access to the museum’s 7,000 photographs. This studio allows the creation of a personalized, mini-exhibition based around themes from Phillips Academy and public high school class curricula. The set-up gives visitors the opportunity to view works up close from a personal perspective. We’re looking forward to utilizing these capabilities further down the road in our new Museum Learning Center.

The first groups of visitors, Flavia Vidal’s Phillips Academy English 200 class, came to visit on October 16th. The students are studying different forms of writing and many of their readings revolve around the theme of family. The Addison’s education staff pulled thirteen striking images of families from different time periods and in various formats. The students were able to make meaningful connections between the photographs, their readings and their own experiences. It was an active class session, full of observations, opinions and epiphanies. The students are continuing their explorations through an essay assignment drawing inspiration from JPEG reproductions of the photographs.

On November 6, 2008, Coming of Age: American Art, 1850s to 1950s, a traveling exhibition that explores the complex and extended process of maturation that occurred throughout this formative century of American art, will arrive at the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art after a stint at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Italy. Major paintings and sculptures from the Addison’s collection reveal the challenges faced by artists to adopt and define a new art form that was identifiably their own. Having received high-praise from illustrious publications including the Financial Times and the Independent while being shown in London, Coming of Age promises to inspire new viewers in its upcoming venues.  

In addition to educational endeavors and coordination of traveling exhibitions, the staff at the Addison is busy planning speaking engagements in the community as well as an exciting new series of exhibitions scheduled after the 2010 reopening. For more information on the Addison’s latest happenings, visit www.addisongallery.org.