Reopening In The Blue Ridge

The Asheville Art Museum officially reopens today, after a three-year, $24-million renovation and expansion. Renowned for its permanent collection of American art in all media from 1860 to the present, the time had come for its building to express architecturally a cohesion and coherence as a museum befitting the collection and exhibition programs. A venue that will resonate as welcoming to all residents of the Western North Carolina community and the many tourists and visitors to the region.

“I’m thrilled that we are able to offer our growing community the art museum it deserves,” said Executive Director Pamela L. Myers. “We’ve worked with an incredible team to get to this point, but it’s not really a museum until there are people in it to interact with and have conversations about the art. Bringing people and art together is what it’s all about.”

Sporting a fresh 54,000 square feet, the revamped facility adds 70% more collection gallery space and expands the collection storage. They increased the size and scope of library resources with the Frances Mulhall Achilles Art Library; launched the John and Robyn Horn Education Center, a suite of classrooms and studios; envisioned for large-scale works of art with the Windgate Foundation Atrium; and formulated a creative area for kids with the Wells Fargo Art PLAYce. Don’t forget food and drink, too, with the museum’s rooftop eatery, Perspective Café.

Established by artists in 1948, the Asheville Art Museum is the third-oldest art museum in North Carolina. Now, for the first time in its history, the nonprofit institution has a place with the physical capacity to host major traveling exhibitions from other nationally recognized museums.

Since 1992, the institution has called the corner of Pack Square South and Biltmore Avenue its home, booking into the adaptive use of the former Pack Library building. Completed in 1926 at a cost of $107,000, the library building was constructed during a defining decade for Asheville, when the residential population swelled and investment in public buildings soared.

Designed in the Second Renaissance Revival style by noted architect Edward Tilton, whose specialty was libraries, the repurposed building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing resource to the Downtown Asheville Historic District. The museum facility preserves the historic building as the North Wing.

New York-based Ennead Architects created the initial conceptual schematic for the new facility nearly a decade ago. “The original design concept,” observed Tim Hartung, FAIA, management partner at Ennead, “was to create a new image for the museum that was sympathetic to the historic building while simultaneously establishing a presence for the institution within the center of Asheville.”

Hartung, whose firm is acclaimed for their forte in museums, recollected, “The idea was to present itself as a 21st century building with the use of modern materials and building assemblies that would exemplify the best of contemporary design, yet be responsive to the craft traditions for which Asheville is known.”

Local architecture firm ARCA Design further developed the initial schematic, making significant and subtle changes to strengthen the early concept.

“The new museum is an iconic addition in the heart of Asheville that anchors an important corner on our city square,” said Alan McGuinn, FAIA, principal and founding partner of ARCA Design, the architect of record for the entirety of the project: historic restoration, renovation and new construction. “Paired with the historic Pack Library, its presence further establishes Asheville as a significant arts community in the Southeast if not the country.”

Special architectural features of the facility include a rooftop sculpture terrace providing picturesque views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Another angle aloft from which to take in the sights is through the Oculus, a 15-foot viewing window looking north from the new West Wing. Surrounding the Oculus is a stunning three-story glass façade backed by the constellation of a frit pattern. In September, an outdoor installation occurred on SECU Plaza, a two-ton glass orb titled Reflections on Unity, sculpted by Henry Richardson, as part of the museum’s inaugural public art sculpture exhibition.

“The Asheville Art Museum is a legacy project for our community and generations to come,” said Allen Peele, vice president of Beverly-Grant, Inc., the general contractor on the project and headquartered in Asheville. Beverly-Grant assembled a labor roster comprised almost entirely of local subcontractors to make the legacy a reality, and by doing so, reinvested the construction funds back into the community.

“For nearly a decade, Beverly-Grant has supported the vision, capital campaign and development of this project with an incredible design team and countless contributing professionals,” Peele said. “Seeing the finished product today, you just say, ‘Wow!’ The location in the heart of downtown, the marriage of historic and modern architecture, and the breadth of the collections on display is indicative of a major metropolitan attraction.”

The Asheville Art Museum’s considerable construction project was made possible by the contributions of the board of trustees, foundations, businesses, financial institutions, public sources and individuals nearby and nationwide. It made sense to put in place a long-term ground lease with the City, too. The art museum also worked with a regional banking partner, HomeTrust Bank, to secure bridge financing – quite common in well-planned and well-run capital campaigns – due to the timing of capital pledges for the final phase of construction.

The art museum’s campaign, ArtWORKS for Asheville, has successfully raised 97% of its ambitious goal to-date for the capital project, with 80% support received from private sources. There is still time to accompany them across the finish line.

The news gets more celebratory, as the Asheville Art Museum has also been awarded a 1-for-1, $1 million challenge grant toward its endowment goal. Also, it was announced that the art museum was awarded a Save America’s Treasures grant from the National Park Service and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, to support the conservation of the museum’s Black Mountain College Collection.

From this corner forward, Myers keeps the mission of the Asheville Art Museum in focus, saying, “Visitors will hopefully be inspired by our collection of American Art from the 20th and 21st centuries, traveling exhibitions, and a robust schedule of programming for all ages, all carefully curated with the museum’s mission in mind: to transform lives through art.”

This post first appeared on Forbes.com. To see the original, click here.