The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) announces a plan to renovate its East Building gallery and education spaces. It will include improvements and additions to the NCMA’s education studios, the creation of a new media and photography gallery space, and the reinstallation and expansion of the Museum’s African collection. The phased project, which begins this month, is funded by a $500,000 grant from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust.
The major phases and components of the renovation project include:
- New Media and Photography Gallery: Starting July 22, the NCMA will move its photography gallery from Level A to Level B, combining it with the current video gallery to create a new media and photography exhibition space. The gallery will host two to three video and photography exhibitions per year, starting with the video exhibition William Noland: Dream Rooms (opening September 3) and photography exhibition Human/Nature (opening October 15). During this renovation, the Audubon collection will be taken off view, with plans for reinstallation in a new gallery space in August 2017.
- Education Spaces: This fall the Museum will improve and expand Studio 2, increasing its size and mirroring its look to that of the newly renovated, high-tech Studio 1. The studio will include large windows to the adjacent gallery space, allowing visitors to watch studio programs in progress. The NCMA will also create a new Studio 3, which will feature interactive and art-making experiences for all ages to help visitors make connections to works in the new, adjacent African gallery and the permanent collection.
- African Gallery: In February 2017, the Museum will begin work on a new gallery to showcase its continually expanding African collection. The new gallery will be three times as large as the current West Building gallery, allowing the Museum to display nearly twice as many works—increasing from 65 to 125—including some that have not been on view in a decade, and others that are newly acquired and have never before been seen. The new gallery will feature improved light control so that light-sensitive works of art, such as textiles and works on paper, can be on view for longer than before, shown in curated year-long rotations. Additionally, the gallery will include a designated space to highlight North Carolina collections of African art from private and public collectors, as well as universities. Visitors will be encouraged to interact with the collection using video, digital media, audio recordings, and hands-on art activities in the gallery and adjacent education spaces.
“This critical grant from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust serves as a catalyst to the Museum’s master plan to rehabilitate the East Building as a dynamic welcoming place for exhibitions and educational activities,” says NCMA Director Lawrence J. Wheeler. “We are excited to transform the space into a setting where we can better engage with our visitors, encourage audience interaction, and showcase our truly remarkable African collection.”