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by Katie DeWitt | Nov 30, 2006 4:49 pm

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Posted to: Arts

Yale University and art gallery administrators, curators, and architects gathered in the newly renovated Louis Kahn building Thursday to celebrate the reopening of an icon of modernist architecture. Following a three-year, $44 million dollar renovation, the Yale University Art Gallery’s main building will reopen to the public on December 10.

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The reception began in the new media lounge, which is located in the first-floor lobby as an information center and gathering place. Other highlights of the renovation include the complete replacement of the building’s signature window-walls, refurbishment of the tratrahedral ceilings, and reinstatement of the original open-space layout of the galleries.

p(clear). Yale President Richard C. Levin spoke to the university’s commitment to the arts. “Art enriches the human spirit in a way that words alone cannot,” Levin said.

p(clear). The Louis Kahn building renovation is part of Yale’s Master Plan for the Yale Arts Area, which includes the renovation of other University arts, architecture, and drama buildings in the Chapel Street area. Levin said the decade-long plan to renovate all the univerity’s arts facilities adds up to about a half-million dollar investment.

p(clear). All of Yale’s museums are free and open to the public, a luxury that fewer and fewer museums in urban centers are able to afford. Jock Reynolds, the director of the art gallery, commended alumni for making this possible. He also pointed to the accomplishments of Yale graduates in art and architecture across the world, including in the development of modern architecture in New Haven.

p(clear). “Generations of artists keep coming from this experience of having direct contact with great works of art,” Reynolds said.

p(clear). Part of the idea behind the renovation, which was designed by New York City-based Polshek Partnership Architects, was to preserve Kahn’s initial conception of the building while improving the environement and conditions for the exhibition and conservation of art. Duncan Hazard, lead architect of the renovation and the University’s Master Plan, called this a “fascinating and challenging” experience. “I think Kahn would have been really pleased with how we dealt with both the functionality of how this building could be reused and the aesthetics of it,” Reynolds said.

p(clear). After the opening remarks, guests were led by museum administrators and curators on a tour of the 4-story gallery. The first floor of the renovated gallery features 3,500 square feet of space designated for temporary exhibitions. Currently, a display created entirely by students called Responding to Kahn: A Sculptural Conversation, inhabits the first floor.

p(clear). The gallery’s upper floors are devoted primarily to the display of objects from the permanent collection, which include African, Asian, Early European, Modern, and Contemporary art as well as prints, drawings, and photographs.

p(clear). Additionally, a study and research center for works on paper, located on the fourth floor, was built to enhance the gallery’s integral role in the academic life of the Yale community and in international scholarship.

p(clear). The outdoor sculpture garden was expanded behind the building as a result of donated space from Jonathan Edwards College, one of Yale’s residential colleges. The space, which used to be referred to by students as “the beach” and was spotted with sunbathers in the spring and summer, now contains a variety of modern sculptures.

p(clear). Built in 1953, the Kahn building was the first modernist structure at Yale, making a radical break from the neo-Gothic character of much of the campus. The renovation provided an opportunity for the gallery to upgrade may of its systems in order to keep up with current museum standards while at the same time restoring many features of the architect’s original design that had become altered or in need of repair over the years. “This design was a true collaboration, and it was a great honor and a rewarding experience to work on it,” said architect Joel Sanders. “Everything here is made in the spirit of Kahn.”

p(clear). To find out more about the details of the renovation, click on this link.

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