Name: The Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota
Named after Los Angeles entrepreneur and philanthropist Frederick R. Weisman, a major benefactor of the museum.
Design Architect: Frank O Gehry Associates, Santa Monica, CA
Executive Architect: Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle, Ltd., Minneapolis, Minnesota
General Contractor: Sheehy Construction Company, St. Paul, Minnesota
Materials: Brushed stainless steel and terra-cotta colored brick.
Size: Museum is 47,300 gross square feet with approximately 11,000 square feet of exhibition space;
parking is 42,426 gross square feet
Cost: Total project budget: $13,875,000
Total construction budget for museum and ramp: $10,338,700
Funding: Museum funding is from private, non-tax sources
Underground parking ramp funding through parking services
Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota
A teaching museum for the university and the community
The Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota is a fulfillment of a dream first articulated by University President Lotus Coffman in 1934. Setting aside some unused rooms in the newly completed Northrop Auditorium, Coffman noted, "there is need for new values to sustain the morale of individuals in the days ahead. The arts are a source for such values and I want this university to play a leading part in instilling them." True to Coffman's pioneering vision, access to the arts--intellectual, emotional, and physical--is the foundation of the museum's programming today.
A teaching museum for the University and the community, the Weisman provides an interdisciplinary approach to arts and humanities with an array of programs and exhibitions. With teaching as its central mission, the museum utilizes the resources of a great research university, offering audiences access to new perspectives on art and culture.
Housed since 1993 in a striking new stainless steel and brick building, designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry, the collection features early 20th century American art, including the world's largest collection of works by Marsden Hartley and Alfred Maurer, as well as important pieces by their contemporaries Milton Avery, Lyonel Feininger, and Georgia O'Keeffe. The museum also has strong collections of contemporary ceramics, Korean furniture, and ancient Greek, Chinese, and Native American ceramics.
Due to its new prominent site and design, it is hoped that there will be an increased awareness of the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum's collection and resources to the campus community through its welcoming architectural presence. Bounded by the Washington Avenue Bridge to the north, Coffman Memorial Plaza to the east, Comstock Hall to the south, and East River Road to the west, the site of the museum overlooks the Mississippi River and the Minneapolis skyline beyond. A drop in elevation of approximately 40 feet from the Washington Avenue Bridge and Coffman Memorial Plaza to East River Road determined the two major levels of access to the two primary programmatic components of the building. Vehicular access to the new 124 car parking ramp as well as the loading dock of the museum is restricted to lower level on East River Road, while the main museum level is entered from a pedestrian bridge walkway that connects the Washington Avenue Bridge with Coffman Memorial Plaza. The integration of this new pedestrian bridge as part of the architectural composition serves to reinforce the museum's role as inseparable from the campus experience.
The program of the museum is distributed on four levels in response to the dual access to the site. On the lowest level adjacent to the loading area off East River Road, are the freight elevator, art storage spaces, a frame shop, and mechanical/electric rooms. A small elevator lobby is also located near the entry to the parking ramp to bring visitors from this level up to the main museum level. The next levels are occupied by a carpentry shop and non-art storage which are accessible from the freight and passenger elevators as well as from the intermediate parking levels.
On the main museum level, the gallery spaces, including the Weisman Collection, are articulated as a large rectangular volume at the southeast corner. Four sculptural skylights provide illuminations to the north, south, east and west walls of the galleries. An interior "street" directly to the north, allows flexible access to the galleries at different points. The sales shop, a rental gallery, and a seminar room are located on the other side of the interior "street," with frontage along the pedestrian bridge/walkway connection. Large picture windows provide pedestrian traffic with views into these spaces through the interior street to the galleries beyond. Also accessible from the bridge/ walkway is the main entry to the rest of the building. At the center of this level is a 1,500 ASF black box auditorium for audiovisual presentations, Movable partitions on its west wall enable the auditorium to be open to the adjacent museum lobby for special receptions and events. Consequently, the museum lobby wraps around the auditorium to allow continuous circulation and entry to the south side of the galleries. A focal point of the museum lobby--a curvilinear pavilion projecting forward from the northwest corner, opens the lobby to both river and city views. Finally, the top level of the museum houses administrative offices, the museum archives, and a mechanical/electrical space for the galleries.
From the west, the museum facade is articulated in a faceted manner to capture views up and down the river. A tower- like structure rises from the loading dock off East River Road and anchors the undulating geometry of the elevations at the southwest corner. Inside the tower, offices of the technical director, the registrar, and the museum director stack on top of each other to take advantage of the spectacular views from the site.
The exterior treatment of the museum takes into consideration its adjacency to the Minneapolis Park Board property along East River Road. The required 65' setback is respected, and existing trees and grass areas along the Washington Bridge off-ramp and around the construction will be preserved or restored. A new tree will also be planted in the Park Board property near the proposed curb-cut to replace an existing elm tree which will have to be moved from the construction site.
In response to the university context, "red" brick with buttered joints is being considered as the primary exterior finish for the gallery volume and the parking ramp. However, the north elevation along the proposed pedestrian bridge, the projecting museum lobby, and the entire west elevation will be finished in stainless steel, identifying them as distinctive elements from the rest of the architectural ensemble.
© 1998 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
