Tampa Museum of Art unveils new buildingBy JANUARY HOLMES - jholmes@bradenton.com
On Saturday, the Tampa Museum of Art unveils its new museum — a shiny $32.8 million work of art.
The new museum, which spans 66,000 square feet and three floors, resides in Tampa’s Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. Dubbed the Cornelia Corbett Center, the building sits beside the Hillsborough River. The tall, box-like structure, which began construction in 2008, is inspired by New York landscape architect Thomas Balsley, according to museum officials.
“The new Tampa Museum of Art is the ideal urban home for a new way of thinking about the importance of art to everyday life,” Todd Smith, the museum’s executive director, said. “We hope it will be a place to encourage dialogue and creativity, serve as a catalyst to community interaction, and most importantly become a center for the rebirth of downtown Tampa.”
CONTRIBUTED ART The new Tampa Museum of Art, which cost $32.8 million to construct, opens Saturday with festivities planned throughout the day.
The new building is quite an artistic sight compared to its 1979 predecessor.
Nancy Kipnis, public relations officer for the museum, said the old museum was becoming worn down.
Supporters were very eager to rebuild, she added. The goal was to make Tampa Museum of Art stand out nationally as an art destination.
The new museum offers a number of highlights with room to expand in the future, if needed.
From far away, the building creates the perception of floating above the Hillsborough River — like a jeweled box covered in perforated aluminum. Inside, the museum’s prominent features include high, open ceilings and panoramic city views, according to Kipnis.
“This museum is a frame for the display of art, an empty canvas, an apparatus to experience appearances,” said Stanley Saitowitz of Natoma Architects, Inc., said in a press release.
The first floor contains a museum store, cafe, lecture rooms, catering facilities and storage space.
Outside, the building connects visitors to the surrounding park area. The second floor features eight galleries that provide 14,000 square feet of exhibition space. In fact, compared to the old museum, the extra space is quite the highlight.
In all, the new museum has nearly 150 percent more gallery space, which will allow it to attract larger and more prominent exhibitions, museum officials said. Those galleries include an Exhibition Gallery, Greek and Roman Gallery, Contemporary Art Gallery, Studio Glass Gallery, Student Art Gallery and Prints and Drawing Gallery.
There is also a library, a matting and framing studio and wood and paint shop. The third floor holds office and storage space.
The new Tampa Museum of Art will open to the public at 10:30 a.m. Saturday with festivities throughout the day. They include remarks from museum leaders and others, followed by live music and art activities from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The museum will remain open until 7 p.m. All outdoor activities are free.
Exhibitions include “A Celebration of Henri Matisse: Master of Line and Light,” Feb. 6-April 18; “Taking Shape: Works from the Bank of America Collection,” Feb. 6-Aug. 1; “The Hidden City: Selections form the Martin Z. Margulies Foundation,” Feb. 6-Dec. 5; “Life Captured: Garry Winogrand’s Women are Beautiful,” Feb. 6-18; “From Life to Death in the Ancient World,” Feb. 6-Jan. 30, 2011.
Museum hours are 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Wednesday and Friday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.
Admission: $10 adults, $7.50 seniors, groups, military plus one guest and $5 students and free for children ages 6 and under. “Pay what you will” is offered every second Saturday of the month from 9 to 11 a.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. every Thursday. The museum is at 120 Gasparilla Plaza, Tampa. For more information, call (813) 274-8130.
January Holmes, features writer, can be reached at 745-7057. Tampa Museum of Art
New Tampa Museum of Art North Entrance / Cornelia Corbett Center Building | Tampa Museum of Art
Frank and Carol Morsani Lobby Atrium | Tampa Museum of Art
Changing Exhibition Gallery | Tampa Museum of Art
New Tampa Museum of Art / Bretta B. Sullivan Sculpture Gallery | Tampa Museum of Art
Architectural Rendering of Cafe & Museum Store | Tampa Museum of Art
New Tampa Museum of Art Night View / Cornelia Corbett Center Building | Tampa Museum of Art
Atrium Lobby Event | Tampa Museum of Art
Opening February 6, 2010
The new Tampa Museum of Art is under construction in downtown Tampa's Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. Its spectacular 66,000-square-foot Cornelia Corbett Center building will open on February 6. Designed by San Francisco architect Stanley Saitowitz, the building will feature a shimmering pierced aluminum exterior, and state-of-the-art gallery spaces with innovative translucent ceilings and polished concrete floors. Seven expansive interior galleries, one exterior sculpture gallery, 12,000 sq. feet of LED coverage on the south facade, and educational classrooms equipped with the latest technology will offer visitors a wide variety of visual art experiences.
The museum will provide the region with world-class traveling exhibitions, a growing collection of contemporary and classical art, expanded educational programs and access to scenic outdoor events along Tampa's Riverwalk. The museum will become a nationally recognized major arts destination and premier venue for residents and visitors.
Support the Capital Campaign to Build the New Museum
The Tampa Museum of Art is conducting a capital fundraising campaign to build the new facility. Read about the project, or contact Director of Development Molly James at 813.421.8368 for more information.
Join the Museum Square Foot Society today!
The community phase of the museum's capital campaign project is called the TMA Square Foot Society. You can show your support of this fine institution and the future of the City of Tampa by investing in one square foot – or several square feet. Construction costs to build this beautiful new 66,000-square-foot facility are $26.6 million – or $404 per square foot. Join the TMA Square Foot Society and receive a certificate recognizing your contributions, along with a t-shirt that proudly announces I helped build the new TMA. Make your contribution to the campaign for the new TMA today. Click here to download a membership form.
For more information about the Capital Campaign project, or the TMA Square Foot Society, contact Director of Development Molly James at 813.421.8368 or molly.james@tampamuseum.org.
SEE THE PROGRESSVisit the TMA Webcam with updates every 30 minutes.
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About Architect Stanley Saitowitz
Tampa Museum of Art
Stanley Saitowitz is Professor of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, and Principal of Natoma Architects Inc. in San Francisco. He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and received his Bachelor of Architecture Degree at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in 1975, and his Masters in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley in 1977. He began his practice in South Africa in 1975. Completed projects include the California Museum of Photography in Riverside, 1022 Natoma Street, a live/work building in San Francisco, residences at Stinson Beach, Los Gatos, Napa, Almaden, Oakland, Berkeley, Marin, San Francisco, Tiburon, and Davis, Nine Structures at Mill Race Park, Columbus Indiana, the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston, the Capp Street Artist Workshop, the Quady Winery, the Auditorium at Wurster Hall, the San Francisco Embarcadero Promenade, the Coffee Pavilion at Stanford University, the Oxbow Art School in Napa, UCSF Mission Bay 23B Building, Lofts on Lafayette Street, Third Street, and at Yerba Buena in San Francisco. Current Projects include, The Visual Arts Library and Wurster Hall Forth Floor Link at the University of California, Berkeley, Beth El Synagogue in La Jolla, Beth Sholom Synagogue in San Francisco, First United Methodist Tower in San Jose, 1234 Howard Street, 1601 Larkin Street, 1029 Natoma Street, McArthur/San Pablo, and 555 Fulton Street.
Awards include The American Institute of Architects 1998 Henry Bacon Medal for Memorial Architecture, and the Boston Society of Architects1997 Harleston Parker Award, the 2003 AIA San Francisco Design Award, Best of the Bay, for Yerba Buena Lofts, the 2004 AIA San Francisco Design Award, Best of the Bay for the Lieff Residence, the 2005 AIA San Francisco Best of the Bay for Unbuilt Projects for Beth Sholom, the 2006 AIA San Francisco Best of the Bay for UCSF Mission Bay 23B Building, the Shaw Residence and Unbuilt Projects for First United Methodist Tower. The Transvaal House was declared a National Monument by the National Monuments Council of South Africa in 1997. The book, 'Stanley Saitowitz - Architecture at Rice 33' published by Rice University, Houston, and Princeton Architectural Press, New York, received a 1998 AIA International Architecture Book Award for Monographs.
He is a Professor of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, and has taught at a number of schools including the GSD, Harvard University (Eliot Noyes Professor 1991/2), University of Okalahoma (Bruce Goff Professor, 1993), Southern California Institute of Architecture, UCLA, the University of Texas, and the University of the Witwatersrand. He has lectured extensively in the USA, and abroad.
