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CMA May Construction Update

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Construction of the Columbus Museum of Art’s new wing and the renovation of the Ross Wing, an addition the Museum built in 1974 that housed the Museum’s lobby and temporary exhibition space are moving along and we’re excited to share our progress.

Over the coming months, we will be posting brief monthly updates outlining our progress and letting you know what to look for in the near future.

 

May 2014 Construction Update

  • The new wing is taking shape. We’ve progressed enough that you can actually see the resemblance to the architectural renderings we’ve been looking at for the past several months. The large crane that hovered over the construction site for the past several weeks has been removed.
  • The structural steel for the second floor is in place and the concrete floor has been poured. Construction has begun on the structural columns and concrete walls.
  • The metal roof decking and structural steel that will form the terrace leading out of the second floor special events space are in place.
  • The structural slab is in place for the art loading dock.

 

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    The second story of the new wing – with walls and floors!

     

Middle School Redo and Role Models

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Critical Works

My name is Alvin White, and I am a Teaching Artist at the Columbus Museum of Art. Imagine walking into a middle school classroom and you’ve become the star of 6th, 7th and 8th grade. Students are high-fiving you, asking you questions about art and interested in learning about you. This is completely different from my middle school experiences, actually the opposite. For me to have the chance to redo middle school has been a huge opportunity to learn how to reshape thinking for the betterment of others by talking about complex social issues that are relevant to the students’ lives.

I was the teaching artist this past year for Pressing Matters and Critical Works, programs the Museum conducts with Central and Southeastern Ohio middle schools that lack arts programs. CMA staff brings authentic, socially charged works of art to the classroom to engage students in an interdisciplinary learning experience. Students explore social issues relevant to their own lives and communicate their concerns through creative expression and experimentation.

Pressing Matters

Although teaching about art and social issues is part of my job, I am also indirectly teaching about something else: the importance of an effective black male artist in the classroom. Every time I start a program, I re-learn that seventh and eighth grade students are much smarter than we give them credit for. Students are able to pick up on the significance that I am an one of the few examples of a black male teacher within the building, maybe the only creative black role model they have encountered.

Art Speaks. Join the Conversation.

-Alvin White, CMA Teaching Artist for School and Teen Initiatives

Lessons from a Boxer

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“This is a great place to learn about yourself.  You can get in tune with a lot of learning and things you didn’t know about yourself and your family here, like patience.”

Armond shared this wisdom with me as he wrangled a hunk of twist-ties in the Center for Creativity.  He was visiting CMA with his family, daughter Ar’mya and wife Leslie.  Armond admitted that he wasn’t initially thrilled to spend a day at an art museum.

“I never thought I would enjoy coming here.  This wouldn’t be my first choice – to come to an art museum – but I said O.K. let’s try it.  It’s something new.”

I am inspired and encouraged by Armond’s testimony.  It’s honest and heartfelt, personal yet universal.  A competitive boxer, whose passions lean towards athletic activities, Armond didn’t previously consider how he could benefit from a visit to an art museum.  His comments shine a light on a common misconception about museums; some people may think that a museum visit is primarily about the stuff we have on display – the treasured objects.

Truth is:  Museum visits are primarily about people.  Families and friends share precious time together at museums – talking, wondering, questioning, remembering.  At CMA we understand that.  We work hard to create many opportunities where people can learn about and from each other.  Art and creativity are frequently the catalyst for these conversations.   While Armond and his family made twist-tie sculptures and assembled a puzzle, they were getting to know new things about each other. And, as this father wisely noted, they were getting to know new things about themselves.

Five years ago, CMA established a new tradition.  One day each spring we roll out a special welcome to all Columbus City School students and their families.  On this day, we encourage families from our community to check us out; to have fun playing together, to spend time chatting and laughing and learning about each other.  This year CMA’s Columbus City Schools Day for Families took place on May 4.  Many enthusiastic families turned out – including the family of one very astute boxer.

Inside the Strange and Wonderful World of a Museum Educator

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Museum educator

If you’ve ever worked in the field of museum education, you know that people “on the outside” have no idea what that means. “That must be so fun,” we hear a lot. Yes, it is fun! However, no, we don’t teach kids how to paint all day! We do all kinds of strange things in this field.  In order to offer a bit of insight into the day-to-day experience of  a museum educator, I’ve interviewed the Studio and Outreach Coordinator here at CMA, Stephanie Rybicki. Here are some interesting tidbits I unearthed:

On a regular basis, Stephanie…

Comes up with creative challenges for program participants.  For Girl Scout Day, she had scouts recreate portraits by George Bellows:

Bellows interpretation

A not-so-pleasant aspect of Stephanie’s job is…

Unclogging glue bottles! With so much programming going on all the time, Stephanie is constantly cleaning, organizing, and setting up for the next workshop. It’s a good thing she has interns to help her out;)

One of Stephanie’s favorite work days was…

When artist Oliver Herring performed TASK, during which CMA visitors were invited to do all kinds of crazy things. Stephanie helped by building a fort of streamers and sending streamer bombs flying across the room.

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Oliver Herring taking a selfie with a TASK participant

Stephanie has to mix the fun and hectic stuff with the boring and mundane stuff, just like any other job. Her most boring day was spent…

Sorting paper. To anyone interested in an internship here at CMA, we love people who can organize!

Stephanie will be leaving us soon, to pursue her career in the great state of Texas.  We are very sad. This experience has changed her by…

Making her more comfortable with silliness and being goofy. She can dress up like a “cat witch” (sorry, no picture), Photoshop glamour shots, or make tiny rats for a Caravaggio exhibit.

The lesson to be learned from Stephanie is that museum education can look like almost anything. So, stay on your toes and go with the flow!

Art Speaks. Join the Conversation.

– Susie Underwood, Manager for Studio Initiatives

Breaking Tradition. Breaking Ground: Construction Update #1

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ConstrUpdateApril

Here’s what’s been building at Columbus Museum of Art.

April 2014 Construction Update
·        If you’ve visited the Museum recently you’ve noticed that the 1974 addition has been stripped down to the steel frame.
·        The elevator shaft at the northwest corner of the 1974 building (elevator 1) is complete as well and work has begun on elevator 4 which will be located near the Museum’s loading dock.
·        Crews have finished underground plumbing in the basement of the 1974 building and additional steel supports have been added to the second floor special events space.
·        Basement excavation for the new wing is complete and the concrete foundation wall along Washington Ave has been erected.
·        If you drive by CMA, you will see the 150-foot tall crane located on Washington Street. Don’t be alarmed if you see the crane moving in the wind. When not in use, the crane is built to rotate with the wind, a feature that makes it less likely to sustain damage.
·        The foundation was poured for the first floor of the new space and erection of the structural steel frame will begin giving shape to the new wing.
·        The concrete foundation for the first floor of the new wing has been poured and polished. Be sure to check out the video, the polishing process was highly entertaining to watch.
·        The pan for the second floor has been created and the concrete will be poured in the coming weeks.
·        Reconstruction of the 1974 structure continues. The foundations for the terrace that will flow from the second floor special events space have been created
·        And, while not visible, the basement mechanicals, electrical and plumbing have been completed and inspections have begun.

More details at www.columbusmuseum.org/art-matters

Special Art in Bloom Photo Hunt

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KirchenerLandscapeat-FehmarnWeb

Celebrate Art in Bloom with our special spring CMA Photo Hunt.

This special CMA Photo Hunt is inspired by our upcoming Art in Bloom, and this Kirchner work, one of the 20 + works floral designers will also be interpreting this weekend (April 25-27).

  • So for this hunt, capture something that reflects your photographic take of this Kirchner work, and the Art in Bloom theme.
  • Tag your photo on Instagram with #CMAPhotoHunt and #ArtinBloomCMA to be included in our online gallery.
  • Tag your work by Sunday April 27.
  • We’ll be selecting our favorites to highlight online.

CMA Photo Hunts are a digital complement to CMA collections and exhibitions, give participants an opportunity to flex their creativity, be inspired by works or themes in Columbus Museum of Art exhibitions or collections, and respond to creative challenges with their own visual take. Since our Photo Hunts began we have received nearly 5,000 submissions from hundreds of photographers from Seattle to Ohio to Paris to Russia.

Our biennial Art in Bloom, takes place April 25-27.

(Landscape at Fehmarn with Nudes (Five Bathers at Fehmarn) by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner).