Sculpture and Conservation in Smithsonian American Art Museum Renovations

Sculpture cases being installed at the Luce Foundation Center for American Art.

by Christine Hennessy, Chief, Art Information Resources, Smithsonian American Art Museum
Mark your calendars. Currently undergoing an extensive renovation, the National Historic Landmark building that houses the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery opens to the public July 1, 2006. The two museums and their programs, known collectively as the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, will once again showcase American art and portraiture that celebrates the vision and creativity of Americans.

Sculpture buffs will delight in sculpture from the museum’s permanent collection highlighted in new installations on each floor. Newly acquired works that will be on view include: Spirit of Life by Daniel Chester French, The Puritan by Augustus Saint-Gaudens; Bronco Buster by Frederick Remington, Bower by Martin Puryear, Pleistocene Skeleton by Nancy Graves; Monekana by Deborah Butterfield, and a newly commissioned interactive “Mvseum” piece by David Beck.

New to the building are two groundbreaking centers. The Lunder Conservation Center will be the first art conservation museum facility to allow the public behind-the-scenes access to where art conservators work. In the building’s west wing, conservation staff will be visible to the public through floor-to-ceiling glass walls that allow visitors to see firsthand the techniques that conservators use to examine, treat, and preserve artworks. The Lunder Center will have state-of-the art laboratories and studios equipped to treat paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, sculptures, folk art objects, contemporary crafts, decorative arts, and frames. A 40-foot interactive multi-screen media wall references Save Outdoor Sculpture!, highlights the importance of conservation, and weaves together interviews with more than 35 conservators across the United States.

The Luce Foundation Center for American Art will be the first visible art storage and study center in Washington. Close to 3,500 objects from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s permanent collection will be on view in secure glass cases. The Center will feature paintings densely hung on screens, sculptures, crafts, and folk art objects arranged on shelves, and miniatures and medals in pull out drawers. Interactive computer kiosks will provide the public with information about every object on display, complete with artist biographies, audio interviews, video clips and still images.