Eastern Illinois University

The Keep
Masters Theses Student Theses & Publications

1977

Problems of Community Museum

Peter Velez
Eastern Illinois University
This research is a product of the graduate program in Art at Eastern Illinois University. Find out more about
the program.

Recommended Citation
Velez, Peter, "Problems of Community Museum" (1977). Masters Theses. 3268.
https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/3268

This is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses & Publications at The Keep. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses
by an authorized administrator of The Keep. For more information, please contact tabruns@eiu.edu.
PAPER CER TI FICA TE #2

TO: Graduate Degree Candidates who have written formal theses.

SUBJECT: Permission to reproduce theses.

The University Library is receiving a ' number of requests from other

institutions asking permission to reproduce dissertations for inclusion
in their library holdings. Although no copyright laws are involved, we
feel that professional courtesy demands that permission be obtained
from the author before we allow theses to be copied.

Please sign one of the following statements:

Booth Library of Eastern Illinois University has my permission to lend

my thesis to a. reputable college or university for the purpose of copying
it for inclusion in that institution's library or research holdings.

Date Auth~r"'

I respectfully request Booth Library of Eastern Illinois University not

allow my thesis be reproduced because
----------------

Date Author

pdm
 PROBLEMS OF COMMUNITY MUSEUM

(TITLE)

BY

PETER VELEZ

THESIS
SUBMITIED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF ARTS
IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL, EASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
CHARLESTON, ILLINOIS

]911
YEAR

I HEREBY RECOMMEND THIS THESIS BE ACCEPTED AS FULFILLING

THIS PART OF THE GRADUATE DEGREE CITED ABOVE

477 DATE
r J I ADVISER
-.

DEPARTMENT HEAD
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION • • • • • • • • • • • • .\. • . • • • • • • • • • • 1

Chapter
I. ~E ORIGINAL CONCEPT 4

II. COMMUNITY MUSEUM ••• 15

III. CONCEPTUAL DESIGN FOR A CULTURAL CENTER 35

BIBLIOGRAPHY • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 51

351936
 ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure
1. Garden Level of Whitney Museum of American Art,
New York . • . . . . . . • . . • . . . . 12
2. Altes Museum, Berlin • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 13
3. Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, Nebraska 13
4. Michael Heizer, "Isolated Mass/Circumflex" 17
5. Dennis Opperheim "Annual Rings" • • • • • • • • • • 17
6. Walter Demaria "Mile Long Drawing" • • • • 18
7. Robert Smithson "Spiral Jetty • • • • • • • • • • • 18
8. Dr. Billy Kulver "Sculptured Helium Filled Pillows11 19
9. Laszlo Moholy-Nagy "Light Space Modulator" • • • • • • • 19
10. Frank Lloyd Wright "Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum," New
York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
11. I. M. Pei Interior Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse,
New York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
12. Krannert Museum Floor Plan, University of Illinois,
Champaign-Urbana • • • • • • • • • • • • ••• 23
13. Museum of Science, Boston • • • • • • • • • • •• 24
14. Los A.r\geles County Museum of Natural History 25
15. Museum of Florida History, Tallahassee 26
16. Master Plan Metropolitan Museum of Art • • • • 31
17. Interior Gallery, South Dakota University 32
18. Plot Layout • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 37
19. Aerial View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
20. Cultural Center, Eastern Illinois University •••• 39
21. Lobby Gallery • • • • • • ••••• 41
22. Gallery Layout • • • • • • ••• 43
23. Partition Design Concept 44
24. Floor Plan • • • • • • • • 45
25. Rear View Projection Wall • • • • • • • • 46
26. Auditorium Sketch •••••••• 47
27. Workshops •••••••• 48
28. Interior Cutaway View Basement Level 48
29. Office Area Cutaway View • • • • • • • 4'9
 INTRODUCTION

My objectives in presenting this paper are to show the genesis of

some large museums, the methods of acquisition of their collections,

exhibition space in relationship to today's community museums, and the

problems associated with the initiating, acquiring, and operating of

community museums. To reach these objectives, I will state the results

of my research and present my conceptual design and recommendations for a

cultural center.

Two conclusions may be reached relative to the status of museums

and collections today •

• • • First, the museums are not always small by the standards of

even a decade past, and they refuse to stay small; second, aggressive
acquisition programs assure that the treasures of today will be
augmented significantly tomorrow, just as new buildings are being
planned almost before the first ones have settled. 1

The collections of tomorrow are achieved by support campaigns

from the connnunity. Once a coTie-ctlon is acquired, it must be properly

cared for and displayed. This calls for a well-designed facility.

Considerations must include location of the structure, how large it will be,

and will it be financially feasible to build it after the bids are in for

construction.

In addition, there will always be the question of concentration

versus dispersion, whether to concentrate the arts in a single place or

thread them through a community or campus. If budgetary problems are

paramount, the accepted premise may be centralization wherever possible.

1Harold Haydon, Great Art Treasures in American Museums, 1st ed.,

Country Beautiful Corporation, Wisconsin, p. 8.
1
 2
The administration of a museum may be compared to the operation of

a large corporation. The administrative board must be very aware of budget

limitations. There is one prime difference, however, the museum is not

turning out a product which provides daily return to the corporate bank.

A museum is a constant beggar with one hand out for support but in return

it enhances the cultural life of the community through esthetic experiences.

Cultural centers are now in a position of prominence in communities

across the country and in many cases are attracting many private collections.

In this paper, I will give several examples of universities which are in

this position.

The 1950's marked a dramatic upswing in the fortunes of cultural

centers. The arts in higher education began coming into their own and

into their own buildings. Many are very impressive, some are out-front

attention getters, the results of special effects to achieve architectural

impact and a cultural esprit. The art center is of value in projecting the

image of an institution as a site of culture. It also provides a means

of involving the community with the university. However, the cultural

center should function as an entity of its own totally independent from

the budget of the fine arts department, but under its guidance, if management

so dictates •

• • • in communities everywhere there are small groups and individuals

committed to exposing art and enhancing the cultural life of the
public by enlarging the opportunities for the enjoyment of art.
The urge to share the experiences of art with others is not new,
for it caused men and women to found some of the earliest museums.
However, there are many more people interested today, and what
once depended upon persons of great wealth is now frequently undertaken
collectively by community organizations and local governments.
One consequence is the broad distribution of princely works of art
among the smaller museums of America. 2

2 Harold Haydon, Great Art Treasures in American Museums, 1st ed.,

Country Beautiful Corporation, Wisconsin, p. 8.
 3
Many of the well established museums, such as the Metropolitan

Museum and the Boston Museum of Art, have holdings in the greatest treasures

of art collections. Acquisition of such art masterpieces may well be

impossible for the smaller cultural centers but collections of modern sculpture,

folk art, and some master works a~e available to the community museum. Once

obtained they must be properly housed and presented for the full cultural

enjoyment of the viewer. It must be a lasting experience, an educationally

informative opportunity for the student and practicing artist, who are

always in a learning process.

In summary, this paper will have served its purpose if my research

has proven the value of the community museum and the contribution a un:f.versity

can make to the total community through such a project.

 CHAPTER I

THE ORIGINAL CONCEPT

In order to place the contemporary community art center in

perspective, I shall present very briefly how we got from the large

ostentatious nruseum to our current day simplified structure, and how the

early museums were established and how their collections were acquired.

Museums are ;nQr;rutions for the preservation, study and display

of natural objects or those created by man. If one gives this the slightest

thought, there is no end to the objects man and nature can produce in endless

variations.

In comparison to old, established, large public museums, art centers

are institutions representing our current century of design in relation to

types of collections housed and architectural design.

Museums as we know them today were, and still are, grouped or

classified by their contents or according to the purposes for which they were

established. Following the first method they are divided into museums of

art, history, anthropology, natural history, technology and connnerce. A

museum may be established for any of these main subjects as a whole or for

one of the many branches into which the groups may be subdivided.

The purpose for which museums are established divides them into

national museums; local, provincial or city nruseums; college and school

museums; professional or class museums; and museums or cabinets for special

research owned by societies or individuals. The scheme of classification is

4
 5
open to the objection that it confuses purpose with ownership or

administration, since, for example, national and municipal museums are not

merely for the display of objects found within the boundaries of a nation

or city but rather for objects collected from around the world.

College and school museums have their immediate purpose in the

formation of collections that aid students in undertaking various
problems connected with science, technology, or art. There were
nearly 600 museums in the United States in 1958, about three-fourths
of them attached to colleges or under the supervision of societies.
Nearly half of the whole number are entirely or chiefly devoted to
natural history and about 10 percent to art, though this proportion
seems on the increase and the past decade has witnessed the
establishment of several important museums of art. 1

One step taken toward the establishment of public museums was the

gathering of great collections for the pub.lie to seavers.us .:the private

collection not open to the public. The public museums made possible the

formation of collections of objects of more or less popular interest with

their exhibition open to the public either at no charge or for payment of

a small fee.

The genesis of government museums is the final step in the

establishment of public museums, and the transfer of collections from

private to governmental ownership in the U.S. may be said to have started

in 1876, although early in 1846 the government possessed collections which

were in the custody of the Smithsonian Institution.

Establishment of museums has taken various paths as shown in the

following cases in point. Our Centennial Exhibition was the direct cause for

the erection of a building for the United States National Museum and of the

founding of the Pennsylvania Museum of Art, while from the Chicago Exposition

came the Field Columbian Museum, the Chicago Art Institute and the Philadelphia

1The Encyclopedia Americana, 1958 ed., printed by Conkey Division,

p. 619.
 6
Connnercial Museum. The National Gallery of Art and the Freer Collections,

installed in a building of their own, both form parts of the United States

National Museum, and are the gifts of William T. Evans and Charles L. Freer,

respectively. Another impressive personal gift was made by Andrew Mellon

in 1936. He donated his magnificant art collection to the nation together

with 10 million dollars for erection of a building in Washington, D.C.

Our oldest existing museum, as well as the first public museum in

America, is the Charleston (S.C.) Museum, founded by the Charles Town Library

Society in 1773. It was later incorporated in the College of Charleston which

in 1958 passed into municipal control, thereby taking on a new lease on life.

Next to this is rhP Peabody Museum of Sa1Pm, the successor of the East India

Marine Society Museum, founded in 1799. It also includes the natural history

collections of the Essex Institute. It is interesting to note that most

museums had their beginning in the gratification of the desires of private

individuals.

The origin of the art museum is to be found in the collections of

statuary, paintings, and other works of art assembled by kings, nobles and

men of wealth; the inventory of the modern museum of natural history were

the cabinets of miscellaneous curiosities brought together by students,

merchants, or men of leisure.

Francis Henry Taylor states that the phenomenon of art collecting

is too instinctive and too common to be dismissed as mere fashion or the

desire for fame. It is a complex and irrepressible expression of the inner

individual, a sort of devil of which greater personalities are frequently

possessed. The individual collectors mentioned in this paper were highly

interesting in their own right and would indeed have been so even had

they never collected anything in their entire lives. Collections form the

records of the life story of successful men in successful times.

 7
Many of these collections subsequently developed into important

public museums. According to one authority, the most striking example,

and the one most frequently cited, is the British Museum, which was the

final outgrowth of the cabinet and library of Sir Hans Sloane. In the

United States the Museum of Comparative Zoology, at Cambridge, Mass., has

grown from the collections made by Louis Agassiz for his own use, until

it has become one of the most important museums in this country. Even

the United States National Museum, if not the direct outgrowth of a private

collection, was directly due to the labors of individuals. For its nucleus

is to be found in the specimens gathered by the National Institution

(later the National Institute)~ a b.ody argani ze.d with t.he avowed purpose

of directing the bequest of James Smithson.

Perhaps the most interesting and remarkable story of museum

development is that of the Louvre in Paris. Until the French revolution the

Louvre Palace belonged to the King and although a section of it, the Galerie

d'Apollon, had been organized as a museum as early as 1681 under Louis XIV,

it was for the use of the court only. Members of the Royal Academy of Fine

Arts could obtain permission to see the King's pictures, but only through

influence with the court. This was the general pattern of all royal and

private collections with regard to artists. On Nov. 8, 1793, the Louvre

was opened to the public for the first time by the First Republic. By this

time the collections had been greatly augmented by "loot" from the Napoleonic

Wars. Under the direction of a committee headed by the painter, Jacques

Louis David, the Louvre was operated chiefly for artists, to whom it was

open five days for every three to the general public. Carlo Ludovico

Ragghianti writes the following in his book, "Great Museums of the World,

Louvre, Paris," published in 1967.

 8
"Since 1939 a long-term plan has been under way to get the collections
ready, so that over two hundred thousand objects can be e:xhibited in
the Louvre. The building was certainly not constructed according to
modern ideas of what a perfect museum should be; in fact, the building,
like the collections, shows traces of almost four centuries of French
kings, all of whom, almost without exception, made some additions to
the enormous palace.

The present Museum is divided into six Departments and a Cabinet of

Drawings which gradually became separated from the nucleus of the
painting collection. The Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities
was the first to become autonomous. It was created in 1800, and was
given its present organization in 1846. It includes, among other
objects, the important group of Greek vases of the Campana Collection,
the so-called "Boscoreale Treasure," composed of more than 100 pieces
of Roman jewelry, given to the Museum in 1895 by Baron Rothschild,
and famous works of art such as the Venus of Milos and the Victory of
Samothrace, both discovered in excavations in the nineteenth century.
In 1954 a "Section of Christian Antiquities" was created in order to
group together Early Christian, Byzantine and Coptic works which were
scat..tered here and there in various other ~Ppartments. Aside from
its Early Christian sarcophagi, Byzantine ivories, ceramics, glass,
gold work and important textile collections, this Section n·ow has
also benefited from recent gifts and acquisitions, among them Greek
and Russian icons and Coptic textiles.

The Department of Egyptian Antiquities was established in 1826 in order

to organize Napoleon's collections. Its first curator was Champollion
who first deciphered the hieroglyphs, and in this context Egyptian
studies flourished. That year, "Oriental Antiquities" already formed
a separate section within the Museum of ancient sculpture; in 1881
this, too, became a separate department. Organized topographically,
it is exceptionally rich in Mesopotamian art, which had been brought
to the Museum from the excavations at Lagash and Mari.

The "Department of Medieval, Renais-sance and Modern SculpLuLe:''·wasc-

organized around what remained of the Royal Academy and its collections,
moved in the Louvre in the eighteenth century. It contains Michelangelo's
Slaves, as well as works by Cellini, Goujon, Pilon and others. It is
now being enlarged to include the French eighteenth and nineteenth-
century sculpture until recently kept in the storerooms. In 1893
another Department, that of Medieval, Renaissance and Modern Art
Objects, was separated from this one; it includes all the precious
objects from the Royal wardrobe, as well as material confiscated during
the Revolution (treasures of the Order of St. Esprit, of the Royal Abbey
of St. Denis and of the Ste. Chapelle), as well as the National Museum
of Furniture, added to the Louvre in 1901. 112

Moving from the Louvre to museums in our own country we find that

art museums in the United States are supported by endowment or private

2 carlo Ludovico Ragghianti, Great Museums of the World, Louvre,

Paris (New Jersey: Newsweek Inc.), pp. 165-166.
 9
funds, government aid or combinations of these. Success of the small

museums can be attributed to the policy of confining their attention to

the innnediate vicinity for funds. Two examples of musewns established by

states are the Illinois State Museum and the North Carolina Museum of Art.

The Illinois State Museum, located in Springfield, was established

in 1877. It has occupied since 1963 a modern structure of New Bedford

limestone that offers a fine area for exhibits and expansion. It is a

general museum of natural history and art and sponsors exhibits, educational

services, and research. It has three floors which contain exhibits in

developing life, man's venture in culture, and a library. The basement

contains the Thorne Devel Auditorium.

The North Carolina Museum of Art was the first in the country to be

established by a state and to be supported mainly by state funds. The

museum sends out traveling exhibits to schools, libraries, civic clubs, and

other museums throughout the state. The North Carolina Art Society donates

funds for the purchase of additional works of art.

Benefactors of great wealth have helped large museums to grow. The

Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts both

had their inception over a hundred years ago. The third of November, 1869,

is considered the true birthday of the Metropolitan Museum for it was then

that the suggestion of a gallery of art became an authorization to build such

a gallery on the Central Park site. The museum was housed in its own building

in 1880. One wing is dedicated to J.P. Morgan for his contributions of

ancient Assyrian art and world famous groups of early Christian Byzantine,

Romanesque and Gothic objects.

The Metropolitan in 1960 acquired the Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial

Collection of Primitive Art, an accumulation of objects gathered over the

past thirty-five years by then Governor Rockefeller and his late son. The
 10
collection was permanently transferred to the Metropolitan. Objects in

primitive art range from 1200 B.C. to the early twentieth century. Also

included are five galleries of oceanic art, and seven galleries devoted to

the Americas.

In September 1969 the Metropolitan acquired one of the world's most

impressive private collections as a gift. It was started in 1911 by Philip

Lehman and continued by his son, Robert Lehman, wealthy financier who died

in 1969. The collection comprised nearly 3,000 examples of Western European

art from the twelfth to the twentieth century. These included paintings,

drawings, and objects of decorative art, valued in all at $100,000,000.

On the 13th o£ April 1970 the .Metropolitan total plan for the

reorganization and completion of the museum's building was announced.

The project is more than an architectural plan, for it encompasses a close

examination of the museum's philosoply of acquisition and exhibition, a look

at its entire financial situation, its role in education, and, most important,

its service to the public.

The proposal for the Boston Museum was presented to the state

legislature in October 1869 by several interested organizations and a

charter for a public museum of fine arts was granted early in the following

year. Its growth paralleled the Metropolitan Museum. It has never received

a subsidy from the state or city but has been supported by private benefaction.

In attempting to bring museums into perspective, we must briefly

consider the original concept of architecture in relationship to the

collections and our current period of art center design.

First, let's consider the architecture of the very earliest public

museums. Early museums (1750-1850) aimed to create more ornate structures.

in contrast to modern architectural backgrounds of intrinsic distinction

harmonious with the objects exhibited and yet wholly in the style of our
 11
day. An example of this modern design is Marcel Breuer garden level of

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Breuer achieves a miracle of

spaciousness on a very shallow site by movi_ng the viewer's eye through a

number of interpenetrating indoor, outdoor spaces at basement and street

levels, example Fig. 1.

A different expression of museum architecture may be viewed in the

Altes Museum of Berlin, Fig. 2, built in 1824-28. When one compares the

Altes Museum to the present Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of

Nebraska at Lincoln, (Fig. 3), one can see that the simplicity of the

modern exterior attempts to integrate architecture, art and site or

environment. The ;nt,:.rinr .is total Jy d.iJ:~cted to the visual experience

of the exhibit rather than the ornamental structures of days past which

challenged at every point for attention against the painting or sculpture.

Structures shall continue to rise in the name of art but the

management or directorship of such institutions on which their survival may

well rest must be mentioned. Who is this person who seldom receives as much

recognition as the building and its collection? He is responsible for

budget, acquisition, maintenance, personnel and all general administration.

Through his efforts he insures the continued survival of the art treasures

so the public may view them. A case in point was the appointment of a new

director for the New York Museum of Modern Art in 1970. This was one of the

year's most notable achievements. Hard put to replace the original team of

Alfred Barr and Rene d Harnoncourt under whose guidance the museum achieved

international prominence, the trustees managed to enlist John Hightower,

Executive Director for the past six years of the New York State Council on

the Arts. The art world generally concurs that his experience and commitment

in both bringing the arts to a wide public and attracting the support of

private industry argues well for a museum plagued with a fiscal deficit,
 12

Figure 1. Garden Level of Whitney Museum of

American Art, New York.
 13

Figure 2. Altes Museum, Berlin.

Figure 3. Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery,

Lincoln, ·Nebraska.
 14
outgrown physical plant, and criticized for being unresponsive to immediate

political and social concerns. For example,

In 1970 the Metropolitan established a new awareness of its

responsibility to a growing and democratic public rather than to an
elitist group. This is clearly visible in its imaginative plans for
renovation and improved educational facilities and is directly·
traceable to public pressure and outspokenly expressed discontent.
It has recently established a trustee's committee on ''Decentralization
and Community Needs," as have the Museum of Modern Art and the Brooklyn
Museum. 3

There are no clear-cut paths for survival of a museum as I have

attempted to show in this chapter. Those institutions that are large reach

their stature because of time, time when art was fashionable and one was

able to enchance the family name by giving of collections to museums. Such

is not our present climate. Large collections, of which there are many, are

not so easily relinquished because of legal ramifications from heirs. There

are still some, however, who endow universities with structures and

collections. But mainly, it is the public community who supports the project

when their interest is aroused. So again enters the planners, directors,

and administrators who hopefully can meet the challenge of building for

tomorrow.

3 The Year's Art 1969-1970, ed. by Michael Dempsey.

 CHAPTER II

COMMUNITY MUSEUM

An exhibition today cannot neglect the vital activity in crafts and

folk arts which, unhampered by the necessity to conform to imposed standards,

reflects the human desire for simplification of form and practical direct

vision.

T.o..d.a¥ the. .ro11senyi building stands .as .a community symbol along with

the church or courthouse. The architect must, therefore, create, inside and

out, a symbolic structure which the community can refer to with pride.

The symbolic function of the museum, however, sometimes runs counter

to its function as a home for fine arts, this compounds the problem for the

architect. A tomb is simple, an office is simpler to design. Each has only

one function. The museum has two: the symbolic function of the structure,

which creates a visual experience of the exterior, and the entrance ball

which orientates the visitor. Modern architecture aims to create, as did the

early museums (of 1750-1850), backgrounds of intrinsic distinction harmonious

with the objects exhibited and yet wholly in the style of our own day.

It is quite obvious that the quantity and quality of space is

probably one of the single most vitally important considerations in the

planning of a museum for the most effective presentation of the collections

to the community.

In considering what to display in a museum we must realize that there

is art created in our present time that is beyond the confines of a museum.
15
 16
This is called Earth Sculpture, Earthworks, Skyworks, Waterworks, Cliff

Wrapped in Canvas, French in Desert, captured stones, shafts of light or

luminescent gas filled bags of plastic sent into the sky. Our most recent

happening is a Running Fence, by Christo Javacheff, in northern California.

"A shimmering construction of nylon slung between steel posts, Running

Fence issues from the sea at Bodega Bay in Marin County, wending 24~
miles up hill and down dale, over ten public roads (including Highway
101) and through dozens of farms, to finish inland near Petaluma, Calif.
For an artwork, it has consumed staggering amounts of time, manpower
and materials: 300 students, 2,050 posts, 165,000 yds. of material,
miles of wire and hundreds of thousands of hooks." 1

These works constitute events or things that are frequently too

vast, fragile, temporary or distant to be experienced for long by many

persons; often they can only be heard or read about. They can be commissioned

but are difficult to purchase, impossible to see, and meaningless to own.

Surely they cannot be exhibited in museums. Michael Heizer's ground sculpture,

Fig. 4, in 1968 in Massacre Dry Lake, Nevada, cannot be owned and nature shall

in time refill the surface to its original configuration. Also added to

this method of artistic expressions are examples of works of Dennis Opperheim,

Fig. 5, Walter DeMaria, Fig. 6, Robert Smithson, Fig. 7 (Dr. Billy Kulver,

Fig. 8, sculptured, helium filled, pillows).

Sculpture which may be housed and purchased for museums include works

such as Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Light Space Modulator 1923-30, Fig. 9, Birch

Reisinger Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. Here light and

motion sculpture needs to be lighted and presented in proper artistic space

environment for maximum visual experience.

As we view the expression of modern sculptural art, we should also

view the expressions of the architectural directions employed in art centers.

We shall take a brief look at some select examples.

1 "Christo: Plain and Fency," Time, September 20, 1976, p. 94.

 17

Figure 4. Michael Heizer, "Isolated Mass/Circumflex."

----'--~ -------

Figure 5. Dennis Opperheim "Annaul Rings."

 18

Figure 6. Walter Demaria "Mile Long Drawing."

Figure 7. Robert Smithson "Spiral Jetty."

 19

Figure 8. Dr. Billy Kulver

"Sculptured Helium
Filled Pillows."

Figure 9. Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

"Light Space Modulator."
 20

Figure 10. Frank Lloyd Wright "Solomon R. Guggenheim

Museum," New York.
 21
First let's look at the cathedral-like effect of the architecture of

interior space (Frank Lloyd Wright's interior of Solomon R. Guggenheim

Museum, New York, Fig. 10). The building and art only tolerate each other.

Frank Lloyd Wright wrote about and practiced what he called an

"organic" philosophy of architecture - one in which buildings assert their

kinship with nature through their rugged materials and cave-like spaces ••

But only in the Guggenheim Museum did he base his design quite openly on the

structure of a natural object: the building is like an enormous nautilus

shell. Repetition has also served as the primary compositional device in

the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, here the architect took the curve as a

ba~ic motif.

He was independently ahead of European architects in many ways: in

his understanding and exploitation of modern technology, in his revolt
against the stultifying architectural baggage of the past, and in his
aesthetic innovations - that is, his ability to deal with the dwelling
as an art object, as something both beautiful to look at and a delight
to live in. Wright's forays into social philosophy and community
planning have not been as universally praised as his achievement in
domestic architecture, although they are worth serious attention and
have been provocative of healthy debate.2

Further probing into current day art center expression of space is

found in the words of the brilliant architect I. M. Pei.. The interior of

the Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York, Fig. 11, is an example of

his use of a monumental scale in a small museum building and what can be

achieved by unaffected attention to fundamentals. A practical device for

washing the walls with light and modest amount of wall allows art to

breathe.

Another example of his work is the Paul Mellon Arts Center, Choate

School and Rosemary Hall, Walliford, Conn. Both are symbolically and literally

a gateway between two Connecticut prep schools, Choate and its newly adopted

2Edmund Burke Feldman, Varieties of Visual Experience (New York:

Harry N. Abrams, Ind.) p. 99.
 22

Figure 11. I. M. Pei Interior Everson Museum of Art,

Syracuse, New York.
 23

•• ~ .. ··•· ·' .

bAILIVI .f.ALUJ2.Y l,.4LURY

f..A-Ll&R-Y .· .

- . .

J:IR~'( * flM~ Le/EL

£ Al.Li:. u.'(
. ,' _ _.,. WbttK
Ar1..£L
hJlLL~P..Y . L.JJLLE.t..t/

Figure 12. Krannert Museum Floor Plan, University of

Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.
 24

, '

Figure 13. Museum of Science, Boston.

 25

Figure 14. Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History.

 26

'

Figure 15. Museum of Florida History, Tallahassee.

 27
sister, Rosemary, which moved from Greenwich, Conn., to Walliford in 1971.

The new arts complex is essentially two buildings diagonally bisected by a

broad curving pathway. The art center has six levels.

The previous two centers have exposed us to the design of space

approach with very different conclusions in archit~ctural design, but both

still concentrating on the maximum presentation of works of art.

The Krannert Museum, University of Illinois, is a very good example

of modern design and space utilization. Galleries are located on ground

level and basement, Fig. 12. Space layout of galleries and visitor flow

are easily accomplished with works presented in excellent levels for viewing

and exposed to well arranged lumination. Located at .the entrance is the

information office. Also available at this point are various books and

pamphlets on current exhibits of the Krannert. The facility has security

guards at entrances and it is equipped with climatic environment for the

comfort of visitors.

Joseph A. Wetzel Associates of Cunnnings Point Road, Stamford, Conn.,

has designed some exciting new concepts around the country. A conceptual

plan and design for conversion of existing scientific hall into a new

integrated exhibit on human health is the Museum of Science in Boston,

Fig. 13. They also took on the special challenges in security, scale,

lighting interpretation for a new complete design for a major new Hall of

Minerals and Gems at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History,

Fig. 14. The Memphis Park Pink Palace Museum in Tennessee went to a master

plan for an unusual changeover from general museum to a regional museum of

natural history and social history. The design for this project allowed

for phased construction of exhibits. In addition to these already mentioned

many museum concepts have been prepared and have undergone some type of

change, such as Maine State Museum, Augusta, Ga.; the Mississippi River
 28
Museum, Memphis, Tenn.; and Museum of Florida History in Tallahassee, a very

interesting concept and design for the new state history museum, Fig. 15. They

have also prepared a new conceptual design for a new Natural Science Museum

for St. Paul, Minn.

Other very significant projects have taken place in construction or

development of new nruseums. In 1974 the Joseph A. Hirshhorn Museum and

Sculpture Garden opened it doors in the nation's capitol. The Smithsonian

Institution owns title to the art collection. This is Washington's first

major facility devoted exclusively to modern art and puts it in the big

league with such art centers as New York City and Los Angeles. The nation's

taxpayers footed the ,-..; 11 by ,n·pctine_the. ~useum and will pay the cost

of maintenance. Hirshhorn has been very generous, giving not only his

remarkably rich collection of art but also one million dollars toward the

construction of the 16-million-dollar museum •

• • • 36 years previously Congress had legislated the creation of

a new gallery as a foil to the collection of old masters in the
National Gallery of Art, the gift of Andrew W. Mellon, which was
under construction on the mall.3

The building itself is considered a "large piece of functional sculpture"

without architectural distractions.

In February 1973, the new Smith College Museum of Art in Northampton,

Mass., opened its doors •

• • • of Tryon Hall, the newest and fourth home of the Smith College
Museum of Art. The museum occupies one building in a large fine arts
center. The Art department is housed in the adjacent Hillyer Hall which
contains offices, library and studio spaces, and lecture halls. 4

The net construction cost for the entire complex was 7.5 million dollars. The

museum should provide the art and art history student, the general student,

3Mary E. Osman, "After a 36-Year Wait A Modern Art Museum Opens at

the Mall," AIA Journal 62 (Novermber 1974) :44.
4 Charles Chetham, "The New Smith College Museum of Art," Art Journal
33 (May 1973) : 231.
 29
and the community at large with a laboratory in the visual arts where a

basic acquaintance with works of art can be gained. This was the basic theme

in developing the museum.

A permanent Exhibition of American Art has been set up permanently

in a rambling series of Beaux-Arts Rooms in old Yale Art Gallery, New Haven,

Conn. These once grand and ample rooms have now been divided by more or

less freestanding partitions into exhibitive spaces that are smaller,

brighter, and are meant to encourage close and detailed study of objects

on display. The goal of the exhibit of this part of the Yale collection

is to create an exciting teaching museum and stimulate and excite the

student (and the public) to see things in relation to its fellows in time

and space, to see art objects individually and collectively as manifestations

of the culture and creativity that is America.

The Walker Art Center may be the best modern museum in the U.S. The

new center, built on an almost impossible site next to a freeway in

Minneapolis, Minn., is a very modest-looking six-story high cluster of boxes

covered, head to toe, with a neat and understated veneer of plum-colored

iron-spot brick. It has elicited rave reviews from artists who have

exhibited there.

The sculptor, Louise Nevelson, told us that it was one of her great
joys to have had an exhibition at the new Walker. "The architect
has captured, for our times, the space concept of contemporary,
creative minds," and she added, "I know of no other museum that quite
captures the need of the artist as this one does." 5

What makes the new Walker Art Center such a critical success is that

its architect, Edward Larrabee Barnes, performed an act of deference. He

deferred completely to those whose work would inhabit his building. Roughly

130 feet square above ground, the building rises, in the manner of a three-

leaf pinwheel, like large staircases, in which the broad landings are all

5 Peter Blake, "Brick-on-Brick and White-on-White," Architecture Plus

July/August 1974, p. 40.
 30
galleries. Each gallery is white on white walls, ceilings, and white

terrazzo floors. The terraces, like all other outdoor surfaces, are rendered

in brick-on-brick.

The New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art makes architectural

overtures to Central Park. Stro_ng, almost flamboyant, structural gestures

mark such Kevin Roche-John Dinkeloo structures as the Knights of

Columbus Tower and the careful site planning and precise formal arrangement

of their College Life Insurance buildings and the Center for the Arts at

Wesleyan University. These aspects converge in the master plan for the

Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fig. 16. The plans announced in 1970 calls for

adding 325~ 000 ~.?.:.ere feet tQ_ t....~e- ""''""enm 's pres-ent st-rn ... t-nr<=> in Central

Park, increasing gallery space by a third, as well as reorganizing and

redesigning existing facilities.

Texas has experienced a veritable rash of art museum construction

throughout this vast state in recent years. Texas' new museum growth must

surely be due to its growing population, the increase of art awareness and

the fortunate existence of a goodly number of art patrons located in art

center areas. In October 1972, three museums opened, the Kimbell Art Museum

in Fort Worth, the Art Museum of South Texas in Corpus Christi, and the

Amarillo Art Center. Several other museums had opened within the previous

year or two in other parts of the state. In the state capitol, the Tyler

Museum of Art opened in March 1971. Houston's Contemporary Arts Museum

began its second quarter-century of life in a new gleaming, angular building.·

The Houston Museum of Fine Arts opened in January 1974 introducing a four-

million-dollar addition designed by Mies Vander Rohe. And at Forth Worth, the

Art Center Museum has doubled its present space by adding a new wing with

30,000 square feet. From the Panhandle to the Gulf Coast, there has been a

boom in'Texas.
 31

Master Plan, from left: The Temple of Dendur Wing (l); American (2); court ,
(3); Lehman Pavilion (4); court _(5); European (6); Rockefeller Wina; (7). .\
.J

i .~
·;,;.
- t

The Temple of Dendur 'lling (sections, model) will define the north eda;e of
the Museum with a pristine canopy of glass. A moat, supposedly evoking the
mood of the Nile, will enhance the. ancient work. , ..

Figure 16. Master Plan Metropolitan Museum of Art.

 32

Figure 17. Interior Gallery, South Dakota University.

 33
Thus far we have discussed a perspective of some art centers and

some artistic creations that cannot be housed within the confines of the

center, finally leading up to those we can and the architectural genius of

space concepts that have become a reality. But, we have not discussed the

question of collecting or collections.

To present this point I shall use as an example the Memorial Art

Center of the campus of South Dakota State University. The center opened

in 1970, twenty years after noted painter Harvey Thomas Dunn (1884-1952)

gave his paintings to his native state to be maintained on the campus. The

largest collection of his work, fifty-seven paintings, is housed here.

Another bi=>n<=>fact-ar, Vera Way M,:,rghab, whose husband owned the world-famous

Marghab linens, gave the campus a collection of linen. Each piece of

•
· Marghab linen is of museum quality. Mrs. Marghab gave the memorial center

a very large collection - over 1,500 pieces representing over 267 designs.

The idea of an art center for South Dakota originated with the South

Dakota Federation of Women's Clubs in 1948. The Federation initiated fund

raising for construction of a memorial art center and gave its collection

of paintings to the center for display. This collection included work by

such P,rominent artists as Thomas Hart Benton, Oscar Howe, Joe Jones, Rockwell

Kent, and Reginald Marsh. In addition to the collections, about ten

exhibitions are brought into the center each year. Support for this center

ranks high from alumni of South Dakota State University and is governed by a

board of trustees.

The space arrangement, Fig. 17, is very well planned on both levels.

Two-thirds of the cost of the facility was raised from private sources and

one-third from matching type grants. The gallery area is spacious and

very well luminated and equipped with systems for the precision control

of temperature, humidity, and security.

 34
Administering the total needs of an art museum is more time consuming

than just collecting objects and arranging displays on gallery walls and

sculpture stands. The necessary functions are never obvious to the visitor.

But knowing what to collect, searchi~g for it, authenticating pieces by

scientific examination and researchi_ng their history is a never ending task.

The museum director is always on the line to make a decision to

verify or take a hard look at a presumed treasure, whether as a gift or

offered for sale.

A university is very capable of assuming the task of verification

and study of objects or paintings under the guidance of its distinguished

art The~!.!!1.~ 0 rc;,1:y can also pur.s.ue ~t-::mdards of excel 1 euce .in.

presenting fine arts from the inception as a community museum. Such a

course contributes to the success of the program and continued_ growth in

its holdings.
 CHAPTER III

CONCEPTUAL DESIGN FOR A CULTURAL CENTER

The art center is of value in projecting an image of the institution

as a site of culture. It also provides a means of involving the community

with the university.

Cultural art centers are like time capsules storing treasures from

a h11nrl..-<>d years past to~ viewed daily as constant reminders of ar.tiat.ic

creative expression through periods when artists created according to the

mood of their time.

Art centers contribute to teaching the young community to understand

its past through works of modern art, folk art, and collections of the

past. The constant changing face of art produces exhibits that are transient

in nature, which are a very integral part of maintaining the interest of the

community and university.

Construction of a culture art center will more than likely be shaped

by a tight budget and a series of design innovations never before assembled

in one structure. This is the hope we envision. An art center structure

typifies one way to house art and sculpture, but as for all projects before

being committed to the architectural stage, it should be planned-in-depth to

include the establishment of a Fine Arts Commission or ad hoc committee to

study the matter by visiting other universities, consulting experts and

acquiring conceptual drawings of suggested designs.

In designing a center the visual exterior concept in relation to its

environment is paramount. The lighting system should be well planned in

35
 36
order to wash the exhibits with l_ighti_ng which will expose the display

concentrating on its intended focus of interest, room sizes and proportions,

and relative placement within the building of exhibits. These factors are

a pressing and continued requirement for the art center director.

The buildin~ should contain sufficient workshops so that students

can work in varied media. Space, arranged according to function, must lead

in a logical sequence from one gallery to another.

My (proposed) concept of an arts center consists of a single building

composed of three wings extending out from a lobby gallery which acts as

the hub of the building with spokes protruding out in three directions,

ea.ch. 1'..a.Y:-i-•1° ; t-c: _own._fam.ction. Thera ar.a .three levels within the struc.t:ure,

Fig. 18. The art center, in keeping with its_ growth design, is planned to

allow for possible future expansion. If more room is needed, additions can

be added to the several wings without affecting the basic concept of the

building.

It is essential that the building be located on an appropriate site

ample enough to not crowd the center into other structures. The direction

should be to let it breathe within the environment so·it will blend with the

natur.al landscape, see Fig. 19. A parking' area is required on two sides of

the structure, Fig. 18. This will accommodate traffic and approaches on

both sides of the building. The back wing of the building would consist of

a civic center requiring access from the rear of the parking lot to stage

door to facilitate any function requiring movement, loading and unloading

of materials required for various events.

The basic structure (Fig. 20) should reflect the environment around

it. This is accomplished by the use of fogged mirrored glass on the exterior

walls of building on upper surfaces complimented with pebble stone panels

around the bottom of the exterior edges of the building. When one approaches
 37

Figure 18. Plot Layout.

 38

Figure 19. Aerial View.

 . ) -~/l;;-:.... ·· .
/:4/{i?:::
/"''f (k~,{Yi:
.
w
'°

//
// /
/

·I':·

Figure 20. Cultural Center, Eastern Illinqis

.~
University.
 40
the center, it shall reflect the mirror image of the stone panels as you

move toward the front entrance. Fountains in constant flowing motion

will reflect changing water sculpture in the mirror surfaces. One should

immediately experience a visual happening in any direction you may turn as

you approach the entrance. At the street approach as one enters the main

courtyard your vision shall focus on the fountains. Looking to the

entrance one may see the main lobby gallery which is open to the viewer

by a large glass panel extending to the second level of the center. This

approach shall extend to the community a showcase view of the interior after

closing hours.

~t night the main gallerv (Fig. 21) shall be lighted so one may look

from outside without entering and see a circular panoramic view of the lobby.

Sculpture and paintings may be placed without competing with each other.

Light from the main dome will reflect sufficient light for sculpture located

on the floor area. The main column in the center of the lobby is cylindrical

extending to the main dome, giving the effect of a large umbrella. The

main posts of the cylindrical column are spaced out and are made of

translucent material which, being lighted from the bottom and top edge,

will transmit light through the column giving the visual effect of lighted

rails of light going up to the dome. Within the center of the cylindrical

center there will be a live tree supplemented by rock sculpture. The tree

should reach to the upper dome level. The top of the cylindrical inner

dome should be a transparent skylight so as to afford natural light to the

lobby during daylight hours.

Beginning at the base of the cylinder on the lobby level will be a

circular staircase leading to second level galleries. The outer walls will

be made of polished hardwood stripping to create a spiral effect as it rises

upward.
 41

-; 6
I

F1.gure 21. Lobby Gailery.

 42
All galleries, offices, civic center, door to rear courtyards, and

workshop will have access from the main lobby gallery. The main effect of

this gallery design shall be to have no apparent wall that gives the feeling

of a square room. But being of circular design it will tend to make people

feel they can walk in a circle with no obstacles in their path other than

leaving through one of the passageways into a gallery or second level. This

will afford more concentration on viewing exhibits.

Galleries shall extend from both sides of the main lobby on both

first floor and second level. There should be sufficient gallery space to

accommodate permanent collections of sculpture and paintings, temporary

exhibits; and the addition of a permanent folk art collection. Depending

on the extent of the collection, there should be area sufficient to subdivide

and locate it according to major periods in cultural history as desired.

A typical gallery, Fig. 22, should have a lighting system that can be

adjusted to the object being displayed. Track lighting with dimming control

would be most effective. Center display panels are traditionally flat

partitions. I would recommend curved partitions in addition to flat so that

exhibited area may also take a tlifferent perspective on occasion to create

visual interest and effect. Fig. 23 is a reconnnended design for this

effect. On the main level one gallery shall have a rotunda effect (Fig. 22)

encircled on ceiling with track lighting. This specialized gallery should be

paneled in warm earth tone effect and should be utilized for area displays

requiring maximum viewing effects. Galleries will extend full length of

wings, Fig. 24. At this point I suggest an experimental gallery wall

(Fig. 25) consisting of a rear view projection wall with the capability

to carry ten frames. This would introduce a method of superimposing

graphic, happening optics, or a photographic display that would form changing

abstract compositions. The total effect would be panoramic in style.

 43

Figure 22. Gallery Layout.

 44

- . ., .

fo"A. ~"~"" c;'~otJ

EX-lfi&IT Moo()Ll!r .
_.-,f-r--·,
..
,I:

. : l .......

.·?.

'<· tt7
. ·S··~
...
;.,' .

. ..
. - ;:-·:- . . .I

Figure 23. Partition Design Concept.

 45

I•

-r----. ~..,,.... <-t r

Ll.J_j!.J__.:!~:!.L-l-J...l..µ.J~-t:...1.--+-!....f--.L!...-=--..I,.....;.~· -·

FRONT VIEW . fl

Figure 24 •. Floor Plan.

 46

.,.. ; .

..
'• ,'

R!=AR V~'-V f"-<'> l"'.J."'Y f 1ravne5

,, . _,,
',
I,
•

, .. , -rADEMA1lt Do~~ IMf\~I= , I

142b cl 8611) (2..

Figure 25. Rear View Projection Wall.

 47

'
I
/(\ ..c::•
{~
L-- - - -
~
u
.w
QJ
~
Cl)

~
~-----· -::._ .. __ _ s
•rl
~
0
.µ
•rl
'U
~

\0
.
N
Q)
~
;:j
bO
•rl
r,:..

I
/
/

-----
 48

BASEMENT LEVEL

Figure 27. Workshops.

r
7

.. .
....
. ·c ·:
~ .:. ·/
..
.. , l
.•

:~. =.--:
-Ji,. ~l;

L,.\.VI ~

0 i) \f..~
; .~~/r-3\

Figure 28. Interior Cutaway View Basement Level.

 49

. . ...
....
... '-~ .. .~' '.
. - I

·, .. . . ..
.,
• I•

I
-."
·.. , ' ,.

L.....1.

Figure 29. Office Area Cutaway View.

 50
Benches would be available in the gallery area for sitdown viewing, if

desired.

The center would also provide space for various civic functions or

related university activities that may be held in this auditorium area,

Entrance would be from the main lobby directly behind a spiral staircase,

Upon entering one would go up steps lead~ng to height of second level.

Seat arrangement is directed downward back to the main level where a stage

is located for maximum viewing. This auditorium should be equipped with all

necessary types of acoustics for proper sound distribution to accommodate

events being conducted. A sketch of the layout, Fig. 26, will suggest some

treatments of the interior and proposed layuu.t-

A cultural center would not be complete without a workshop large

enough to conduct teaching, permit extensive projects of repair, and provide

work areas for originality in sculpture and painting, Fig. 27. Also, there

will be a storage area located at basement level and restrooms in addition

to a civic center room for community functions, Fig, 28. On the .main lobby

level on both sides of the auditorium will be located office space,

conference room, studios, and restrooms. The outer walls facing the

back courtyards are transparent glass, Fig. 29.

The culmination of this project would be to place the committee in

a cultural involvement on a continui_ng level. The concept _I have designed

is a possible -solution, an expression of complex functional requi-rements,

balanced by a desire to provide the most accessible, delightful, and open

space, It would be a place affording an experience of satisfaction, either

as a casual passerby or as a patron of the arts intent upon learning and

exploring the plastic and visual arts - or the creative arts.

Service to the· community is a two-way street. It brings university

and community clo~er together·with equal benefit to both.

 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Allen, G. "Museums: A Portfolio of Designs For Display," Architectural

Record (October 1974).

Blake, Peter. "Brick-on-Brick and White-on-White," Architecture Plus

(July-August 1974).

Chetham, Charles. "The New Smith College Museum of Art," Art Journal 33
(May 1973).

Dempsey, Michael. The Year's Art 1969-70. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons,
1971.

Educational Facilities Laboratories, Inc. "Fine Arts Facilities: Past,

Present, Future," EFL College Newsletter 116 (October 1965).

Encyclopedia Americana, 1958 ed. s .v. "Art Galleries," by Beatrice Farwell.

Encyclopedia Americana, 1958 ed. S. V. "Metropolitan Museum of Art."
•
Encyclopedia Americana, 1958 ed. S.v. "Museums, 11 by Frederic A. Lucas.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 1974 ed. s .v. "Museum. rr

Encyclopedia Britannica, 1974 ed. s.v. "North Carolina."
Feldman, Ednrund B. Varieties of Visual Experience. New York: Harry N.
Abrams, Inc., 1971.

Goldberger, Paul. "A Museuam Well Met, 11 The Architectural Forum

(March 1974).

Hansen, Harry. A Descriptive ro.d Historical Guide, American Guide Series

Illinois. New York: Hastings House, 1974.

Haydon, Harold. Great Art Treasures in American Museums. Wisconsin: Country

Beautiful Corporation, 1967.

Holmes, Ann. "From the Panhandle to the Gulf Coast: The Museum Boom in
Texas," Art News (May 1973).

Knobler, Nathan. The Visual Dialogue. New York: Holt, Rinehart and
Winston, Inc., 1970.

Osman, Mary E. "After a 36-Year Wait A Modern Art Museum Opens on the
Mall," American Institute of Architects Journal 62 (November 1974).

Pei, M. I. "An Arts Center," Architectural Record (January-March 1973).

Ragghianti, Carlo Ludovico. Great Museums of the World, Louvre, Paris.

New Jersey: Newsweek, Ind., 1967.

Taylor, Francis Henry. The Taste of Angels. Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown
and Company., 1948.
51
 52
Time, 20 September 1976.

Vincent, Jean Anne. History of Art College Outline Series No. 95 (New
York: Barnes and Noblos, ·Inc., 1961).

Wetzel, Joseph A. Report on a Study of Museums and Centers. Stanford,

Conn.: John Wetzel Associates.