The Colby College Museum of Art will become Maine's largest museum after the unveiling of the Alfond-Lunder Family Pavilion.on July 13.
The 26,000-square-foot pavilion, the fourth block of the museum, is designed by Los Angeles based architects - Frederick Fisher and Partners. The pavilion will feature the Lunder Collection, which was donated to the college by his family in September 2012.
The collection is one of the most important assortments of American art ever assembled by private collectors. The collection contains 500 historic, modern and contemporary American art valued at more than $100 million.
Among 500 art objects, 464 are by American masters such as John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper and Georgia O'Keeffe. In addition, the collection also features paintings, watercolors, pastels, etchings, lithographs, books, journals, photographs and archival materials by James McNeill Whistler.
The museum's existing collection showcases Colonial-era and contemporary portraits and works by Richard Serra, Sol LeWitt, Kara Walker and Alex Katz.
The Alfond-Lunder Family glass pavilion will become the main entrance to the museum and features a spacious lobby, a sculpture gallery, terrace, exhibition galleries, classrooms, a conference room and staff offices.
A glass-enclosed stairwell installed in the pavilion will showcase a monumental, three-story wall drawing by Sol LeWitt. With its magnificent architectural details, the pavilion might serve as a beacon for visitors.
"This new pavilion is conceived as a glass prism that will reflect its natural and architectural context in continuously changing images," Fisher said in a press statement. "The reflecting nature of the glass expresses the theme that art provides the opportunity to reflect on life. This was central to the museum's position as a beacon of creativity and innovation on campus."
The pavilion's first floor will include the art department, new studios for photography, fine art foundation classes, faculty offices and a student lounge.
"Until now, our museum may have been something of an underappreciated gem, though not to our students, faculty and alumni and the citizens of Maine," Colby President William D. Adams said. "But now, as we celebrate the bicentennial of the college, we can look forward as never before to welcoming visitors from around the country and the world who are going to discover that our museum has risen toward the top in its field."
