(PNAN-NC) – A few facts and figures: It is five stories totaling 145,000 square feet. It has two full floors of galleries, each featuring 12,000 square feet of permanent collection space and 6,000 square feet of changing exhibition space. Continuing, it has a café, the Lewis Family Gallery, painting and ceramics studios, classrooms, a 240-seat auditorium, a Special Events Pavilion with outdoor terrace, and an expanded street-level Museum Shop featuring crafts of the Carolinas. Adding to the wow factor is a multi-story atrium with a 60-by 60-foot glass curtain wall that ‘wees’ the goers with spectacular views of the urban landscape. The best about it all follows:
“The debt-free completion of the Mint Museum Uptown and the Levine Center for the Arts during a time of economic upheaval is a testament to Charlotte’s unwavering commitment to the arts and its long tradition of philanthropy,” said Executive Director Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson. “The scope of this ambitious cultural project is going to transform the way Charlotte lives and catapult the Mint to national and international significance.”
The Mint Museum Uptown has brought together the Mint Museum of Art and the Mint Museum of Craft + Design one year before its 75th anniversary, under one roof, offering views double ‘exposure’ of the permanent collections, including setting into motion its leadership to organize as well as a dominant player to host exhibitions of national and international acclaim.
On the October 1 opening, the exhibitions “New Visions: Contemporary Masterworks from the Bank of America Collection” on view through April 17, 2011, comprises more than 60 contemporary works as well as Bank of America’s postwar collection that shows a wide variety of artistic philosophies, approaches, and movements that extend into the early 21st century. Also featured are paintings, sculptures, and works on paper from such major artists as Milton Avery, Jennifer Bartlett, Roger Brown, John Chamberlain, Janet Fish, Helen Frankenthaler, Sam Gilliam, Elizabeth Murray, Louise Nevelson, Jules Olitski, Edward Ruscha, Miriam Schapiro, and Frank Stella.
“We are grateful to Bank of America for this extraordinary opportunity to bring together and share with the public major works by some of the most important artists of our time,” said Curator of Contemporary Art Carla Hanzal, exhibition organizer. “While many corporations boast large art collections, it is rare to see such a comprehensive collection of contemporary and modern art that is both dynamic and historically significant. This show exemplifies the excellence and regional diversity that Bank of America’s collection is uniquely suited to reveal.”
“The most thrilling quality of the contemporary British studio ceramics field is that it remains free from a defining aesthetic and cannot be tied together by one common visual thread,” said Annie Carlano, Director of Craft + Design and curator of the exhibition. “There has never been a comprehensive exhibition on either side of the pond about these objects. Building on the Mint’s internationally recognized collection of historic English ceramics, this exhibition allows us to explore a wider wealth of riches and continue the story from art pottery to clay art today.”
For more on this new crown jewel in the heart of Charlotte, North Carolina, see www.mintmuseum.org.
photos by Jeff Clare
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4yfSAr-yCg&p=1A697E9953066B2D&playnext=1&index=17